Philanthropy is the desire and effort to give time and money away to others in order to first glorify God and second better mankind.  Philanthropy isn’t restricted to large gifts, nor public gifts.  It may be a small donation toward a cause you care about, perhaps to a group that helped you out along your journey.  It may be a donation to the church, parrish, or synagogue where you get spiritually fed. Jesus emphatically taught us that good giving is more about our hearts and attitudes, then about the size of the gift.  Jesus was thrilled when the widow put in a few cents, perhaps because of her love and trust in her Heavenly Father and her love of others.  Jesus encourages his followers to give generously, from all their resources: time, talent, and money, in order to fund the work of building his kingdom on earth.   This may be done by investing time and money into the local church, para-church organizations, missionaries, to widows and orphans, and to the spiritually and financially poor.

Enlightened giving considers man as a whole; mind, body, and spirit.  The best gifts provide for the person’s needs in each of these areas.  If the gift provides for the mind and body, but falls short of delivering the gospel message, it truly falls short.  And conversely, if a person has a sick child who needs medical care and we simply give them a Bible, the gift falls short.  Enlightened giving is holistic giving as it values man holistically; mind, body, and soul.

Resources for Enlightened Giving
Servant Christian Community Foundation (local) - servantchristian .com
Generous Giving - generousgiving.org
Charity Navigator – charitynavigator.org
Ministry Watch – ministrywatch.org
National Christian Community Foundation - nationalchristian.com
Greater Kansas City Community Foundation – gkccf.org

Recommended and Prescreened Public Charities (501c 3)
Your local church or parish
Compassion International – compassion.com
Samaritan’s Purse – samaritanspurse.org
Cross International – crossinternational.org
Voice of the Martyrs – persecution.com
Catholic Charities – catholiccharitieskc.org
City Union Mission – cityunionmission.org
Focus on the Family – family.org
Prison Fellowship – prisonfellowship.org
Rachel House (Light House) – rachelhousefriends.org
Salvation Army – salvationarmyusa.org
Luis Palau – palau.org
C3 Missions – c3missions.org

Tax-efficient Giving
Current Out-right Gifts
Many charities have current and urgent needs, so there will always be a need for out-right gifts.  Donors may give cash or appreciated stocks or real estate to their chosen charity.  One of the values of giving appreciated stock and real estate is to avoid the tax due upon the sale of the security, thus leveraging the gift.  Cash donations qualify for deductions up to 50% of AGI and long-term appreciated securities up to 30% of AGI (generally deductible at FMV (fair market value).  Five year carry forward of deduction applies.

Community Foundation with a Donor Advised Fund
A donor advised fund (AKA Gift Fund) is a type of charitable giving program that allows you to combine the most favorable tax benefits with the flexibility to support your favorite charities at any time.  You give securities, cash, real estate, to the foundation.  The foundation sells the security and receives cash, which may be immediately granted to your selected charities and/or invested in a diversified portfolio with the purpose of growth and income, in order to be granted later. The donor controls the timing and amount of the sale of securities. Donors may give closely held stock, such as C or S shares, and these shares are usually non-voting shares.  The foundation will hold the security until the business owner/donor arranges a sale, perhaps back to the company or perhaps to an outside buyer.  The foundation is designed to be perpetual and grants are made annually.  The idea is avoid consuming principal by growing the portfolio at perhaps 8% and to grant/distribute 7%, thus allowing the foundation to exist in perpetuity.  Often donors name children and even grandchildren as successor sponsors so they may get involved with giving during the donor’s life and take over the grants upon the donor’s death.  These are great for legacies, leaving something behind to instill faith and values that are important to the donors.  You receive federal and state income tax deductions.  Cash donations qualify for deductions up to 50% of AGI and long-term appreciated securities up to 30% of AGI (generally deductible at FMV (fair market value).  Five year carry forward of deduction applies. You grant money annually from the funds to your selected charities.

Charitable Annuity
A charitable annuity allows you to make a charitable gift today, receive an income for life, avoid capital gains, support your favorite charities and even possibly earn an immediate charitable tax deduction.

Charitable Trust
Establishing a trust enables you to balance two interests – charitable giving and income for you or your heirs.  It also presents significant benefits for income tax, estate tax and capital gains tax.  There are two common types of charitable trusts.  A charitable lead trust is one in which money is paid first to a charity for a specified amount of time.  At the end of the trust period, the balance of the trust goes to a designated beneficiary, typically the family of the trust creator.  A charitable remainder trust reverses that order, paying a beneficiary first.  At the time of the beneficiary's death, or at the end of a specified period of time, the remainder of the trust goes to charity.

When is a charitable lead trust more suitable?
If you seek to give to a charity but still wish to leave an estate to your heirs, you should consider a charitable lead trust.  You can accomplish your giving objectives, while potentially increasing what could be passed on to your heirs at a reduced or eliminated estate tax cost.