A Billion Dollars Redirected

Being charitable is one of the great privileges a wealthy person has and stewarding the gift is one of the great responsibilities of a charity.  When the values of the giver and the receiver align it is powerful to see the good work that gets done.

Generosity is in my blood I guess you can say…that is, it was a  demonstrated value as early as I can remember.  My father a “raised-on-the-farm”, rags-to-riches entrepreneur gave over 35% of his gross earnings to causes that mattered deeply to him and my mother.

I discovered this while reviewing ten years of tax returns with my mother after he lost is battle with cancer at the young age of 62.

What I also discovered through the process of settling my father’s estate and sifting through tons of research is that when it comes to being philanthropic there are only two choice: voluntary and involuntary.

The laws of our land make all of us philanthropist through the paying of taxes.  The problem is less that $.20 of every tax dollar goes to social causes.  Not to mention whether or not those social government causes matter deeply to you the giver.

On the other hand, the private sector can do for a dollar what it costs the government three or four dollars to do.

Is being an involuntary philanthropist a smart business decision? To continue reading click here.

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