HOW to PLAY it

you’re rich, you’ve got a charitable passion you want your kids to share and you think a private family foundation is the answer. Marguerite Griffin, director of philanthropic advisory services at northern Trust, has seen how that can go awry. one client planned a foundation to help lgbt youth and then discovered that his daughter wanted to fund the arts and his wife to help battered spouses. He skipped the foundation and donated directly instead. Griffin suggests a compromise for clients who still want a foundation: Mandate that 75% of grants go to your focus area, let the next generation allocate 25% to their pet causes and consider a sunset clause if heirs don’t share your original passion. —A.E.