Balanced
Rock
Investment
Advisors
Our Service
Philanthropic Advising
Having helped clients plan and distribute philanthropic gifts of more than $50M to date, Balanced Rock has the experience, expertise, and relationships to support client charitable giving at any scale. We supplement tax minimization strategies with comprehensive financial planning and estate planning strategies to ensure that clients make the most of their philanthropic dollars while creating a solid plan to preserve and maintain their desired standard of living and meet other life goals.
We can provide recommendations for vetted charities in a number of key areas such as climate change, racial justice, basic human needs, economic democracy, and grassroots organizing. In the case of substantial donations, we can even perform custom research and grant-making services to identify opportunities and distribute funds in a customized way to reflect client concerns.
Our Perspective on Giving
There will be important causes to give to for the rest of our lives and we want to leave options open for you in your plan. However, there are also urgent needs and incredibly effective impact opportunities right now. We encourage clients to give now, if they can, to the extent that they can. Often we use Donor Advised Funds (DAFs) to help clients give in an organized way that minimizes taxes but once funds are in the DAF, we encourage clients to find movement homes for the funds so they can be put to work in someone else’s hands.
Key Questions
Is your financial plan strong enough to support the level of giving you would like to do? What is motivating your desire to give? What weight do you put on giving that helps people/planet immediately versus giving that changes systems and underlying conditions? How much of your giving capacity do you want to distribute now versus spreading our your giving over many years? Are you interested in giving in a way that maximizes tax savings and maximizes charitable giving?
Our philanthropic advice is grounded in a philosophy of systems change, frontline community leadership and political tipping points. This philosophy can be applied across rapid response, direct services, community organizing and policy focused nonprofits. We conduct due diligence on impact and effective use of funds in various areas domestically and globally: environmental justice, racial justice, poverty reduction, education, health and wellbeing, decolonization. Below are a handful of 501(c)3 nonprofits that we’ve included in recent recommendations:
“Philanthropy is commendable but it must not cause the philanthropist to overlook the circumstances of economic injustice which make philanthropy necessary.”
BELOW: Protesters against the Boston Redevelopment Authority and the eviction of residences on North Harvard, 1965. Boston Public Library.
