Donor Intent and Legacy


A number of high-profile legal cases in recent years have highlighted the tensions surrounding donor intent. What did the donor want? How are those wishes being carried out today? How are donors’ intentions for a grant, for a foundation, and for a family to be interpreted over time? How specific or flexible should donors be in light of their own values and intentions and the needs of grantees? These are not easy questions to answer.

Donor intent—as codified in trust documents, articles of incorporation, and grant agreements—is and should be respected. But as giving families grapple with a donor’s ultimate goals for a particular gift or vehicle amid changing times and needs, many have embraced the more expansive concept of legacy. Ethical wills, values statements, and legacy statements have joined bylaws and mission statements as important documents of a family’s philanthropic activities and hopes. It’s an approach that respects donors’ wishes while allowing new generations to write a new chapter in a growing family legacy.

Related Reading

Legacy: The Helping Hand of Family Philanthropy (Article)

January 2002
It's important to attend to family foundation legacy or it will be forgotten. Stories and formal legacy statements preserve a 'usable' past while renewing values for the future.

Where's The Horizon: Giving While Living, Defining the Endpoint, or Endowing for Perpetuity

2004
How long should a giving program or foundation last? Is it best for donors to distribute their all philanthropic resources in their lifetime? Or should a giving program or foundation be established with a defined goal and endpoint, whether it's 10, 20 or 30 years? Or is it most effective to endow a foundation that will have permanent giving capacity? Each option has strong proponents, along with clear advantages and distinct drawbacks, and this issue of Linkages examines these three different philosophies.

Family Values, Family Philanthropy

2001
The techniques that families use to pass values from one generation to the next are critical elements in ensuring a healthy charitable future. There is intrinsic value in having conversations about the personal and shared values of the family. How do families contribute to shaping the values of the individual members as well as the values of the whole family? This chapter from 'Living the Legacy' looks at these and other issues.

Establishing Your Intent

2001
Whether you have specific goals for your philanthropy based on clear values or not, this chapter from 'Living the Legacy' addresses important issues and questions that a new donor should consider when establishing a family foundation. A donor's long-term charitable legacy may not always be administered in the manner originally intended. Provided here are suggestions for how to anticipate and provide direction for future generations of your family's philanthropy.
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