Does it make sense to review a book about charitable giving at a time when so many individuals and corporations have seen their personal or shareholder value slashed dramatically?

I believe so. Philanthropy is, quite possibly, one of the first areas of expenditure that could be cut back by people and companies just when the organizations they support are most in need. In that context, Elaine Kelly’s book, Give Smart: How to make a dramatic difference with your donation dollar is very timely.

Written in a narrative style similar to that of David Chilton’s The Wealthy Barber, Kelly’s book eavesdrops on the conversations of a group of former university classmates attending a weekend reunion some 30 years after graduation.

The voice we hear most often, both literally and figuratively, is that of Allison. Now a teacher, Allison recently had to care for her cancer-stricken mother through the final days of her mother’s life. Allison has suddenly become conflicted about her thoughts and feelings regarding volunteering her time and her money.

Allison is joined by a cast of disparate characters who together represent a variety of attitudes and approaches to making contributions to the community and the social good. In fact, if you flip to the appendix, you’ll find their personalities mapped in a matrix that segments them according to their motivations to give, both from the perspective of their personal beliefs and the satisfaction they expect to derive from their generosity.

For example, Bill and Kate are wealthy; for them, “doing good” has been a time-honoured family tradition. Consequently, they work their charity through a private foundation.

Cynthia, on the other hand, seems almost as motivated by the social recognition and soirees that accompany charitable activities as the good work itself.

Warren and Sabina insist on accountability and assurance of the appropriate use of their money, so they invest socially through a community fund overseen by the donors themselves.

Allison is the altruist of the group, looking for life’s purpose and her own self-actualization following the death of her mother.

And lest you think this book is all about attitudes and other touchy-feely things, note that two of the players are Joe, a lawyer, and Jim, an insurance advisor, both of whom are driven by a dual sense of social and community responsibility. Together, they are indefatigable sources of information regarding the technical aspects of charitable giving.

However, the setting, the personalities and the conversations in Give Smart are all overly contrived. I am certainly in favour of storytelling as a way to educate and inspire; however, the very notion that a gaggle of baby boomers reuniting three decades after their university graduation could have their celebratory weekend hijacked and dominated by such conversations was just too much for me.

Furthermore, it would appear that a number of them (in addition to the lawyer and the insurance advisor) have spent the intervening years studying the Income Tax Act and advanced charitable-giving strategies, as shown by their detailed information exchanges as they counsel poor Allison.

The book would also have benefited from better editing, which would have prevented some of the long, rambling gushes of disjointed information.

Despite these criticisms, the book covers an important topic and the content is meaningful and relevant for financial advisors and their clients. The most useful section may well be the appendices, in which you’ll find details of giving strategies in neat summary form.

For example, the book suggests, if you want an immediate tax receipt, consider giving cash or securities, naming the charity as the owner of an insurance policy, buying a charitable gift annuity or contributing to a foundation.

Another example: if you have an insurance policy with a large cash surrender value, consider naming a charity as the owner of the policy to claim an immediate charitable credit for the cash surrender value of the policy and ongoing deductions for subsequent insurance premiums.

There is also a fill-in-the-blank “personal giving strategy” form that could be the basis of a wonderful conversation with selected clients.

So, focus on the message rather than the delivery in Give Smart. This book can be a useful resource for both the technical and emotional aspects of charitable giving. IE