High-Capacity Givers

We are currently deep into our research cycle for these families who are charitably inclined and where giving is one of their deepest family principles. There are three keys to “High Capacity Giving”: A strong natural tendency to give, the means to give, and a connection to a cause or mission. Here are three projects we are working on for the remainder of 2023:

1. Hour-long deep-dive interviews with those who are already in our community as High Capacity Givers. As a group, these individuals and families are naturally inclined to do business with Somerset since we are never going to direct you to stop being charitable. We celebrate generosity here!

2. Roundtables with HCG spouses. We have found that, often, just like there is a family CFO who handles most of the investment decisions, the same seems to be true within charitably inclined families. However, unlike the responsibilities of the household CFO, generosity seems to be something both spouses find interesting, and we actively work with these givers to develop their purpose and passion and to create a formal giving plan.

3. Meetings to help families identify multigenerational values. It can cause great strife in charitable families if the first generation has accumulated a hefty giving fund and wants to share with the next generation, but the two can’t agree on where to give. Chances are Grandpa isn’t going to develop a sudden passion for plastics and the grandchildren may never feel a compulsion to participate in food drives, but Somerset can help uncover a deep blue ocean of projects where multiple generations can connect. Does this story resonate with you? We’d love to conduct a family meeting where we bring each generation together separately and facilitate generosity conversations that help a family identify multigenerational core values.