I’m amazed. Both of the contacts to whom I wrote yesterday afternoon have already replied. And their replies to my question about moving toward 501(c)(3) status were not encouraging. Read the rest of this entry »

Continuing to think through the potential legitimacy of shifting from a profitable/taxable to a [profitable]/tax-exempt entity, I wrote to J____, our legacy planner.

The matter of board governance lays heavily on Sarita’s and my mind as we consider the possibility of shifting to a 501(c)(3) form. We have observed too many 501(c)(3)s to enter into this lightly. Some concerns: Read the rest of this entry »

Our legacy planner says that our current giving patterns (dependent on our income!) would suggest we may be able to give away $x million over the next 32 years–what the average person our age may reasonably be expected to live. If we follow his advice, however, we may be able to give $2.67x million! A wonderful “gear ratio,” from our perspective.

But is his plan workable? Read the rest of this entry »

Our family has owned a private (“family”) foundation for about eight years. We use it as a kind of detention pond^* for funds we want to give away.

Our attorney sent me some information today about the differences between private foundations such as the two we set up — one, a “family” foundation; the other, a “corporate” foundation (sponsored by the company we own) — and public foundations, especially foundations that offer Donor-Advised Funds (DAFs).

The following comparison chart is slightly modified from one put together by a cause-oriented foundation (COF) whose brochure our attorney gave us. Read the rest of this entry »