At the DAF Giving Summit in Nashville last week, our panel discussed tools, tech, and best practices for wealth and philanthropic advisors who work with inheritors. Some of the takeaways from my conversation with Ella Chase, Janell Turner, and Marisa Swystun were:
*Inheritors are often even more motivated to give back through philanthropy than original wealth generators, and increasingly, these inheritors are expressing interest in learning more about how to spend down charitable accounts in order to deploy capital more quickly to frontline organizations.
*Many of the people who have funds in DAFs still report that they feel a disconnect between the support they want for their philanthropic activities and the support that financial advisors provide. Financial advisors often focus on helping their donor-clients select an appropriate giving vehicle, like a DAF or a foundation.
*Even with this kind of advising and matchmaking, clients often want more robust support on how to align their finances and their giving strategy with their values and how to have the biggest impact on substantive issues.
*A robust ecosystem does exist to help donor-clients with all the aspects of developing and executing an intentional giving strategy. Stronger referral relationships and partnerships between advisors who specialize on different aspects of philanthropy and wealth management can help close many of the gaps. Greater knowledge about philanthropy among financial advisors, the first touch point for most wealth holders, can also go a long way to address clients' advisory needs.
*Inheritors have higher expectations for streamlined technology and forms of communication. As more and more money is transferred to inheritors, we expect the demand for new philanthropy technology to increase. Some of the emerging "phil-tech" technology, like PhilanthPro, serves as a conversation starter between advisors and clients, and an educational tool that nudges clients towards more intentional and trust-based philanthropy.
With great thanks to Gideon Taub and the entire team at Ren for inviting PhilanthPro Solutions to be a part of this important conversation.