Strategic Philanthropy, Ltd., is a boutique firm providing customized support to high-net-worth individuals and families to ensure that their charitable gifts are meaningful and have the kind of impact that will resonate for stakeholders. In addition to strategy development and implementation support, Strategic Philanthropy has a full time Grants Manager and a customized, proprietary grants management system. The capacity to support Foundations, their boards, and their grantees from planning through administration and grants monitoring is one of the unique aspects of the firm and clearly aligned with the needs and interests of the Foundation.
Philosophy/Approach: The firm is donor-centric, working with individuals, families and their closely held and family-owned businesses, as well as their advisors. Although we’ve grown over the years, and now function very much as a Multi-Family Philanthropic Office® for many clients, our values remain the same and define and measure what we do.
Integrity–both in how we deliver our services, treat our clients, and all of those with whom we work.
Diversity, equity and inclusion–the differences between people are what offer the greatest opportunity for learning, growing and demonstrating change.
Transparency–an open, sharing and collaborative relationship is the hallmark of a successful philanthropic practice.
Creativity–ours is not a “cookie cutter” mentality when doing business. We must continually think “outside of the box”.
Types of clients: Private foundations, Corporation foundations, Individual donors
Specialization: Strategic Philanthropy, Ltd., is a fee-based, donor-centric firm. We do not provide legal, financial or investment counsel, rather we partner with your advisors so that you get the benefit of deep experience from all of the professionals on your team.
As a Multi-Family Philanthropic Office®, we can manage your philanthropy, including providing all administrative support, and support discrete projects, from facilitating multi-generational philanthropy to making major gifts. From creating a legacy that shares your values and passions with the next generation, to helping you understand how to most effectively integrate the various tools in the philanthropic toolbox; from grantmaking to impact investing.
Share a testimonial from a client: "My sisters and I had inherited a significant amount from mom when she died in ’82. I took my share and invested in real estate when it seemed just about everybody was trying to sell, and commercial real estate prices were as low as they’d been in years. Before I knew it, the market turned and I found myself sitting on tens of millions of dollars’ worth of office and retail properties.
Meanwhile, in my day job I was promoted to head of the marketing department, and with this promotion came stock options. Over dinner one night, someone asked me how I wanted to be remembered. I didn’t think saying that I had a very well-managed diversified investment portfolio was the right answer, but it got me thinking, what would my nieces and nephews say about me. I decided I wanted to … I don’t know, “Ensure my legacy.” I wanted to leave some trace that I’d once lived, and had done something with my life that mattered.
Right around that time an attorney friend of mine said she had just started working with a philanthropic advisor who was helping her make sense of her own charitable giving so that what she was giving would be more strategic and effective.
When I met with Strategic Philanthropy, Ltd., I told them that I really had never given much thought to charitable giving until now, and I didn’t really know where to begin. They basically put me through a deep dive into philanthropy and helped me bring my interests into focus so that we’d have a starting point. We began to look at how to support two key areas of interest for me: arts education for disadvantaged kids and homelessness. Because I didn’t have any vehicles for giving—I’d been basically just writing checks if someone asked me to make a contribution—we worked closely with both my attorney and my wealth advisor. We ended up creating a Donor Advised Fund and a Charitable Remainder Trust, with my nieces and nephews as the beneficiaries.
Strategic Philanthropy, Ltd. identified organizations, and I spent time getting to know what they were doing. Actually, I’m now on the board of one of them. With the Donor Advised Fund, I don’t have to make immediate decisions about what I’m going to do with my money, but I also don’t want money just sitting in the fund when it could be making a difference for a whole lot of people.
Managing my philanthropic investment portfolio has almost become another full-time job for me. I love reading the reports organizations send about the work they are doing and knowing that I’ve played some small part in their success."