Marcia and Rich Flaugh, center, enlisted their grandkids to make charitable giving decisions.
(Edited photo courtesy of the Flaugh family)
By Steve Dinnen
Want a smart way to give away $1 million? Let your grandkids do it. It brings them together as a family and engages their hearts and minds in the process of being good philanthropists.
Those were the goals Rich and Marcia Flaugh of Ankeny set out to accomplish with the $1 million check they sent to the Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines. “It’s a great way for kids and grandkids to learn about charitable giving,” Rich said. “It helps them understand their charitable giving values.”
Many donors have a cause or organization in mind when they send money to the Foundation. (For instance, I wanted to make a donation to the Des Moines Symphony. I sent money to the Foundation and captured the tax benefits such organizations provide, and they forwarded the money to the musicians.) Other donors may not have specific recipients in mind, in which case the Foundation’s advisers can offer guidance.
The Flaughs didn’t need these advisers, as they turned the task over to their grandchildren. The eight of them — teens and young adults — meet once a year to decide how to spend some of the money. At present, they’re giving away a percentage of the master donation; the corpus is held by the foundation in investments, building for future years.
Rich said he plays no role in their decision-making process and stays away from the basement meetings. Marcia occasionally pops in with some freshly baked cookies.
There are three sets of cousins, from Bondurant, Pella and Ankeny. They’re a board of directors, as granddaughter Grace Emmert Palmer put it, and they meet around the holidays each year to conduct business and nibble on treats. “We make sure they understand that cookie decoration is coming and everyone better get ready,” she said.
Everyone is expected to bring at least one idea to the table. With eight sets of eyes at work, they come across some charitable opportunities that might have escaped the attention of their grandparents. One grandkid/director moved to Des Moines and started hearing about water-quality issues, so the group decided to support the Iowa Environmental Council. Another beneficiary was Joppa, which helps homeless people find housing and rebuild their lives. Another year, a dental care clinic received funding.
Grace Emmert Palmer said she thinks their board is doing good work. So do Grandpa and Grandma.
Community Foundation offers lots of ways to give
The Flaugh family is steering their giving by way of a charitable giving fund at the Greater Des Moines Community Foundation, which offers a variety of funds and styles to match however you choose to carry out your philanthropy.
There are designated funds, for instance, which are designed to benefit particular organizations. Some other options include:
Legacy funds. Your will or estate plan will spells out how the money is spent.
Better Together Funds. This collects money from various donors and then distributes grants to a variety of nonprofits, such as the foundations that support Anawim Housing or Broadlawns Medical Center.
Field of interest funds. If you’d like to support a particular cause — education, health care, the arts and so on — these accounts parcel out giving to various organizations that operate in these areas.
Scholarship funds. An account of at least $50,000 can be directed toward scholarships for qualifying members of the community.
Seed grants. Start out slow, with a minimum buy-in of $1,000, and contribute regularly until the account reaches $10,000, which can then be gifted.
It’s worth noting that Better Together and scholarship contributions may qualify for Endow Iowa tax credits.
You can find more details about all of the charitable giving funds at the Foundation’s website.
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