Dear friends in philanthropic advising — you community foundations, planned giving councils, Chartered Advisers in Philanthropy, Purposeful Planners, and more.

We gather around to mourn the soon-likely death of our dear friend, the “charitable question.” We ignored all of the warning signs that charitable giving was going down a different path:

  • Declining trust — The annual Edelman Trust Barometer came out this month. What’s the rate of trust in nonprofits “to do what is right”? 50%That’s right, it’s a toss-up.
  • Replaced by newer models — Sure, charitable giving has been growing since the recession. But other uses of money for social impact have been growing at much faster rates — donation-based crowdfunding, impact investing, political giving, perhaps even interest in direct cash transfers.
  • Tax reform — While some people believe otherwise, the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act (TCJA) dealt a powerful blow to tax-deductible giving. Our tax-savvy ways of supporting the charitable question flip unitrusts with a piece of pie at the back end, and more — have power for fewer people.

There are ways to adapt to the changing landscape of philanthropy and charitable giving. This includes: political giving, impact investments, crowdfunding, starting a B Corp, shareholder activism, volunteering, and more. Yes, and even 501(c)(3) charities when they earn our trust. In addition to giving to charities and volunteering, wealthy people also name these options as important ways to “give back to society”: creating jobs and opportunities for others by owning a business, investing in companies based on social impact, and pursuing social entrepreneurship.

Read the full article about philanthropy and charitable giving changing by Tony Macklin at Medium.