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Two common charitable giving vehicles are donor advised funds (DAFs) and private foundations. A DAF is an account housed in and governed by a public charity. A private foundation is a standalone trust or nonprofit corporation that qualifies as a tax-exempt organization. Both DAFs and private foundations feature the ability to engage family members ...

The fun and rewarding activities of a family foundation center around determining the causes and organizations the foundation will support. While working together to make a difference, it is important to remember the family foundation is also a business requiring the same effective governance practices as a family business. This is especially criti...

The question Virginia “Ginny” Esposito, Founder of the National Center for Family Philanthropy, gets asked the most, is “How can I engage my family in philanthropy?” In this episode, Ginny highlights what family business is and common trends in the work she has been in for over 30 years. She has lots of wisdom for parents an...

Family connectedness, not money, has the greatest influence on multi-generational family continuity. But when many think about legacy, it’s often in the context of multi-generational financial wealth. Money, though, masks what people are really interested in passing to future generations of their family. Money can support the connections, but...

The 2018 U.S. Trust Insights on Wealth and Worth® study asked nearly one thousand high-net-worth individuals about their approach to building wealth and the extent to which they are using it to achieve their goals and support the causes they care about most. The study found that while wealth provides the freedom to do more, it also brings increased...

Jennifer Mizrahi shares how her family's philanthropy has evolved since they experienced a stunning moment of surprise in their own giving journey. Hear more about how this family's foundation makes sure their stakeholders are active participants with active voices in all aspects of their giving. "There is no greater gift in life than enabling...

In family philanthropy we have the choice in how we define "family." In the case of the Quixote Foundation, family is defined as the people who are at the table because they care about each other and the issues—not because they share a biological connection. Hear about the family bonds that are created when working together for good."The more that ...

Kelly and Isabel talk about how "finding their person" guided them along their philanthropic journey. In this family, each generation encourages the next by engagement, mentorship, and resilient family culture. Listen and learn more about the Surdna Foundation's inspiring story of multi-generational giving. Read Family Ties: Multigenerati...

Hear from Monica about her grandmother's influence encouraging the new, third generation to get involved and bring their own voices to the table. Monica, now president of the Conant Family Foundation, also talks about activism and shares how the foundation has developed new opportunities, such as emergency funding, while also honoring her grand...

Farhad Ebrahimi invites us all to reimagine the role of philanthropy—and both the opportunities and power it provides. After being gifted a significant amount of money, he and his sister founded the Chorus Foundation to tackle the global climate crisis.

Reviewing the changes to the Tax Reform law from the lens of tax-efficient giving, it's clear it created some philanthropic winners and losers for the next few years. With the elimination of the phase-out of itemized deductions, donors who itemize can take advantage of the full amount of their charitable gifts, subject to Adjusted Gross Income ...

Charitable giving in the U.S. has grown to record levels in recent years, and donor-advised funds (DAFs) account for nearly 10% of all U.S. charitable giving. Learn why benefits such as tax savings, modest costs, and increased flexibility and convenience can make DAFs an attractive option for those looking to donate.

The wealthy are caught in the high-beam headlights of toxic rhetoric around equity, inequality, greed, power, excessive affluence, and influence of the wealthiest 1 percent. This has become a hot issue in the political environment, where both old media and new social media continue to add data that fuels the growing anger toward, and mistrust of, w...

Philanthropists from Europe, the United States, Asia, and the Middle East are approaching philanthropy in an innovative way and actively promote their causes. Interviews illustrate how they are trying to make a lasting change in terms of impact on the ground as well as the longevity of their charitable organizations. For many philanthropists, achie...

Families are often overwhelmed by the complexity and sense of burden that comes with managing all the component parts of wealth across generations. More concerning, though, is the lost opportunities and the loss of capital that results from not getting it right. But owning and managing significant wealth does not have to be difficult, and learning ...