Recent changes in US inheritance tax may have rendered the following obsolete. (The changes will supposedly expire in ten years, but it's unlikely Congress would let that happen.) For what it's worth:

Under US estate tax law it is cheaper to give gifts to your heirs while you are alive than at your death. A living gift of $2M to your kids might get them $1.3M after taxes, whereas a bequest would only transfer $900K. (This is for gifts beyond the untaxed limit of $10K per person per year.) You get an additional benefit if you give rapidly appreciating assets, as the tax is due on transferred value rather than eventual value. [Mike McNamee, Business Week?, 30Oct00, p. 194.]

US charities report that women are donating as much of their income as men -- about 2.1% in 1999. Women prefer funding new, specific projects, especially scholarships and social programs, but like this to be part of a larger campaign. They are also more likely than men to volunteer their time. There are now more than 90 women's charitable foundations, up from five about 20 years ago. [Toddi Gutner, Business Week?, 30Oct00, p. 200.]

Philanthropy has suffered from the economic slowdown, including a pledge of $100M in tech stocks that are now worthless. The Austin Entrepreneurs Foundation was expecting to disperse up to $500K from its 120 members, but could only manage $150K. (A dozen of the member companies have folded.) Community Foundation Silicon Valley is seeing contributions 50% lower than last year. Bill Gates's foundation is an exception: he gave $5B last year, up from $2.4B in 1999, despite a 63% drop in Microsoft stock value that left him with only $60B. [John Greenwald, Time, 09Apr01, p. 61.] (Gates is no longer the world's richest man, according to the Sunday Times of London. It lists Wal-Mart chairman Robson Walton at $65B -- but that includes family wealth, which Forbes doesn't count. [Peter Delevett, SJM, 24Apr01, 24C.])

William Hewlett's philanthropic foundation is giving $400M to Stanford's liberal arts programs, in accord with Hewlett's passionate belief in the value of a liberal arts education. [SJM http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/svfront/gift050301.htm ,03May01. NewsScan.]

Virtual volunteering -- aka online volunteering, cyber service, online mentoring, and teletutoring -- is about helping people through your home computer. The Virtual Volunteering Project tracks opportunities with not-for-profit organizations, schools, government offices, and other agencies. http://www.serviceleader.org/vv/ .[Julie Kane julianne14@hotmail.com , netsites, 12Oct00.]