Think back on the gifts your family made last year and how each one came about. A friend asked for support. The annual gala came around again. December arrived and the checkbook came out. Generosity in any of those forms does good, and every one of those gifts mattered to someone. Still, there's a difference between giving that happens to a family and giving a family chooses, and the research suggests donors understand that difference. In the most recent Bank of America Study of Philanthropy, 68 percent of affluent donors named personal values and beliefs as the top factor in deciding where to give, ahead of any tax consideration or social obligation. Eighty-seven percent described their giving as personally fulfilling.
Start with the Why, Not the Where
An intentional giving plan starts with a question: what do we want our money to say about us? Some families center on a cause tied to their own story, like a school that shaped them or a community that raised them. Others organize around a principle, like service, opportunity, or faith.
Once a family can name what it cares about, the field narrows on its own. A family committed to supporting veterans and their families evaluates opportunities differently than one giving reactively. They’ve already filtered their mission to a specific cause.
Affluent donors increasingly treat philanthropy the way they treat investing, with 62 percent monitoring and evaluating the impact of their gifts before making the next one. Fewer, larger, better-researched commitments tend to replace the scattered dozens.
Giving as a Family Project
Among financial topics, philanthropy is one of the few that works across generations. Parents who involve children and grandchildren in giving decisions pass along the reasoning: why this cause, why this organization, and what the family expects the gift to accomplish.
Some families formalize this with an annual giving conversation, while others let each generation champion a cause and fund the ones with the strongest case. Either way, the next generation learns how the family thinks about money and meaning at the same time, which is a harder lesson to teach from a spreadsheet.
Where the Plan Comes In
Intentional giving works best inside a financial plan where the structure can be critical. Questions like, which assets to give, which vehicles to use, and how the giving coordinates with income, taxes, and estate goals can set the stage for the year ahead.
We help families connect what they care about to how they give, so generosity and planning move in the same direction. If your family is thinking about what its giving should stand for, we'd welcome the conversation.
Sources: Bank of America and Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, "2025 Study of Philanthropy: Charitable Giving by Affluent Households"; Foundation Source, 2026 Donor Survey