There are various different ways to give to charity when you are planning your estate. The correct choice for you is something that you should probably discuss with an experienced estate planning lawyer.
Some people would like to derive income as they set aside a certain amount of money for charities. This can sometimes be done with inherent tax advantages built-in. To this end, you may want to consider the creation of a charitable remainder unitrust.
Another option would be to create a private foundation. While there are obviously very well-funded foundations that carry the names of some of the most wealthy families in the country, you may be surprised to hear that most foundations are much more modest in scope.
The majority of private foundations don’t have anyone working on staff, and most of them operate with less than $1 million of funding.
Donor advised funds are a possibility as well. With these funds you streamline your accounting and save time because you work with just one entity, but you can request that the funds be spread among a variety of different charities.
How you are going to get the money into the hands of charities is one choice that you have to make. You also have to consider which charities to give to, and this is a big decision.
You may want to visit a website called CharityNavigator.org. All of the thousands of charities out there are not created equal. Some of them devote a much higher percentage to executive salaries and other forms of overhead than others.
If you want to be certain that most of your contributions are going to be utilized to provide programs and services rather than perks and salaries, you may want to do your research before making any decisions.
