Big Gifts Are Getting Bigger

Ranging from $175 million to a whopping $15 billion, the 10 largest gifts to charity in 2021 may have caught your clients’ attention. Not only do philanthropic gifts seem to keep getting bigger, but the future looks bright, too, with more than $84 trillion projected to be handed down in what may be one of the largest intergenerational transfers of wealth in history. Although most of that money will flow to heirs, projections indicate that charities could receive as much as 14% (nine percent in the form of bequests and the rest as lifetime gifts to charity).

As your Baby Boomer clients plan their estates, keep that 14% in mind, especially as philanthropists at all levels are becoming increasingly intent on making an immediate impact on important causes instead of leaving behind perpetual philanthropic structures.

Community Foundation of the Lowcountry can help you develop an impact-focused philanthropy plan for your clients, including helping your clients “reverse engineer” the philanthropy structures that will be most likely to result in the difference your clients want to make in the world.

Keep an eye out for clients who match these characteristics:

• Families who have started to talk with you about multi-generational participation in philanthropy but do not yet have any formalized plans.
• Families who have publicly demonstrated a commitment to three or more charitable organizations.
• Families who own a multi-generational family business such that corporate giving and enterprise legacy have become intertwined.
• Families in which members across multiple generations appear to be actively involved in philanthropy discussions.

The team at the Community Foundation has the depth and breadth of experience to help you in these instances, and much more.