Extreme philanthropy

Financial Planning, October, 2007 by Jim Grote

For the last few decades, Americans' charitable giving has hovered around 2% of pretax income. Anne and Christopher Ellinger of Arlington, Mass., have upped the ante with an invitation to what could be considered "extreme philanthropy" pushing that percentage up to 50. In 2003, they established a foundation called Bolder Giving to inspire people to realize their full giving potential. Today, more than 88 people have joined the organization's 50% League and given away half of their financial assets, or half of their income or business profits for at least three years. Many of them have shared their stories online at www.boldergiving.org.

Before you dismiss the idea out of hand, try this handy tool on the website: The Ellingers invite you to type in your annual income and hit "show me the money." If you type in $100,000, a modest sum for the average financial planning client, ...