Engaging the Next Generation in Philanthropy

Most families want to pass on more than money. They want to pass on values, a sense of purpose, and the feeling that their wealth is for something. Philanthropy is where that happens. It is the one part of a family's financial life that is explicitly about what they believe, not just what they own. The National Center for Family Philanthropy puts it plainly: family philanthropy is the act of collective giving rooted in the values of a family, carrying forward its legacy and engaging its members.

For the families you advise, the great wealth transfer makes this urgent. As assets move to the next generation, the real question is not only who inherits the money, but whether anyone inherits the intent behind it. The families who navigate it well are the ones who, in the words of NCFP's CEO, bring in the next generation from a place of partnership and understand that they are inviting in a relationship of equals.

Why it matters, and why it is slipping

Here is the quiet problem. Families care about this as much as they ever have. They just are not acting on it.

86% of family foundations say they encourage their next generation to participate. But the concrete practices that actually make engagement happen have fallen off a cliff over the past decade:

• Taking the next generation on site visits dropped from 56% to 28%.
• Organized discussions of the family's core values with younger members fell from 62% to 21%.
• Only 26% of boards rank next-gen engagement among their top three time commitments.

It is not an interest problem. It is a knowing-doing gap. As NCFP diagnoses it, families have a clear interest in engaging their next generation but do not always have the capacity or know-how to act on it. Life gets in the way: time, distance, and the sheer awkwardness of starting. And the cost of letting it slide is real. The share of foundations reporting that the family works well together fell from 90% to 73% in five years, and the families that report working well are the same ones that invest in engaging the next generation.

This is exactly where you become invaluable, and the business case is strong. Recent research found that offering philanthropy advice could increase a client's lifetime value by nearly 25%, and that firms providing it could see assets under management grow 15% more over a decade than those that do not. Yet only 36% of advisors think it is important to discuss philanthropy with clients, while 60% of high-net-worth clients think it is important to discuss it with their advisor.

That gap is the opportunity. The fear that giving reduces the assets you steward is backwards. As one of the researchers behind the numbers put it, a philanthropy offer increases the value of client portfolios. Leading the next-generation conversation is not charity work. It is how you keep the family.

A few practical ways in

You already believe in this. That is not the hard part. The hard part is knowing how to start the conversation and keep it going, without opening something you cannot close. Here is the reassuring truth: you do not have to close it. Each of these is small, contained, and keeps you in control. You are adding a thread to a relationship you already have, not committing your client to anything.

1. Raise it with the first generation as a question, not a project.

The way in is one low-stakes question to the client you already advise. You are not proposing a foundation, a family meeting, or a governance structure. You are simply asking what they would want their family's giving to stand for, and whether the next generation has ever been part of that conversation. Framed that way, it lands as curiosity, not commitment. Most clients have never been asked, and the question alone is often enough to open the door. Notice what you are doing: you are starting with values, not the vehicle. The structure can come later, if it comes at all.

2. Suggest one contained first step.

When a client is interested, give them something small and finite to try, not an overhaul. The cleanest first step is a single collective grant: the family picks one cause to support together this year, and the next generation helps choose. It is bounded by design. One decision, one year, one conversation. 40% of families now involve young people in grant decisions, and the ones who do it well say the dollar amount matters far less than the experience of choosing together. For you, it is a safe way to prove the idea without anyone feeling they have handed over the keys.

3. Make it an annual check-in.

This is the move that takes the pressure off entirely. You do not have to resolve philanthropy in a single meeting, and you should not try. Make it a standing item in the annual review, the same way you revisit the portfolio and the estate plan. That one shift changes everything. You are never opening a conversation you have to close. You are opening one you get to continue. Each year you check what has changed, whether the next generation is ready for a little more, and what the family wants to do next. The cadence does the quiet work, and it is the best protection there is against a good first conversation that simply stalls.

How WellAdvised makes it easier

The thing standing between intent and practice is not desire. It is process. That is exactly what WellAdvised gives you.

WellAdvised guides a structured values conversation with a client and their family, then turns it into two things: a Philanthropic Profile that captures what the family cares about and why, and a Giving Plan that turns those values into a concrete strategy. It creates the shared language the values conversation is meant to produce, in a form everyone can see and return to. It brings planning rigor to giving, so philanthropy sits alongside investments and estate planning rather than off to the side. And because the plan is living and shareable, the conversation is already on the table when you sit down for the annual review, not something you have to reopen from scratch.

That is the real unlock for you. It gives you a way to both start the conversation and continue it with confidence. The families you advise already want to pass on their values. WellAdvised is the process that helps them do it, and the reason they will remember that you were the one who made it possible.

The wealth is going to transfer either way. Whether the values transfer with it is the conversation worth having. So with your next multigenerational client, start simple. Ask what they want their family's giving to stand for, and build from there.