Registration for this program is closed.

Few people realize the leading role Philadelphia has played in the history of charitable gift planning in America.

Bequests and gifts of complex assets were essential for The Pennsylvania Hospital, founded in 1751 by Benjamin Franklin and Dr. Thomas Bond.  John Trumbull's painting of Jefferson presenting his Declaration to Congress in Independence Hall in 1776 was saved through a gift annuity in 1831.  The U.S. Supreme Court found charitable trusts to be illegal, until a bequest to found Girard College changed its mind in 1844.  And best practices from the 1920s created by actuary George Huggins of Philadelphia remain our core values for gift planning.

Hear these and other true stories, such as why Tax Reform Acts in 1969 and 1986 led to our national association of charitable gift planners, and how demographics of wealth and age will dramatically change American gift planning for decades to come.

Participants will understand Philadelphia’s leadership, and the foundational gifts, best practices, legislation, and court decisions that shape gift planning today; unlock a treasure chest of useful, illuminating, and entertaining donor stories; and gain a powerful perspective on the roots of current events in gift planning.

Ronald A. Brown is the author of A History of Charitable Gift Planning (Amazon 2017) and many articles posted at www.giftplanninghistory.org.  He served as director of gift planning at Princeton University, Fordham, Pratt Institute, United Way of America, and the National Wildlife Federation, and was a senior philanthropic advisor at Columbia University.  He was a board member and chair of the Research Committee for ACGA (2008-2016).  He served on the board of NCPG (now the National Association of Charitable Gift Planners), was president of the Gift Planning Council of NJ, a board member of the Philanthropic Planning Group of Greater NY (which selected him for a distinguished service award in 2019), and is a member of Princeton’s Planned Giving Advisory Committee. 

Ron received an AB degree from Princeton University and an MA degree from the University of Chicago, where he studied the history of ideas and edited the newsletter of the Oriental Institute.  A retired Commander in the US Naval Reserve, he received two Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals for writing and research while serving with the US Naval Historical Center.  He has two children and two grandchildren, and lives in Brooklyn.