IRS Acts to Put a Stop to Type of ‘Abusive’ Charitable Trust
The Internal Revenue Service has moved to shut down a controversial form of charitable remainder trust that is designed to help wealthy donors avoid paying capital-gains taxes on assets that have appreciated in value. The technique, nicknamed a “chutzpah” or “full Monty” trust for its brash…
By Thomas J. Billitteri
Contributor
Study: Charitable Bequests Could Total $25-Trillion During Next 50 Years
Predicting a coming “golden age of philanthropy,” a pair of Boston College researchers say that charities could gain $6-trillion to $25-trillion in bequests over the next 50 years. John J. Havens and Paul G. Schervish estimate that $41-trillion to $136-trillion will change hands over the next half…
By Thomas J. Billitteri
Contributor
‘Worth’: Buffett’s Generous Sister
Warren Buffett is known worldwide for his billions, but his sister, Doris Buffett Bryant, is making a name for herself for quite another reason: her philanthropy, administered through her low-key and “charmingly eccentric” Sunshine Lady Foundation, Worth magazine reports (October). Ms. Bryant, 71,…
By Thomas J. Billitteri
Contributor
Growing Ranks of Fund Raisers Haven’t Increased a Key Measure of Giving
The number of charity fund raisers has grown dramatically in ALSO SEE:Moving Giving off the DimePhilanthropy Takes the Bully PulpitBig Gifts Do Little to Change National Giving AveragesGiving by Americans, 1968-1998 recent years, but the increase has, in some ways, failed to pay off in higher…
By Thomas J. Billitteri
Contributor
Big Gifts Do Little to Change National Giving Averages
Gates Pours $6-Billion More Into Foundation ... ALSO SEE:Moving Giving off the DimePhilanthropy Takes the Bully PulpitGrowing Ranks of Fund Raisers Haven’t Increased a Key Measure of GivingGiving by Americans, 1968-1998 Gates Foundation to Give $1-Billion for Scholarships ... Microsoft Founder to…
By Thomas J. Billitteri
Contributor
Can White House increase share of U.S. income that goes to charity? The Central Union Mission here opened its doors to the homeless and hungry in 1884, and over the years the charity has weathered the contrary ways of American donors. During the Great Depression, giving to Central Union rose.…
By Thomas J. Billitteri
Contributor
Charities Could Receive $25-Trillion in Bequests Over 50 Years, Study Finds
Charities stand to gain $6-trillion to $25-trillion in bequests over the next 50 years, say Boston College scholars who today issued a new study on the so-called intergenerational transfer of wealth. The scholars estimated $41-trillion to $136-trillion will change hands over the next half century…
By Thomas J. Billitteri
Contributor
‘The Nation’: Soros at War With War on Drugs
George Soros, the peripatetic American philanthropist best known for his giving in Eastern Europe, has been pouring millions of dollars into a controversial cause here at home: changing the U.S. government’s approach to dealing with illegal drug users, says The Nation (September 20). In the past…
By Thomas J. Billitteri
Contributor
‘Forbes’: Giving’s Dangerous Games
Aggressive “charity hustlers” are marketing planned-giving schemes that have much less to do with philanthropy than with shielding assets from taxes, says Forbes magazine (September 20) in a collection of articles on giving. “Capitalizing on Americans’ generosity and aversion to taxes,” the…
By Thomas J. Billitteri
Contributor
‘Condé Nast Traveler’: Time Off to Do Good
Vacations can be relaxing, exciting, exhausting, even boring, but Condé Nast Traveler (September) says they also can be “virtuous.” The magazine offers readers a list of “worthy organizations” that invite vacationers to do good by working as volunteers in skilled and unskilled jobs at the…
By Thomas J. Billitteri
Contributor