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Massive Wealth Transfer, Sunsets And New Models – Philanthropy In Flux
Tom Burroughes
1 July 2025
The phrase “business as usual” will not cut it any more in philanthropy, a sector witnessing the same impact from massive intergenerational wealth transfer and change as commerce. What philanthropists want Other firms are looking at how financial changes and forces affect philanthropy. In philanthropy, a time horizon is the length of time over which a donor or foundation seeks to engage in philanthropic giving. It can be in perpetuity – meaning that there is no end date foreseen – or it can be time-limited, defined by a predetermined end date or triggering event. Time-limited philanthropy is also referred to as “limited-life,” “spend down,” “spend out,” “time bound,” “giving while living,” or “sunsetting.” These differences make liquidity management and asset allocation a delicate balancing act.
Technology tycoon and billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates announced May 8 that the foundation bearing his name – now in its 25th year – will spend $200 billion over the next 20 years; he intends to sunset its operations in 2045. That is the kind of announcement that shows the scale of philanthropy today, and how it is done.
The idea of “sunsetting” has also arisen in cases where descendants of philanthropists question whether the original purpose of a charitable foundation needs to be revised as circumstances move on. This can be a sensitive topic.
These are issues that have Clare Golla’s full attention. Golla is the national managing director of philanthropic services at Bernstein Private Wealth Management. She recently spoke to Family Wealth Report.
“We are seeing families grappling with that and some are asking what can be done to have more impact,” she said.
Tens of billions of dollars are changing hands, and much of it is heading into charity. “The stakes are somewhat higher today,” Golla said. An estimated $124 trillion will be transferred from one generation to the next in upcoming years, and $18 trillion of that is earmarked for charity. Philanthropists want to make transfers to causes on a “much larger scale,” she said.
“We have seen a lot of around reproductive rights and environmental resilience, she said, as well as support for basic needs in countries where the US government’s effective dissolution of USAID has created a gap.
“The stakes feel higher on certain issues than for others,” Golla said.
Golla, and others in this space, are part of a modern generation of philanthropy advisors and experts guiding HNW and ultra-HNW individuals and families on their giving. It is a complex field, requiring advisors to have a deep grasp of clients’ values and personalities, all the way through to details about structures such as trusts, foundations and donor-advised funds. This news service's editor has written about the role of the philanthropy advisor in today's wealth management sector.
“The next generation of philanthropists want to go beyond traditional vehicles. There is a desire for a deeper relationship to a cause, and they view themselves as agents of change,” she said. Younger philanthropists are more comfortable with using social media, for example, to make their points.
Another shift Golla has noted is the “blending,” so to speak, of investing in for-profit firms and the activities of non-profits. “This is all about advancing solutions, regardless as to whether it’s a community nonprofit or a private company delivering those solutions,” she said. Golla responded to the idea that private philanthropists can, so it is said, be bolder in championing causes and problems than governments, which need to marshal political support.
“Likewise, more philanthropists are talking about investing 'enterprise capital’ into nonprofit organizations for the resources actually needed to create those solutions,” Golla said. “This is about funding nonprofits at scale in the same way they would in a private company.”
Sunsets
Back to the Bill Gates announcement and the idea of putting an endpoint to a foundation, Golla said the idea of a foundation existing in perpetuity was no longer a given fact.
This point dovetails about the need for philanthropists to be clear, and transparent, about what they want to do, she said.
Bernstein’s value proposition in advising philanthropists is to start by asking people the question about what the changes are they wanted to see in the world, and once that’s understood, build an infrastructure around it to help ensure success. “We then help them to find the right professionals if needed to take things further,” she added.
The pandemic of 2020, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the later economic gyrations from tariffs, and other forces ratcheted up debate on whether philanthropists should spend more resources in the short term or stay with paying out funds steadily over decades. For example, in spring last year, Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors in the US published a two-volume guide about the pros and cons of whether to donate resources rapidly or cap such transfers to ensure that they continue indefinitely.