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The Philanthropy Toolkit (original)

Welcome to the Philanthropy Toolkit. We designed this resource for wealth advisors assisting high capacity clients who want to engage in thoughtful, inspired, and effective philanthropy. The best practices reflected in this toolkit are based on field research led by Stanford experts with donors, advisors, and nonprofits.

You can work through all 6 modules to create a comprehensive giving plan, or go directly to the areas addressing your current interests. There are components for people who are just starting out in philanthropy and also for those who are more experienced but want to go further. 

New the Toolkit? Learn more about this resource and how to use it:

Toolkit Instructions

TOOLKIT MODULES

How do you find your focus areas?

I. Clarify your motivations and values 
II. Narrow your focus areas 
III. Contribute your time and talent 

How do you involve your family?

I. Involve your family in your philanthropy
II. Involve the next generation

How do you structure your giving?

I. Determine your philanthropy budget
II. Select your giving vehicles

How do you find and vet organizations?

I. Find focus-aligned organizations
II. Understand how organizations can achieve their intended outcomes
III. Vet organizations

How do you make gifts and track your giving?

I. Make gifts to organizations you selected
II. Track your philanthropy
III. Consider expanding or refining your philanthropy

Where can you learn more, seek professional advice and engage other donors?

I. Learn more about effective philanthropy 
II. Seek advice from professionals 
III. Learn with other donors 
IV. Collaborate with other donors

ADVISOR’S MANUAL

This is a supplementary section specifically for wealth advisors: 

The Advisor's Manual

Learn how to guide your client through the content of this toolkit.

Conversation Starters

When proactively starting the conversation, you may want to gauge your client’s interest in philanthropy with a few opening questions. These questions allow you to get to the deeper values and motivations behind your clients’ philanthropy. 

Primer Questions

The Toolkit Primer will also help your client navigate the toolkit in response to specific philanthropy-related questions.

Toolkit Instructions

Who is this for?

This toolkit is designed for high-capacity donors interested in stepping into or continuing a role as effective philanthropists. Effective philanthropists go beyond writing checks to nonprofit organizations. They support the impact of effective organizations aligned with their philanthropic missions. It is personally meaningful as well as socially impactful.

Why use this toolkit?

Creating sustained social impact and maximizing the value of your philanthropic dollars takes careful planning and reflection. Without extensive experience in the social sector, the process can seem overwhelming at times. This toolkit guides you through each stage of your philanthropic planning. It provides you with resources and activities to ensure that your philanthropy can positively contribute to improving the world around you, while adding more meaning to your own life.

How can you use this toolkit?

We encourage you to make this toolkit work for your needs and financial situation. You can work through it in order, or jump to the specific modules that apply to the current stage of your philanthropy. Spend as much time as you need to achieve the objectives in each module—you do not need to come up with all the answers in a single sitting, or even in a single year. 

You can easily adapt this toolkit’s activities and worksheets for a couple or a family. For example:

  • for worksheets, each participant can receive a copy and complete these worksheets separately before coming together to discuss their responses and determine a collective decision.
  • for activities involving cards, you can print multiple copies of the cards, and each participant can go through the exercise individually and then share their responses, or you can work through the activities together.

Working through this toolkit with the guidance of a financial advisor can help you integrate your philanthropic planning into your broader wealth management strategy. Your advisor’s expertise on financial structures, as well as knowledge of your personal finances and goals, may also be helpful at various points in the toolkit.

Our goal is to help you transform your philanthropic vision into action without getting stuck in the planning stage of the process. Many successful philanthropists find it helpful to organize their philanthropy into different cycles—they create a three-year or five-year giving plan, use that time to test their plan and learn in the field, then revisit and adapt the plan before continuing the process. We encourage you to create a timeline for yourself before beginning the toolkit. 

We believe that there is no single correct way to be a philanthropist. What matters is that you make informed, thoughtful decisions and continue learning along the way.

If you are having any issues, or need to inquire directly with our team, contact us. 

Toolkit Primer

The  Primer helps you navigate the toolkit in response to specific, philanthropy-related questions. If you are unsure where to start, use the Primer before diving into the Toolkit’s  main material. 

Toolkit Primer

Get involved

This is an evolving resource which we are excited to share with you. We would love to hear your comments and suggestions for future versions.

Get involved

ABOUT THE TOOLKIT

The research behind this project

EPLI began this project in 2016, interviewing financial intermediaries across the U.S. to better understand how improved philanthropic planning and guidance could be integrated into the financial planning process.  We then prioritized working with wealth advisors because of their unique role connecting various strands of a client’s financial plan.  The Initiative plans to expand its work to support other financial intermediaries in the future.

Through a human-centered design process, we designed and developed several prototypes and tested them with financial institutions, donor advised funds, and wealth advisors across the country. Participating advisors came from firms of varying sizes, experiences, and levels of comfort in discussing philanthropy with their clients. Additional information about this research can be found here.

The toolkit is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. We permit others to copy, distribute, display, and perform the work, as well as make and distribute derivative works based on it, including for commercial purposes. You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use. You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.

Who are we?

Nadia Roumani, EPLI’s Co-founder and Director of EPLI’s Financial Intermediary Philanthropy Initiatives, led the research, design, and development for The Philanthropy Toolkit. Paul Brest serves as the Principal Investigator for this initiative. EPLI Fellows Sarena Chan and Ayushi Vig were instrumental in the Toolkit’s design and development, and previous contributing Fellows included Tina Sadeghi, Gillian Raikes, and Celina Artusi.  Anthony Cappetta supported the Toolkit’s design and layout, and DeAnna Burghart provided the copy editing. Further support on the launch and digital development provided by EPLI team members, Davey Kim  (Program Manager) and Erinn Andrews (Director).

EPLI’s research and Toolkit development were generously supported by the Raikes Foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Schwab Charitable, and Perpetual.  We especially want to thank the Schwab Charitable team for their detailed feedback and ongoing collaboration.  We would also like to thank the various experts and financial intermediaries who graciously shared their time and provided us with invaluable feedback.

CONTACT US

For troubleshooting or direct questions on the Toolkit, please contact the EPLI team at:

contact-epli@stanford.edu 
(650) 498-7646

Effective Philanthropy Learning Initiative (EPLI) at 
Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society (Stanford PACS)
559 Nathan Abbott Way
Stanford, CA 94305

 

About EPLI

Stanford Effective Philanthropy Learning Initiative (EPLI) is an interdisciplinary team within the Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society (PACS). Conducting applied research at the intersection of strategic philanthropy, the behavioral sciences, and design thinking, Stanford EPLI aims to help donors make more informed, outcome-focused decisions and thereby increase their philanthropic impact.

Stanford PACS is a research center that develops and shares knowledge to improve philanthropy, strengthen civil society, and effect social change. Stanford PACS connects students, scholars, and practitioners with three primary goals: building the pipeline of scholars in the field, increasing practice-informing research on philanthropy and social change, and improving the practice and effectiveness of philanthropy and social innovation. PACS also publishes the preeminent Stanford Social Innovation Review.

EPLI home page

Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.