Before the Gift: A Family Giving Conversation Guide

Giving often begins with practical questions.

How much should we give? Who should we give it to? Is there a better way to give it?

Before answering those questions, start with another:

What do we want this gift to accomplish?

For some families, giving means supporting organizations and causes they care about. For others, it means transferring assets to children or grandchildren during their lifetime. Often, it includes some combination of both.

Before getting into the structure, start with the conversation.

‍

First, Ask The Questions

1. Who should participate in giving decisions?
Decide whether giving will remain primarily with one generation or become an opportunity for children and grandchildren to participate. Knowing whose perspective belongs in the conversation helps shape the decisions that follow.

2. What has our family supported in the past, and why?
Look beyond organizations and dollar amounts. Which issues, communities, traditions, or people have consistently mattered to your family? Understanding why those choices were made gives younger generations content for the family’s history with giving.

3. Do those priorities still reflect our values today?
Ask each generation to explain which cause matters to them and why. The answers might differ, and those differences are useful. They help the family understand how its priorities have changed and where they still overlap.

4. How do we want to distribute our giving?
Consider why your family gives the amounts it does today. Would deeper support for a smaller number of organizations better reflect your goals, or do you prefer supporting a wider range of causes? Each approach has different implications for what the family hopes its giving will accomplish.

5. What do we hope the next generation learns through giving?
Consider what you want younger family members to understand about generosity, responsibility, stewardship, and the role money plays in your family. Giving together creates an opportunity to share stories, explain priorities, and learn how each person thinks about money.

‍

Then Talk About the Structure

Once the family understands what it wants the gift to accomplish, the technical planning begins with structure and tax.

Structure asks: What should we give? How should we give it? Where should it go?

Tax asks: What is the most efficient way to deliver that gift within the family’s broader financial and estate plan?

Together, those answers help turn the family’s intentions into a giving strategy.

A charitable gift and a gift to a family member often serve different purposes. The structure should reflect the intention behind each one, including which assets to give, when to make the gift, and how the gift fits with the estate plan, and which tax considerations should be coordinated with a CPA or attorney.  

When giving to children or grandchildren, families should also consider how much responsibility the recipient is ready to take on and whether giving gradually creates a better opportunity for learning.

For charitable giving, the conversation may focus on the organizations the family wants to support, the timing of those gifts, and how the assets being given fit within the broader investment and tax strategy.

A thoughtful giving strategy brings family conversation, investment strategy, estate plan, and tax planning into alignment.

‍

Develop Your Giving Strategy

Conscious Wealth can help you develop a giving strategy that brings together your family’s intentions, investment decisions, estate planning, and tax considerations.

Talk with the Conscious Wealth team about how your giving can reflect what you want your wealth to accomplish and how you want to share it.

‍