I’ve written before about charity that may make the giver “feel good” but actually does harm.

I’m afraid I’ve been offered an opportunity to participate in just such a “ministry” in the last 24 hours. Read the rest of this entry »

Charitable giving comes in many forms. Cash donations and hands-on volunteerism are only two.

I have mentioned before the Sonlight Rice Bag Project. The repercussions of that project continue to reverberate in my mind and heart.

This morning, I woke up with the idea that I should write to some people with whom our family business competes. Not about our business, per se, but, rather, about opportunities we–both they and we–have to influence our customers for good.

This is a slightly edited version of the letter I sent. Read the rest of this entry »

In “The Surprising Truth About American Generosity,” the editors of Trends magazine provide a more positive perspective than I have been inclined to adopt, warn about government policies that may damage Americans’ charitable urge, and suggest some unusual reasons to give if you’re not giving now: Read the rest of this entry »

The Wills, Trusts & Estates Prof Blog included the story of a lawsuit settled out-of-court by Princeton University. According to a New York Times story, a $35 million gift given to the university in 1961 “to educate graduate students for careers in government” wound up underwriting most of the “graduate programs at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.”

Since the $35 million had grown to more than $900 million by June of this year, Princeton wasn’t too keen on pulling any of this money away from its broader uses.

So what happened? Read the rest of this entry »

Matthew 6:3-4 records a statement of Jesus:

But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

This passage has always made me very nervous. I don’t want anyone to know what I have done, especially when it comes to giving!

So, then, why would I write a post like the one I did last Saturday–Strategic giving? I mean, I got into some pretty fine details! Am I not in danger of disobeying this teaching of Christ? Read the rest of this entry »

The following is not exactly a rehash of what I covered in Tithing, Law, Grace and Teaching, a post I wrote nine months ago in direct response to a “challenge” laid down by our legacy planner at the time. But when I ran into this on Saturday, I realized I wanted–and needed–to re-post it, with slight modification, here. This was the first article that caught my eye on Saturday, but, if you saw my post yesterday, you will realize it is the second among my rediscoveries that I am posting.

(Originally posted, in slightly different form, at Tithing: replaced by grace?

Read the rest of this entry »

I was doing some maintenance on my personal blog on Saturday, when I bumped into a couple of old posts that would have properly belonged over here on Strategic Inheritance . . . if I had been writing Strategic Inheritance at the time!

So I thought I’d more or less copy them here. I think they deserve another look by another audience.

(Originally posted, in slightly different form, at Tithing and Sabbath as Freedoms?!?

Read the rest of this entry »

Last Monday I got to see a demonstration of software meant to make the administration of private foundations much easier. Among other things, the program offers compliance services, including a review of grants to ensure there is no self-dealing; a review of potential recipients of grants to ensure they are, in fact, 501(c)(3) organizations, and thus eligible to receive tax-deductible donations; and a constant vigil over total annual foundation disbursements to ensure that the foundation hits its five percent (5%) minimum distribution requirement.

It was this last service that caught my eye. Read the rest of this entry »