Dear Reader,

One of my favorite artists, Hans Hoffman, once said, “The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak.” The world feels especially noisy right now. Layer in the gantlet of holiday gatherings and my instinct is to simplify. What is the “necessary” of this season? For me, it is focusing on the nexus of family and the sharing of intangible gifts, transcending transactional gift giving. 

Morning Mist (1958) by Hans Hoffman

Berkeley Art Museum

I think back to my childhood and celebrating Christmas on Lookout Mountain with a large, extended family. The anchor in these memories is my grandmother. She focused her conversations with us on ideas, not things. She probed our thoughts about current events and our community. She spoke of helping our community and the most vulnerable. In these conversations, she translated her values and world view.

Family Time, the Holidays and Philanthropy

As you gather with family this year, we encourage you to:

• Take stock of the intangible gifts you have to share with your family this season. What is important for them to know about you and your life philosophy? How do your parents, children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews view the world today?
• Share stories about family and life experiences. Speak to the lows and highs of life! Share stories about your mentors in life. Who shaped the way you think and why? How did they solidify your values?
• Translate your sense of place and community in these conversations. If your family does not all live in the same place, articulating what a community means to you can be powerful. Community can be a place, a faith community and/or a group of friends.

Focusing conversations in this vein pushes family members outside of themselves, builds common ground and sparks empathy for each other and those in their community. This is foundational to sustainable family philanthropy.

Generosity In Action

Gift Ideas that Inspire Generosity

If you are still looking for gift ideas, we're sharing inspiring reads that caught our attention this year. We believe in the power of reading to spur our imaginations to create a better world. One of the biggest philanthropists of our time agrees. Bill Gates shared in a recent interview that reading has fueled his philanthropic imagination over the years. In fact, he just published his 2023 holiday book recommendations that includes reads on climate, global healthcare and innovation. 

In case you missed it, here is the link to our last year's gift recommendations.

We wish you healthy, happy and fun holidays focused on meaningful conversations with the "necessary" people in your life.