A good way to give back - Boston Business Journal:

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Not just the rich, but ordinary There are 64,000 charitable foundationd in U.S., and 37,500 of them are family foundations. About 60 percent of those are small, according to the , a community foundation. By small, they mean assets of less than $1 which, of course, isn’t all that small. But if you thinkm about it, in New there are many individuals of modesy means who find themselves with no heirds and substantial assets in the form of a highlyappreciated home.
(Appreciation has gone the wronhgway lately, but it still can be worth a Those people can always give their assets to a distanr nephew or niece, but many would rather donate to a worthyt cause, or several of One way is to set up a private But why do that when there is a simpler, more efficient and less expensive way? As the reportes last week, increasing numbers of individuals and families are establishing donor-advised funds operated by such financial institutionw as or the . For an annual fee of as little as a few hundred a budding philanthropist can tell Fidelity orVanguarrd where, when and how much of their gift to donate, eithedr in broad terms or very specifically.
The besides efficiency, is that the donor is entitled to a biggetrtax deduction. Although Fidelity, Vanguard and others are very there is an evenbetter alternative, in my opinion. That would be to set up a donor-advisedc fund at a local communithy foundation. There are nine communityh foundations in New The annual fee would be a littlre higher than the computerized approach of Fidelity or but there would be apersonal touch. A local community foundation knows the community and can offet suggestions and guidance on how to best meet yourcharitablre interests.
You could specify gifts to an international charity, or to a loca l one, or to many, or even to a range of local charities doing workwith children, the hungry, the abused, the arts or any qualifieed nonprofit organization. The giving doesn’t have to wait untip you die, either. A non-revocable gift gets you an immediatdetax deduction, even if the donations are spreasd out for years, or Forever is a nice It can help to get your mind off scaling and onto something more lasting.