Family Giving FAQs
Why do I want to involve my family?
Motivations include instilling a culture of giving in the next generation, passing on family values, learning from other family members, and enhancing the family's charitable giving. By encouraging new energy and ideas, family involvement provides a training ground for skills and leadership development.
What does a good family process require?
Family philanthropy is essentially a group process. It implies a commitment by family members to work effectively together to make decisions. A successful family giving process includes:
- Clearly-stated and compelling reasons for doing philanthropy together
- A commitment to act as a collective unit with a broad, long-term vision that is inclusive of individual interests
- Free choice to participate
- A sense of fun
What does it mean to give strategically as a family?
- Take control—Go beyond the process of reacting to the never-ending stream of requests, and take charge of your giving
- Focus—Think through what issues really interest you and identify one or two areas on which to focus your giving
- Investigate—Learn more about those issues, through readings, expert briefings at The Columbus Foundation, site visits, and conversations with other donors
- Search out partners—Seek out the best organizations and individuals to carry out this work, and form partnerships with them
- Take risks—By taking “educated” risks, you may uncover new programs that address unique community problems
What philanthropic behavior is appropriate for children? What ideas can you give me? There are ranges of activities for the different ages of children that we recommend.
To learn more, contact a member of our Donor Services team by e-mail or at 614/251-4000. Or, if you are interested in becoming a donor, please complete this brief Become a Donor form and a Donor Services officer will respond within the next business day.