A foundation for the family's giving

Family giving usually starts with a person rather than a plan. One member is approached, decides, and pays. It works, it is often generous, and it stops entirely when that member does.

Giving it a vehicle changes three things. It gives the giving a focus, so requests can be answered against something rather than case by case. It gives it governance, so the decision is not a favour granted by whoever was asked. And it gives the next generation a real responsibility with real money and real consequences, some years before it holds an operating one.

A foundation is one route. A dedicated company, or a committee of the family council with a budget agreed annually, are others, and for a family early in this work the committee is often the sensible first move. What matters more than the wrapper is the annual figure agreed in advance and the report back to the family afterwards.

The first report is the moment giving stops being private and starts being something the family holds itself to. Families that skip it tend to find the vehicle becomes a request queue within two years.