Four siblings
named Becker, ranging in age from 32 to 42, have embarked together on a new
philanthropic journey to deepen their sisterhood and sense of community.
Several years ago K.C., Karen, Trish, and Elle began saving part of their
annual distributions from the family business and earlier this year pooled
their savings and established a Donor Advised Endowed Fund with The Community
Foundation. The choice to do so came after learning about the many options out
there and defining what they value in practicing philanthropy.
“First we
considered a private family foundation, and then we began hearing about
community foundations and donor advised funds from friends. We decided to go
with a community foundation for three reasons: A) the investments would be
handled; B) potential grantees would be vetted; and C) we didn’t feel we had
enough money to establish a private foundation,” said K.C.
Once deciding
to work with a community foundation, the four sisters, all living in different
cities around the U.S.,
looked into their local community foundations. The Community Foundation serving
Boulder County fit the bill.
“Boulder is small enough
to provide highly personalized service, while also being well run and
organized,” said K.C. “We knew we wouldn’t feel like a drop in the bucket here.
It felt like the best value for opportunities for personal input and easy to
talk to a real person.”
The next
decision to be made was what type of donor advised fund to establish—Endowed,
Impact, or Gift. Here again the four sisters reflected to determine which fund
type would support their goals.
“What drove us
was to make the commitment and to work intentionally, pro-actively, and
positively as an immediate family. To the extent that we can create something
in our lives, we can do something good, not only in the world, but within our
family. We want to do this early, as we’re starting our own families, so our
kids will grow up with a value of being intentionally and naturally
philanthropic,” shared K.C.
“This is a good
way to talk to one another about things greater than ourselves—better
communication with each other and, by extension, with the world,” added Karen.
“Our inspiration is to have this happen with our children, and an endowed fund
lends itself to that legacy.”
Now that their
Donor Advised Endowed Fund is established, K.C., Trish, El, and Karen are
learning about one another’s interests and passions in a whole new context and
learning about how to balance those diverse interests, when creating a focused
mission for their fund. One thing is already clear to the sisters—pooling their
money (which inspired contributions from additional family members) truly
leveraged their individual donations, and they’re poised to make a greater
impact as a group than they could as individuals.
“Once we set
aside the money, we were committed. This requires treating our charitable
giving more thoughtfully. Being part of the peer atmosphere at The Community
Foundation is powerful. We have been exposed to what other donors are doing,
and we are exposed to groups, issues, and needs in the community that we might
not otherwise be. Our level of awareness has been raised,” said K.C.
“Using this
money for good was a no-brainer,” said Karen. “Our parents have enabled us to
do this and modeled giving back, throughout our lives. Now we’re starting to
work together as a family in a new and intentional way. We’re excited for one
another,” said Karen.
To learn more
about establishing a Donor Advised Fund at The Community Foundation or other
ways to give, please call 303-442-0436 or visit www.commfound.org.
