Writing our will - which charity

[whichcharity]

NC for this post.

We are very fortunate and have a large estate, we are in our 50s and both work and are rewriting our wills.

We have two children who will be left the majority of our estate when we die (we do not have other family or close friends)

Our children are likely to be come very wealthy when we die. We want to ensure that they get some of our estate but a large proportion we would like to leave to charity, and should the unthinkable happen and we all die, the majority to charity.

We will discuss this with our children (currently at university) and we believe they will support this decision as they, like us, would want to work and not be left sums of money which would mean they would never have to work again.

Obviously we will revisit our wills as time goes on etc.

We already have some local charities that we support but the sums involved are likely to be considerable, we will leave money to the charities we know and support but we would like to add in some larger charities.

We are currently thinking Children in Need and medicine sans frontieres.

Does anyone have any knowledge about how we can actually find out how effective charities are, or charities similar to these where we know our donations will be put to good use.

please no judgement about this, we do already support many charities and we have not inherited this wealth but built it up ourselves (and on reflection perhaps should have spent less time working and more time living)

Thank you for any help specific to effectiveness of charities.

Being "furious" if your parents choose to leave money to charity is an incredibly entitled attitude. It's their money, they can leave it to whoever they like. If my own child was that entitled, I would be letting them know that they wouldn't be getting an inheritance at all.

Leaving money to charity is a perfectly legitimate plan, and it's depressing to see so many people trying to discourage the OP from doing this.

Personally, I would look for a medium sized local charity in your community where you could really transform what they do with a sizeable bequest. If you go for something too small, there is a danger that they won't have the infrastructure to make the best use of your donation. If you go for something really big, then even a significant donation will still just be a drop in the ocean.

You could perhaps shortlist a few and then visit them. Talk to the senior staff and get a feel for what they're doing. Perhaps even make a series of small donations to several charities and get them to report back on what they have done with it to help inform your decision.

Think also about how you want to do things. A specified sum rather than a percentage of your estate will probably help to minimise any legal issues. You might also want to consider whether the funds will be restricted (ie can only be used for a particular purpose) or unrestricted (much more flexible from the charity's perspective).

You could perhaps involve your kids in helping to choose the charity/charities?

It doesn't read like AI to me, FWIW (although I should say I have autism as well 😅)

Oh ok sorry if I offended you.

Could you not just make some gifts to charity now?
Why is it ok for you to have this wealth but not your children?

I also like the suggestion to set up a charitable foundation now and then your children could be trustees of it too

Agreed. I am a professional and work for a charity at less than half the wage I would earn in the private sector. This nonsense about people getting rich for working for charities ignores the fact that some of us can afford to work for charities BECAUSE we have money elsewhere so may look like we are rich (and some of us are) but that money may not come from working for the charity itself. My DH is a very high earner. We jointly made the decision that as a unit, he would make money and I would use my skills to do something we both consider important. But yes, to the outside world I look like I have lots of money. I do, but it’s not directly from my wage.

And all of this ignore the fact that those working for charities should be entitled to earn a reasonable living. It’s still work, no less so than working for a private company.

Totally agree. I have spent my whole working life working for charities and - guess what - I need to eat and house myself and my family. Those things don’t come free because I work for a good cause. I need to be paid.

We give to some charities regularly but also, taxes go to ‘good causes’ like the NHS and schools etc etc.

We don’t mind that our estate will pay inheritance tax because we agree with many things the state provides. With small and large charities and with state services there will always be some admin charges and some inefficiency. Things can get skewed with charities, for example the ‘cuter’ causes can get more money.

So given what PPs have said re charity lawyers and probate, it’s not necessarily a bad choice to consider contributing to public services via inheritance tax.

This is why you should NEVER leave a percentage.

My CEO comes from an incredibly wealthy family and has also a rich partner and you'll find quite a lot of privately wealthy people working in the not for profit sector. Their private wealth allows them to use their vast networks, connections and skills to benefit the charities that they work for. Not all charities have this but some do and not everybody realises this.

There is sooo many ways you could help charities whilst you’re alive without giving them cash . A lot of animal shelters have Amazon wish lists . They are always struggling for food , maybe distribute food round different ones . Zoos are struggling , sponser some animals and some family passes which you could give to local children’s centres . They lend them out to families to use for the day . There are so many disadvantaged children who would love a day out by the sea but their parents can’t afford it . So many food banks crying out for help . Personally I would rather help people now whilst you can so you see how the little things in life mean so much to people who have nothing .than just giving cash when you’re gone .

I think this is a perfectly valid view.

For me, some charities provide a service which I consider important which the state does not provide - and that is why some of my estate will go to charities.

Charity is a odd thing really i dont really understand why some schools are charities. And organisations like lifeboats and air ambulance. Surely they should be funded properly. Charities always seem to me to be something the upper class potter around with to stop them doing real damage.

It’s very strange to talk about leaving sizeable bequests to charity when you have no existing links to any specific cause or particular organisation. It’s almost as if the whole problem of having so much money you don’t know what to do with it was made up. Anyone who has sufficient wealth for it to be truly generational would not be looking on mumsnet for advice and they’d have everything set up so that they were leaving no more than a nominal “free” sum behind; it would be safely in trust already.

Agree. I volunteer for a small charity. 90% of our work is done by volunteers .
.we have a clerk who is paid but she is very overqualified for the role and does far more work than we pay her for- she's happy because her husband is very wealthy so she doesn't need to work for money.

I think we are living in a time when virtue signalling is an end in itself.
Otherwise people would actually go ande we are volunteer their time and money now.
My child actually goes and builds toilets and washing facities for women in refugee camps, in his own time. He doesn't march around the UK chucking paint on statues and blocking roads. But we are where we are.
Guess who gets the most attention.

Sorry for typos.

This is a good point because surely you would have financial advisors and people already?. That said I guess if you are newly wealthy you may not have the connections.

Either way, I agree there are smarter ways to do this the way op is suggesting

Anyway in terms of charities if I wanted to leave a legacy that would have a real lasting impact I would be looking at some of the charities preserving and enhancing habitat either here or around the world.

The best gift we can give future generations is a planet that is being cared for.

My parents gave quite generous amounts to local charities which they knew did not have huge reserves already. A Hospice was one of their favourites. Many big charities like RNLI or RSPCA have enough for many years sitting in their banks. They do not need it. The big medical charities are similar.
Give money away as you discover need while you are able to see it used.
Please don't name a charity in the will. I know of a widow that was evicted from her family home. The charity had an interest that was supposed to be paused until she died. The charity insisted it was sold soonest.

Yep. The demonisation of admin costs in charities is stupid.

As a long time charity worker, I'd take the advice about favouring smaller charities with a pinch of salt OP. They can be very good or very bad, and also it depends what sort of cause you want to help. Mid size can be a good option because they usually have enough resources to have some people who know what they're doing.

You could make a huge difference to your local hospice (which will likely self-funding, shockingly), or your nearest RNLI Lifeboat (crewed by volunteers).

When leaving money to charities leave a specific amount of money rather than a percentage. If you leave a percentage that's when the charity lawyers get greedy and involved in the will and probate and they can hold up probate. It's an absolute nightmare.

Salvation Army all the way, the employees are paid very low salaries with just the accountants etc being on more normal salaries. The work they do is front line, basics, really packs a punch. I'd look into other homeless charities too. It makes such a massive difference to people's lives, who never chose to have such a bad time of it. There but for the grace of God, etc.
Crisis at Christmas has also already been mentioned. Could you leave a lump sum to a local school to have a new building or even do that whilst still alive? Or fund a teacher? (I don't know if that's allowed).
I'm sure you already do this, but workers like binmen appreciate cash gifts. £1000 to them at Christmas gets put in their kitty and shared out. Binmen in wealthy cities do well from local businesses, £1000+ each, but rural or housing areas generally only around £100 each. So you could start doing that? Makes a massive difference to the festive season, an extra tax free £1000 😊

Whilst, from our point of view, going to under developed countries to help feels good, it would be far better to pay a local team to build the facilities. Locals in areas where there are refugee camps are generally underemployed.
The price of the plane fare and his fee to the charity organisers would cover the cost of the work very easily.
But I also appreciate that he enjoys it and it isn't a selfish activity ❤️