A flexible, efficient and private way to plan your philanthropy

The Philanthropy Services team at Stewardship offers innovative expert advice to those looking to make their giving as effective as possible

The world of philanthropy is complex and challenging, requiring a combination of sensitive, strategic input and expertise in ensuring gifts are made tax-effectively. Add to that the legal and tax nuances of different jurisdictions when engaged in international philanthropy, and the need for specialist advice becomes even more critical.

Stewardship’s Philanthropy Services team provides professional and technical in-house expertise in donor-advised funds (DAFs) and Christian charities, combined with a highly personalised and innovative service.

Convenient philanthropy

The ease and convenience of the DAF model has made it the fastest-growing philanthropic-giving vehicle over the past few years. Like a charitable trust or foundation, a DAF is a powerful giving vehicle but is much less costly and time-consuming to run.

While the former can take several months to set up, and the process incurs substantial legal and other administrative fees, a DAF can be opened immediately and carries no start-up costs.

Moreover, a DAF allows donors to support causes anonymously and donations can be made in the form of shares, cash, investments or property. In short, a DAF offers maximum flexibility, efficiency and privacy, if desired, without limiting your giving impact.

Stewardship is a DAF pioneer that offers a particularly innovative approach. Its Donor Advisory Board is a unique product available to its Philanthropy Fund donors that facilitates expert input from trusted friends, family and advisers in a board structure, but without the trustee duties or public accounts required of a charitable trust or foundation.

A philanthropic eye on ESG

Donors can choose to allocate some or all their DAF account balance to a selection of three investment portfolios before requesting grants out to their chosen causes. The newest of these is Stewardship’s Responsible Investment Portfolio. The quarterly performance reports for all three portfolios include ESG and engagement metrics to help donors better understand their impact.

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Donors with a Philanthropy Fund balance of £500,000 or more can also nominate investments for Stewardship’s approval or request that their personal wealth manager is appointed to look after the account balance, subject to Stewardship’s agreement.

Stewardship provides a suite of philanthropy research services to meet any due diligence requirements and measure the impact of a donor’s gifts. This includes a bespoke service for larger gifts, offered in partnership with Eido Research.

International grant-making is facilitated through Stewardship’s partnership with Swiss foundation TrustBridge Global, which is experienced in handling the complexities of cross-border giving. The TrustBridge team manages the due diligence to ensure that any overseas charities a donor may wish to support are legitimate and set up to receive international grants.

The Philanthropy Services team is now partnering with a growing number of wealth management advisers, including tax accountants and lawyers, to provide a complementary, highly bespoke service that helps donors fulfil their philanthropic aspirations tax-effectively and with maximum impact.

*2021 UK Donor-Advised Fund Report and 2022 Donor-Advised Fund Report (US data only)

Please contact the Philanthropy Services Team to explore how Stewardship can help: philanthropy@stewardship.org.uk or +44 (0)20 8418 8896