In January 2011, I had the pleasure of meeting Canadian business legend Charles Bronfman at the TIGER 21 conference in Palm Springs. Bronfman is a major philanthropist, contributing to a number of high-profile charities and causes in Canada and around the world. He’s also become something of a philanthropic guru.
Bronfman believes strongly in the importance of thinking before you give.
“The same attention should be given to philanthropy as is given to one’s business,” he told me. “We all have business plans for our investments, for our companies, but most of us don’t have a business plan for our philanthropy.
“Many people say, ‘I know how to do [charitable giving] because I did a business, I made a lot of money, therefore if I made it, I can give it away with the same intelligence.’ Well, not so.”
Bronfman feels so strongly about the topic he wrote a book about it: The Art of Giving: Where the Soul Meets a Business Plan. Anyone interested in getting the most bang for his or her charitable buck should read it.
Bronfman’s central point is that we need to ask ourselves some probing, unexpected and ultimately uncomfortable questions about giving. The idea is to be honest and candid as a way of discovering what kind of charity you should be doing.
While Bronfman’s audience is high-net-worth (HNW) business owners, the lessons are applicable to everyone. With that in mind, here are four hard questions that I ask of my HNW clients when they indicate an intention to give.
Do I have an “edifice complex”?
For some, supporting a charity is wrapped up with buildings, plaques and scholarships that bear their name. This pride in “public giving” is part of building a legacy: an idea that they stood for something good in their lives.
What about you? Do you think giving is most sincere when it’s anonymous? Do you want others to know about your giving? How much of your identity is tied in with the causes you support? The answers will steer you toward some charitable structures and away from others.
How involved do I want to be?
Some philanthropists want to get involved with the cause, either on the “front line” or on the executive or director level. Others are fine writing a cheque and getting on with their lives.
Do you have the time and/or the inclination to get involved with your charity? Do you want to sit on the board? What about “front line” work helping those in need? Or would you rather just keep giving money?
How important is it that my philanthropy actually succeed?
A question that cuts to the core of how you see the world. While every charity hopes to affect change, only some of them will actually succeed.
So how important is it that your charity have “realistic” goals? Ultimately, are you content that a charity simply “fights the good fight”? Or would you rather support causes that have a chance of effecting real change?
Do I want to help the most vulnerable? Or the people most capable of helping themselves?
Some people believe charity exists to lend a hand to those in need. Others believe charity is a force to encourage innovation, leadership and excellence.
What about you? Do you want to donate to a homeless shelter or a scholarship fund? Cancer research or funding for the arts? Perhaps you want to do both: in which case, how much goes to each side? •
