Bruce DeBoskey is an award winning, nationally-syndicated author of columns and articles in newspapers and magazines such as The Denver Post, The Miami Herald, the Chicago Tribune, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, the Albuquerque Journal, the Sacramento Bee, the Kansas City Star, the Lexington Herald-Leader, the Charlotte Observer, the Fort-Worth Star-Telegram, 5280 Magazine, the Costco Connection, Boston College's Corporate Citizen Magazine, The Denver Foundation's Give Magazine, the Boulder Jewish News, Investments & Wealth Monitor, Company Week and many more. Bruce's columns are distributed by the Chicago Tribune News Service to over 600 newspapers and other news outlets across the U.S. and abroad.
With more than $800 billion of foundation assets, these annual grants total more than $56 billion — doing a lot of good. Each year, however, nearly $750 billion remains in endowments — where it usually is invested for the single bottom line of financial gain. Foundations traditionally have believed they must invest the bulk of…
Well-off individuals and families recognize the need to plan for their future security and their legacies — and often go to great lengths to do so. Usually, they work closely with experts who make up three legs of the planning table and help them achieve sophisticated tax-, financial- and estate-planning goals. Tax experts advise about…
Why do you and others give? Many people believe that the act of giving to charity is motivated by altruism — the belief in or practice of disinterested and selfless concern for the well-being of others. Is altruism the driving force behind most philanthropy? I think not. I’ll explain. There is a woman who appears…
When it comes to communicating around money and values, many families face a significant challenge. Some families never talk about these issues. Others talk about them — but with difficulty. Family philanthropy can be an important and safe area in which to commence a family conversation about money and values — creating new and effective…
As the world’s problems become more complex and urgent, traditional models of philanthropic support are not keeping pace. This lag can be blamed in part on the fact that regulations require foundations to donate only 5 percent of their assets. Typically, the remaining 95 percent is invested for growth. Some philanthropic thought leaders are addressing…
With record levels of giving, new approaches to marshaling philanthropic assets for impact, and better approaches to philanthropic strategy, 2015 was a great year for philanthropy. This trend will continue in 2016. Increasingly, leaders in businesses, foundations and families understand that philanthropy is more than the merely transactional act of writing checks to favorite nonprofits….
When it comes to corporate giving, the news is encouraging. More U.S. companies are engaging in smart and strategic community investment initiatives — and seeing positive results from their efforts. The 2015 Community Involvement Study conducted by Boston College’s Center for Corporate Citizenship found that: Corporate community involvement contributes to key business goals — including…
Soon, people across the United States will gather around the Thanksgiving table with family and friends to indulge in abundant, delicious food — and to give thanks for their many blessings and freedoms. Typically, we eat and drink to excess and enjoy leftovers that will last for days. Dinnertime conversation ranges from expressing gratitude for…
Impact investing is one of the hottest topics in the philanthropic sector. It involves investments made with the intention of generating not just a financial return, but also a social or environmental impact — the double bottom line. Until just recently, some foundation directors with an interest in impact investing felt restrained by their fiduciary…
Over the past few years, philanthropic leaders have begun to successfully challenge the “overhead myth” — the belief that high administrative costs reflect a charitable organization that is poorly run and not worthy of support. The well-intentioned and generous family, corporate and foundation donors we regularly work with often recite versions of the overhead myth. They tell us,…