Family Philanthropy
How to Focus Your End of Year Giving
With 2020 soon (thankfully!) coming to a close, you and your family are likely considering the best way to contribute your end-of-year charitable dollars. With all the worthy causes to support—and the need greater than ever, how will you decide (or if you’re an advisor, help your clients decide) where to focus? One of the…
12 Ways to Give While Social Distancing: A Philanthropy Kit for Kids and Families During COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced people out of our comfort zones, keeping us home to face our fears, our values, our family members, and what matters most in life. If you are parent, grandparent, or caregiver with children at home, you have been working hard to keep your family healthy, while striving to find a…
Family Office Magazine Features Hammer & Associates on the Cover of The Business of Wealth Issue
We made the cover! I’m excited to announce that my Balancing Passion and Strategy article is the lead article featured in the internationally read Family Office Magazine’s The Business of Wealth edition. You can read the full article here. The U.K.-based Family Office Magazine has a readership of 56,000 influential family office leaders and families…
Dealing with Death and Transition – Family Dynamics Fixes
“If you think you’re enlightened, spend a weekend with your family.” – Ram Dass Happy New Year! I hope you all enjoyed a restful holiday season. I’ll admit: I have, what I like to call, a bit of a family hangover. It’s not been an easy week. I’ve been in Florida this past week, where…
Your Go-To Guide on Global Philanthropy
As the world becomes increasingly interconnected, more families of wealth want to make an impact globally through their philanthropy and investments. This is greatly needed, as we humans and our planet are facing some of the most complex humanitarian crises of our time. Some family offices and funders shy away from international philanthropy. While cross-border…
Making the Most of Family Dynamics
In my work as a philanthropy advisor at Hammer & Associates, I meet with a lot of families who share stories about what it’s like to give as a family—with parents, grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, and/or siblings. As they make decisions together, they get to know and respect each other in new ways. They better…
Top 5 Family Dynamics in Philanthropic Families and What You Can Do About Them, FOE Spring 2017
Navigating philanthropic giving in families has its challenges. Even in the most successful families, misunderstandings, disagreements, and power struggles can and do occur. Whenever a family must make decisions together about money—whether it’s making money, keeping money, or giving it away—it can get tricky. Emotions run high and family members may react or revert back…
Philanthropy Reading and a Ride
Is this summer flying by for you as it is for me? Mine started with an annual trip to London for the Global Family Office Forum conference at the Dorchester Hotel. It was wonderful to be back in London, see old friends, meet new colleagues, and learn about new trends in the family office world.…
Starting a Values Conversation
“Values are like fingerprints. Nobody’s are the same, but you leave them all over everything you do.” ~ Elvis Presley The way to fulfillment in philanthropy—and by and large as a family—is the degree to which you are driven by purpose and shared values. In other words, why you give matters just as much, if…
How Family Office Staff Can Support Family Philanthropy
With the holiday gifting frenzy behind us, and now that we’re well into the new year, I’ve been thinking about how wealthy families can sustain the generous (albeit impulsive) spirit of the holidays into more strategic giving throughout the year. Wouldn’t that be a fantastic resolution to keep? While what I like to call “spray…
When a Loved One Dies: Dealing with Family Dynamics (Part 2 of 2)
The death of a family member—especially a foundation leader—is likely the largest change a family will undergo. Suddenly, or not so suddenly, family members must grapple with grief and loss, and also an onslaught of financial, legal and organizational issues. How can you plan ahead—as a family, or as a family enterprise (business, foundation, family…
Stories from London
In June I spent a whirlwind week in London. I was there for the Global Family Office Forum where I presented the findings of our report Philanthropy in the Family Office: A Global Perspective, and led a panel on the same. While in London, I met many wonderful families and family office staff committed to…