My husband started our foundation several years ago with a modest initial gift. We have had some success in the investment business and now see the foundation as enabling us to plan for charitable giving during the remainder of our lives in a more meaningful and thoughtful way. A major factor in my husband’s decision was that the foundation would serve as a wonderful example for our children who were seven and five years of age at the time. It will be a legacy that hopefully will bring them together to run as adults and have a common goal.
Although the foundation remains small, the foundation has grown considerably since its inception, as my husband has continued to add to the initial gift. We currently give away grants totaling something under $200,000 a year, with grants generally falling within the $10,000 to $20,000 range. My husband and I are trustees and I am responsible for the management of the foundation. Though we make grants in a number of areas; special interests include education and children welfare policy.
Whenever possible efforts are made to leverage limited resources. A current example of this involves a school, where a $4,000 grant to underwrite the costs of a concert enabled the school to raise the $20,000 it needed to complete its capital campaign. What made the concert particularly special was the fact that three world class musicians, all of whom had ties to the school, donated their talents for the evening. In this situation, it was the synergy between our grant and the musicians’ donation of their time and talent that made for such a wonderful and financially successful occasion.
Sybil Hite
Summit, New Jersey