Philanthropy is a key purpose for significant number of family offices: In The 2023 Global Family Office Compensation Benchmark Report by KPMG Private Enterprise and Agreus, over one-quarter (29%) of survey respondents said a philanthropic initiative is one of their family office’s purposes. For many other wealthy families, philanthropy is also a key goal, though it may be carried out outside the family office.
A wealth of data is available to guide donors:
- Deloitte’s Essential tax and wealth planning guide, 2024 Edition includes a chapter on furthering a family’s philanthropic goals. It explores various avenues for giving, from loaning out art and collectibles to allowing a charitable organization to use a family’s private aircraft. It also looks at issues such as donor privacy and the differences between 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) organizations.
- The 2023 Bank of America Study of Philanthropy: Charitable Giving by Affluent Households, from the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, offers over 100 pages of data covering topics such as charitable giving levels and motivations, volunteering, family involvement in charitable giving, and the impact of giving on society.
- The Lilly Family School of Philanthropy also makes public numerous research reports on charitable giving.
- The World Giving Index 2023 from the Charities Aid Foundation provides a big-picture look at giving, ranking countries based on how many adults donated money, helped a stranger, or volunteered their time.
