Charitable Giving for the Rest of Us
According to The Chronicle of Philanthropy, the 10 largest gifts to charity in 2021 were:
Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates - $15 billion to Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for endowment.
(Tie) Philip Knight and Penny Knight - $500 million to the University of Oregon to expand the Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact.
(Tie) George Soros - $500 million to Bard College for endowment.
Patrick Ryan and Shirley Ryan - $480 million to Northwestern University for a variety of programs.
Denny Sanford - $350 million to establish a virtual-care hospital.
Denny Sanford - $300 million for graduate medical education and to expand a sports complex.
William Goodwin Jr. - $250 million to establish Break Through Cancer, a foundation that will support cancer research.
Joe Tsai and Clara Wu Tsai - $220 million to establish the Wu Tsai Human Performance Alliance, a medical research nonprofit.
Jeff Bezos - $200 million to Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum for an education center and museum renovations.
Gerald Chan - $175 million to University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School for endowment.
There are many reasons to donate to charities. We give because of our faith. We give because of a life changing experience. We give because we see a need. However, there are also many reasons people don't donate to charity, often based on certain persistent myths and misconceptions about the impact of charitable giving.
While the kind of giving that made the top 10 list is amazing, generous, and worthy of the publicity it receives, it can lead many to the false idea that philanthropy is only for the ultra wealthy. Nothing could be further from the truth. To prove this point, here are ten charitable gifts I was able to be involved with during 2021. While the amount of the gifts were modest in each instance, the impact was great.
Gift to an ice arena to be used for repairs to a zamboni.
Gift to a chess tournament for K-12 school age children.
Gift to a local food pantry.
Gift to a charity that builds toys for underprivileged children.
Gifts to a variety of churches.
Gift to help with college and trade school scholarships.
Gift to a local ballet for youth.
Gift to a high school wrestling team to buy uniforms.
Gift to an agency that provides services to the disabled.
Gift to a local fire department to purchase some new furniture for the fire station.
This is just a small sampling of gifts given by generous people with a vision of helping others. None of the gifts required a significant amount of wealth. But the benefit for the recipients was great. And for me it was just as inspirational. So even though you may never crack the top ten list, consider the addition of charitable giving during your life and in your estate plan. You won’t regret it.
This post is for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice. You should contact an attorney to obtain advice with respect to any particular issue or problem. Nothing herein creates an attorney-client relationship between Hallock & Hallock and the reader.