Eight Ways to Make Philanthropy a Family Affair

There’s a strong urge among many successful people to “pay it forward” by financially supporting causes and organizations that are important to them. Indeed, you may already be making regular and sizable charitable contributions. In our experience, charitable planning is one of the key areas of importance for the affluent today.

But ask yourself this: Have you gotten your family involved in philanthropy?

If not, you could be missing an amazing opportunity to teach your children and other loved ones about smart financial decision-making and impart key financial values that can guide them throughout their lives. What’s more, making philanthropy a family affair can be a lot of fun.

Reasons to involve your family

There are lots of reasons you might want to include kids (dependents and adult children) or other family members in your existing charitable efforts—or even create a family giving plan from the ground up. For example:

1. A chance to impart values and bond. CEG Insights found that 75% of the wealthiest investors, with a net worth of $25 million or more, believe it’s essential to leave a legacy—and more than half of them say it involves passing along both assets and values. (1) Chances are, you too would like to impart some of your key values. Bringing family into the philanthropic process—identifying causes, evaluating specific charities working in those areas and deciding how much to give those groups—offers teachable moment after teachable moment on what you care about and why, and how that concern should be combined with positive, constructive action.

2. Smarter, more aware heirs. Philanthropy can raise awareness of your community’s (or the country’s or even the planet’s) most pressing issues that require attention, funding and action. Seeing where and why charitable dollars are needed can potentially help kids recognize that the world extends beyond what they see every day—and help them realize how lucky they are while building their empathy for others who aren’t so fortunate.

3. Financial literacy. Being involved in family philanthropy gives kids the opportunity to see how important financial concepts (budgeting, allocation of assets, compound growth and goal prioritization, to name a few) actually work “in the real world.”

ACTION STEPS TO CONSIDER

How to best bring together philanthropy and family? There are many ways to do it, and you can base your approach at least partly on the ages and interest levels of the people involved. Here are eight ideas:

1. Volunteer together. For young children especially, volunteering or participating in charity events can potentially lay the groundwork for a lifetime of philanthropy. Participating with your kids in these ways can help show the importance of “walking your talk.”

2. Discuss your own “giving story.” Let family members know about causes you care about and support—and why. Show your kids that you’re inspired to make a difference, and help them understand where that inspiration comes from.

3. Introduce kids to the charities you support. Show them the organizations you fund and those groups’ specific missions and strategies for achieving their goals. Highlight the specific positive results they’ve achieved so your kids can grasp how philanthropy can lead to powerful real-world outcomes.

4. Show them the impact of your giving, in person. If your philanthropy has helped construct a new building or space for a charity, bring the children to it so they see with their own eyes how your family is making a tangible difference.

5. Do your philanthropic homework together. Step up your engagement by enlisting (age-appropriate) family members to help you find a new cause to support and identify various charities addressing that cause. This can be a great exercise for kids who love research and knowledge, as they get to think about specific problems they want to see tackled and then investigate relevant charitable organizations.

6. Give them some control over decision-making. Older kids and adult children may be ready to have a say in how the family allocates its philanthropic capital. For example, if your child cares deeply about animals, consider letting them identify well-regarded animal charities and then have them make a case for donating to one or two of them.

7. Keep the dialogue going. Chances are, your philanthropy isn’t a “one and done” task. Your efforts to involve family in it shouldn’t be either. When new problems arise and emergencies occur, discuss with family members whether charitable dollars should be allocated toward them.

8. Enlist your advisor. Need help with any of the previous steps? A trusted financial advisor can be a great resource. After all, they spend much of their time helping people get a handle on their financial values and goals and how to pursue them. Family meetings about charitable giving, facilitated by an advisor, can potentially help everyone involved gain clarity about causes and charities to support.

You’re likely aware of how powerful a force philanthropy can be. Chances are, you can make the charitable planning and giving process even richer by enlisting the help of people you care about most. Together, you can pursue goals that could change your community—or even the world—for the better.

Source: CEG Insights, The $25 Million+ Investor, 2024

ACKNOWLEDGMENT:This article was published by the VFO Inner Circle, a global financial concierge group working with affluent individuals and families and is distributed with its permission. Copyright 2026 by AES Nation, LLC.

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