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Give Across
Generations

Family Philanthropy Resource Center
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Lay the foundation for your family’s legacy. Our team and tools help you and your loved ones come together to craft a giving strategy that feels impactful—not transactional.

The Experience

COLLABORATIVE GIVING

Our Philanthropic Advisors are seasoned at facilitating meetings for families of all ages and stages of life. Our unique toolkit includes a workbook of exercises, practical tips, and family activities.

NAVIGATING CHANGE

Manage complex family transitions such as marriage, retirement, births, or deaths. We’ll help you transform tricky conversations about money into opportunities to explore family values and give through generations.

STRATEGIC PLANS

We’ll guide you in determining budgets, roles, and responsibilities to keep your giving plans on track. We also offer intensive, tailored support for private foundations.

Our Approach

Our flexible, hands-on approach allows you to tailor a plan that works for your family. We focus on four key areas of charitable giving:

 

Who would you like to join at your giving table?

Why do you give?

What are your charitable goals?

How do you want to make an impact?

“When you think about a safety net, nets have big holes. The pandemic is illustrating how big some of these holes are. A lot of our grantees have been organizations that are working with the underserved populations that are so impacted by the virus.”
–Val Spencer
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“One of the things we appreciate about the Minneapolis Foundation is that, because it does a lot of background research on small organizations, it ends up having a really good window on where the areas of need are.”
–Aaron Bergad
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“When the focus of the OneMPLS Fund became housing, and we knew we could collaborate with others, and the money would go to local nonprofits working with people in local neighborhoods who need these services—it was just a logical thing to do.”
–Maureen Bazinet Beck
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Frequently Asked Questions

  • My kids are very young—can you suggest ways to include them in my family’s giving?

    Yes! We work with many young families and provide tools and activities to share the value of generosity with your children. We’d love to connect you with age-appropriate resources.

  • My spouse and I have a family foundation. Can you help us with succession planning?

    Yes. We are experienced at helping families have these conversations. We have worked with many parents and grandparents to help their children build skills as philanthropists. We also help family foundations develop transition plans that can range from opening a companion Donor Advised Fund for the next generation to making the conversion to a Signature Fund. Take a look at our comparison chart for more details.

  • I have a nontraditional family. Is that a problem?

    That’s great! We cherish the diversity of our donor families, and we know that loved ones aren’t always blood relatives. However you define “family,” we’re excited to work with you.

  • My family doesn’t agree on a variety of topics and I’m worried we won’t be able to agree on charitable causes. Can you help?

    We’ve worked with many families who aren’t completely aligned in their charitable giving goals or who have other barriers such as geographic distance that make group giving a challenge. (Believe us: This is very common!) Our Philanthropic Advisors are experienced at connecting families across generations, geographic locations, political orientations, and more.

Questions?

Christine Headshot

We’d love to hear about your family’s charitable goals. Connect with Christine to start the conversation.

Christine Empanger
Manager, Family Philanthropy Resource Center