At the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s web site, readers can search a database of donors who are on record for making a charitable gift of $1,000,000 or more. I’m not on that list. No one I know is on that list. Theodore Stanley is on that list. His foundation made a gift of $650,000,000 to the Broad Institute of Cambridge, Massachusetts. My zero key isn’t stuck; and, while I have no idea what the Broad Institute does, I can assume that with $650,000,000 they’ll be doing a lot of it.
The Stanley Family Foundation’s gift is the type that makes big news. If you haven’t heard of them, you probably have heard of the Gates Foundation, or Warren Buffett, and their pledges of billions of dollars equaling half of their net worth. Their generosity is mind-boggling, and I don’t mean to bemoan it. But the news these gifts generate can have at least one drawback, in that it suggests to the rest of us that charitable giving is a sport for the richest of the rich. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, the majority of charities never see the kind of generosity we read about in the news. Quite the contrary, they depend primarily upon small gifts from folks without any great wealth at all.
Our local communities are full of small charitable organizations that can’t survive without a steady stream of gifts under $100. The Community Foundation of Southern Wisconsin, for example, helps manage 16 individual community funds throughout southern Wisconsin. Every year, these endowment funds make tens of thousands of dollars available for community improvement projects, or to help other charitable organizations carry out their mission. They can have an immeasurably positive impact on our communities, and rely predominately on small donors to help the cause. By pooling those small donations together, and with other larger donations, a community foundation creates a fund large enough to provide stable but impressive growth, and increase the effectiveness of even the smallest gift.
But even small gifts can be difficult when you’re living on a month-to-month income, with just enough to cover the bare essentials. If you have a little extra every month, setting that aside for emergencies or unexpected expenses is probably smarter than making charitable donations. A smarter way to support charitable organizations, when your current needs don’t allow it, is through the estate planning process. There are some surprisingly easy ways to accomplish this, and an easy talk with an experienced estate planning attorney can uncover a method that’s best for you.
The key, really, is remembering that no amount is too small to give. A checking or savings account with a limited balance can be set up to go to a charity upon your death. A simple will can direct that household items your family doesn’t want should be sold at an auction or a garage sale, with the proceeds going to a charity of your choice. Or, it can direct that specific items or fixed dollar amounts be given to charity before the bulk of your estate passes to children or other beneficiaries. Forms even exist that allow you to designate where you’d like friends and family to direct funeral memorials.
Each of these methods is a standard part of a simple estate plan, and can be accomplished at a reasonable cost by talking with an experienced estate planning attorney. Of course, estate planning has all sorts of benefits; one lesser known is that a thoughtful plan can provide a lasting benefit to the organizations and communities dearest to your heart, at a time you can best afford to be generous.
Lance A. McNaughton practices estate planning, probate, business, and real estate law, including landlord-tenant cases, in both Lafayette and Green Counties in Wisconsin. He can be reached by e-mail at mcnaughton@swwilaw.com.