Donating money to charities can be a great way for a family to make an impact on their community, and to create a lasting legacy.  Charitable donations can also make sense as a way to eliminate tax liability.

Many times, when a family is considering a donation to charity, the donation they will fund the donation with a gift of appreciated securities – stocks or properties at a low cost basis, which would create a large tax liability if sold normally.  Sometimes a family will make direct donations to a charity, whether its immediate or in the future through a charitable trust.  However, sometimes a family will want to create a general purpose charitable fund to make donations to different charities across many years, potentially even generations.  In these situations when flexibility and long giving lifecycles are desired, there are several vehicles a family can use.  Some of the most common are the donor advised fund (DAF) and the Private Foundation. Learn more…