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The Value and Outlook of Family Charity

As the old saying goes, “from clogs to clogs is only three generations”. Throughout the ages, the circumstances of many families have already manifested this rule: the inheritance of wealth could hardly sustain without the inheritance of family core value. If a family keeps good traditions, family rules and mottos, and pass on from generation to generation, the family could keep its prosperity despite ups and downs.

Then where does the family core value come from? Confucian classics made it explicit that self-cultivation is the foundation to further unite a family and govern a state. As the priority following self-cultivation, managing a family well requires the family leader to unite all members towards the same goal and nurture a healthy and positive environment. Managing a family well requires not only the efforts for the current unity, but also the wisdom for sustained inheritance. Throughout the history, one common approach for sustained inheritance is to set aside partial wealth for family charity cause. The modern civilization realizes it by means of establishing a family foundation.

When it comes to family foundation, normally the first thing that comes to our mind is the private foundation established by the rich family. In developed countries, especially the United States, there are more and more ordinary people set up small-scale family foundation of their own. Of the approximate 100,000 family foundations in the United States, over 90% are established by individuals or families. And of these 90% foundations, most of them are family-owned and are at medium or small scale, with property no higher than $500,000. If you open a search engine and type the phrase “Family Charity Foundation”, you will find a series of foundation websites in the name of each individual family. Each family foundation has its unique, clearly-defined mission, whether is to support NGOs dedicated for tramp rescue or establish charity fund in memory of the son died in accident.

In China, the concept of family charity has been on the rise since past few years. With more and more first-generation of rich people begin to pass on wealth to offspring, people talk more about the inheritance of spiritual wealth. One most important way for the inheritance of spiritual wealth is family charity cause.

Nowadays, it is usually the ultra-high net worth people that are engaged in family charity. They are mainly successfully entrepreneurs, with over hundreds of millions disposable assets, which makes it possible to establish a family foundation of their own with professional management team. The most familiar ones for Chinese people are LAO NIU Foundation, Li Ka Shing Foundation, etc. Other people choose family office to centrally manage family asset, succession planning and charity cause. However, domestic family offices are still at an emerging development stage, with limited charity resources to offer. For most families, the two approaches mentioned above are not realistic because of the high threshold and complicated process.

As people are paying more attention on inheritance and family relations, and with the release of supporting policy, one possible trend for normal family is to engage charity cause under resourceful organizations. This organization could be a charitable foundation or a third-party agencydedicated for running the service. The scaling effect could lower the threshold for individual family, while the platform connecting different parties enables each family to realize charity ideal with ample resources. People are able to do charity on this platform, better managing family relations and forming closer ties, and making each person into a better self through positive energy behavior.

With the evolution of times, family charity will even closely interweave with people’s life. For instance, with the release of two-child policy, parents are paying more attention on forming healthy relations between two children. It is quite common to have conflicts among family members, but there will be more common ground if they are engaged in the same cause and learn from each other. This is also beneficial for children’s education. Another case is the middle class in urban cities. As the life standard is improving throughout the years, urban middle class has greater needs in developing new circle of life apart from work and mingling with like-minded peers. Family charity is such an activity that could engage both the husband and the wife and give access to connect with other like-minded families. Moreover, from the perspective of the old, family charity also has its significant in building connection with offspring. As our country is stepping into an aging society, people tend to care more about the old’s needs. How to help them enrich spiritual life and keep a sense of worthiness? Family charity may serve as a platform for the old to make contribution and give back to society, as well as a platform for uniting family members through which the old are more closely bonded with their future generations.

We wish, in the near future, family charity will go deep into general family life and be part of the mainstream society, promoting social philanthropy culture through family-based charity engagement. Meanwhile, the families engaged in charity cause are also expecting to have a prosperous future due to sustain inheritance of family wealth materially and spiritually.

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