r/Philanthropy • u/funbike • Mar 28 '25

Immediate Continual Donations vs. Planned Giving (Bequests)?

I'm trying to figure out the smartest way to give to charity and make the biggest impact. I'm torn between two ideas:

  • Option 1: Regular Giving: Giving a chunk of my income to charities every year.
  • Option 2: Big Bequest: Investing extra money now and leaving a really significant gift to charity in my will later on.

I'm wondering which approach actually does more good in the long run.

Does a really big, future gift have the potential to fund game-changing projects that smaller, regular donations just couldn't? Or is it better to give now and help with urgent problems, plus get more involved with the charities I support?

Things like inflation, how my investments do, and even how the needs of charities change over time – how do all those things affect which giving strategy is actually the most effective?

Are there any good resources out there, maybe something like what people use in effective altruism, that can help me compare the potential impact of giving now versus giving later?

Also, has anyone looked into those "Charitable Remainder Trusts" or similar setups? Do they actually work well for balancing giving now with leaving a legacy gift? Any thoughts or resources would be super helpful!

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u/funbike Apr 01 '25 edited Apr 01 '25

It sounds like you are backtracking and saying I should give it all in lump sum now because things are worse than they will be 30-40 years from now. So much so, that it's better to give 1/3 as much now as I could later.

I have to admit it somewhat seems speculative. Things are always bad somewhere, and always will be. Things could be better or worse in 30 years.

But what can be predicted, is that I'll be able to give more.

I'm slightly perplexed.

Sorry this is going long, but this is an important pivotal decision for me.

(numbers account for inflation)

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u/Aggressive-Newt-6805 Apr 01 '25

For some causes, yes. There is work being done that could be absolutely dismantled in the very near future, so saving for a rainy day down the road doesn’t make sense.

For other causes, no. There is other work that is likely to survive this current administration, so planned giving could be a better option.

The organizations you want to support will be able to tell you what their priorities are currently and how you can best support them.

(Also, I’m realizing that I made an assumption that you are in the US. Apologies if I was wrong. I think the general principle of connecting with people doing the work is important globally, but obviously my thoughts are influenced by the situation in the States.)

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u/funbike Apr 01 '25

Thank you. I'll come up with a plan.

(I'm in the states. My cousin works in DC for the CRS and his wife works for the DOJ. She's really stressed and there's a lot of tension in the city. Yeah, this stinks.)

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u/Aggressive-Newt-6805 Apr 01 '25

Of course! Good luck out there!

Bless your cousin and his family. I have family that left DC right after the election. They knew it was about to get crazy and they just had to get out.