Giving Like Ben

Program Related Investments.

By Ben Everidge for  Thomas  I  Posted March 28, 2018 at 10:15 a.m.

Iconic American families like the Carnegies, Fords, and Rockefellers used PRIs to leverage their giving impact.  So do the Gates  and Cases today.

PRIs were first used by that great American inventor and statesman, Ben Franklin, to maximize his giving strategies more than 200 years ago.  Even the White House in recent years published new rules in the Federal Register to make PRI philanthropic loans and investments easier to make.

One of Ben’s most favorite philanthropic tools has thus become a very powerful instrument for doing good.

Private family foundations use PRIs to support specific charitable activities that involve the potential return of capital within a given time frame.

Structured properly, PRIs can be loaned out, returned over a period of time to the donor, and then possibly given away again - to the same charity or some other charity of choice.

For the discriminating philanthropist, gone are the days of having to give it away simply to get that necessary tax deduction.  For the deserving charity, a long-term relationship begins.