Many families understand that their values and perspectives are rooted in a particular area of their community. Given that experiences vary from generation to generation, we find that families often prioritize a particular cause or organization in their legacy planning because they believe it is critical for those initiatives to continue long after they have passed. We work hand in hand with multiple generations of a family to ensure that values and priorities are clearly defined and discussed ahead of someone’s passing; our process focuses on a mutual understanding of the importance of focused philanthropy.
We never want the second or third generation of a family to question why a parent or grandparent structured their estate with an emphasis in philanthropy. Rather, our process is designed to encourage family communication across generations so that the emotional ties to philanthropy are embraced by the generations that follow. As part of our process, we facilitate family meetings and engage families in a series of exercises to help explore and communicate passions and priorities across generations. Our team believes that strategies and tactical planning should be crafted around the outcomes of these meetings, not the other way around.
