Charitable giving – how you can make a real difference
Taking time to think deeply about both your motivation for charitable giving and what you are hoping to achieve can enable you to create a strategy that truly maximises your philanthropic ambitions. It can help you and the causes you choose to support achieve great things.
If you ask people what they’d like to change in the world, most people will have a clear idea – whether it’s bringing an end to child poverty, tackling disease, supporting the arts, addressing social inequality or any one of a multitude of issues facing the world today. Harnessing that passion for change into a strategy that is effective, however, can tax even the most driven. For wealthy individuals with funds to invest philanthropically, the need to do so in the most effective and efficient way can be even more pressing.
We believe that following a number of steps - outlined below - can help.
1. Start by choosing a cause that’s meaningful to you, perhaps through personal experience of some of the challenges it addresses, a family connection or something linked to your culture, beliefs or life experiences. More practically, it could be a cause that your own situation, skills or expertise could make a difference to.
2. Consider what, in an ideal situation, you’d like to achieve – it’s okay at this stage to think big picture and be idealistic. So, perhaps the overall dream is to stop homelessness or cure cancer.
3. Now take a more realistic view and set yourself goals that are within reach and that can be achieved with the resources you have. Your goals can still be ambitious, and can have set time limits or be open-ended. Examples might include setting up a project to help homeless people off the street and into employment, giving to a pressure group that can influence policy, funding research posts or supporting the development of new technology to help in the fight against disease.
Philanthropy can and should be incredibly rewarding
4. Think about how much you want to be personally involved. Do you want to be hands-on or would you prefer to invest and allow an organisation to run the project? How much time can you commit to this and how much control are you comfortable with divesting?
5. Whereas in certain situations diversifying and creating a balanced portfolio may be a sensible option, in terms of charitable giving, consolidating your investment to focus on achieving one goal may be a better approach.
6. Examine the type of investment vehicle that might best suit your purposes and fit your plans, ambitions and capabilities. Options include donations to an established cause, creating a charitable trust, or even a foundation. Working with an expert can help you identify which option works best for your individual circumstances, taking into account the sums involved, possible tax implications and so on, and it can help maximise the benefits for you and your cause.
7. Review and evaluate how your investment is doing. It can be hard to step back and take an objective view of a cause that’s close to you, but it’s important to make sure that your investment is working hard for you and on track to achieve your aims.
Philanthropy can and should be incredibly rewarding, and some of the great philanthropists have been individuals like you with a desire to create change. Having a strategy to effect that change and realise your dream can help take the stress out of giving. It can also help to maximise the potential of your philanthropic investment and ensure you’re making a real difference.
Contact your Relationship Manager to discuss the range of ways in which your giving can make a difference as well as the most effective ways to build philanthropy into your finances.