Dan and Lori are a power couple who have built and sold a number of businesses over their three decades of marriage. As they accumulated wealth, they donated regularly to different causes and instilled the importance of giving in their three children, who are now adults with families of their own.

After the sale of their last business, Dan and Lori started thinking more about how their family could continue giving in a way that would have significant impact while ensuring their philanthropy would be sustainable. A key challenge was the diversity of interests within their family: Dan favoured charities that worked to protect animals while Lori preferred those that advanced disease research. Their kids also favoured their own charities. 

While Dan and Lori appreciated the work of all the various charities, they felt that focusing their family philanthropy on a core group of causes would lead to greater impact. They didn’t know how to work towards this goal so they asked Rubach Wealth for help.

Here’s what the Rubach Wealth team did for Dan and Lori.

• Financial clarity as a starting point. Before they could make any philanthropic decisions, Dan and Lori needed a clear understanding of their capacity to give. The Rubach Wealth team conducted a comprehensive financial review that included an analysis of assets and expenses, as well as estate goals. This gave Dan and Lori a clear picture of how much they could allocate to philanthropy without risking their long-term financial goals.

• Aligning philanthropic goals with family values. Dan and Lori wanted a philanthropy strategy that would reflect their family’s desire to give back while respecting individual preferences. The Rubach Wealth team facilitated open discussions that enabled the family to understand their shared values and identify the causes that best reflect these values. Based on the findings from these discussions, the family was able to distill their list of recipient causes from more than 20 down to five.

• The right structure for giving. Given their varying interests, the family wanted a giving structure that provided flexibility. Rubach Wealth introduced them to the concept of a donor-advised fund, which acts as an umbrella fund that directs donations to various organizations and causes over time. This structure, often managed by a community foundation, offers the ability to choose the allocation and recipients of contributions and change these decisions annually.

• Tax-optimized philanthropy. With every discussion and decision made by Dan, Lori and their children, Rubach Wealth offered advice on tax implications and ways to maximize the impact of their donations. A tax planning specialist with expertise in philanthropic planning worked with the Rubach Wealth team to come up with the best scenarios for giving that aligned with the family’s philanthropic and financial goals.

From philanthropic aspirations to a sustainable, meaningful plan

Through open dialogue and thoughtful-researched planning, the Rubach Wealth team helped turn Dan and Lori’s philanthropic aspirations into a sustainable and meaningful plan. Family members felt their giving preferences were respected as they went through a process of focusing their philanthropy on a core group of causes.