Donating shares is ones way to aid charities.
Not all successful individuals are household names.
Chances are you do not know the name Sheryl Sandberg.
Who is she?
Sandberg is a board member for SurveyMoney as well the COO of Facebook.
Why is she in the news now?
According to a recent CNBC article titled “What you can learn from Sheryl Sandberg's plans to donate her SurveyMonkey shares,” she has committed to the Giving Pledge.
What is the Giving Pledge?
This is a pledge taken by a number of the wealthiest individuals in the world—including Bill Gates and Warren Buffett—to donate most of their wealth to charity.
How is Sandberg acting on this?
She plans to donate all of her SurveyMonkey shares or the proceeds of those shares to the Sheryl Sandberg & Dave Goldberg Family Foundation.
She has already made donations of her Facebook shares to charity through a donor-advised fund.
What is a donor-advised fund?
It is a philanthropic fund established at a public charity.
A donor-advised fund, or DAF, allows donors to make a charitable contribution, receive an immediate tax benefit, and then recommend grants from your DAF immediately or over time.
A DAF also simplifies monitoring your charitable donations.
How?
All of your charitable donations come from a single fund.
A DAF also provides another layer of anonymity to your giving.
When Gretchen and I established our own DAF back in 2009, we gave it a name unrelated to our own.
Consequently, the charities we regularly support (or even one-off gifts) cannot be traced back to us unless we choose to do so.
For example, we may let a charity know a given contribution is from us if made in fulfillment of a pledge.
On the other hand, do you have significantly more wealth than the humble Krull household?
If so, a private foundation may be a good option for you.
You can set up scholarship and grants from your own private foundation.
You can also allow family members to be employed.
Unlike donor-advised funds, these are typically more public.
Setting up a foundation should include a starting gift of several million and the help of an experienced attorney.
While giving to charity can have tax benefits, this should not be the sole reason you donate.
If you are passionate about a mission or about the work a particular charity, support it.
Be smart.
Some means of donating or more efficient and effective than others.
Working with an experienced attorney and financial advisor is a wise decision.
Reference: CNBC (October 4, 2018) “What you can learn from Sheryl Sandberg's plans to donate her SurveyMonkey shares”
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