June 5, 2009 | Read Time: 1 minute
With the economy in a downturn, wealthy people are taking a closer look at what charities will benefit from their bequests, writes Betsy Brill, president of Strategic Philanthropy, a Chicago company that advises people about their giving.
“They are taking a hard look at the charitable designations named in their estate plans, which, for many, is a long overdue exercise, since interests, intent, and financial circumstances will have changed since the estate plan was first drafted,” she writes on Forbes magazine’s Web site
She is advising her clients to consider several questions as they review beneficiaries of their future estate gifts. They include:
- “Are the values of this organization aligned with mine?”
- “Does the organization have an operating strategic plan and is it regularly revisited? Does it have an evaluation plan and methodology that captures real outcomes?”
- “Does the organization possess the financial health and managerial capacity to achieve its objectives?”
- “Does the organization readily make its financial and operating information available?”
What do you think? What questions would you suggest that donors ask themselves before picking a charity to support with a bequest?
