Donating Real Estate:  America’s Philanthropists

The one thing that we’ve seen since the 1980’s is the overwhelming impact that charitable real estate donation has, not just on the charity, but also on the empowerment of others to donate their property. Today we’d like to play off of that contagious feeling of giving and highlight America’s top ten philanthropists.

While you may not be a billionaire, you do have something in common with the billionaires on this list. You can all empower others in the art of giving.

Warren Buffet

Warren Buffet has a goal. He wants to give away 99% of his fortune which to this date is about $88.8 billion. So far, he has donated over $40 billion with much of it made through annual gifts to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation where it is used for work on poverty and healthcare initiatives in the U.S. and developing countries. Buffet’s philanthropy and charitable donations have far exceeded any other American, and as he’s said, “Were we to use more than 1% of my claim checks on ourselves, neither our happiness nor our well-being would be enhanced.”

George Soros

George Soros Open Society Foundations which operates in 120 countries across the world. His foundation’s causes focus on a variety of areas including fostering democracy, economic equity, antidiscrimination, human rights, justice reform, and journalism. In the last few years, he has committed over $37 million to provide Covid relief to undocumented immigrants and $220 million to support leaders in black communities across the United States.

Michael Bloomberg

Michael Bloomberg has given more than $11 billion in charitable donations that focus on climate change, gun control, and public health. Like many others on this list Bloomberg used his donations to help curb the Covid-19 pandemic and fund research. He also provided donations to frontline healthcare workers in equipment supply to paying for meals.

Charles “Chuck” Feeny

Perhaps one of the lesser name-recognized people on this list. Chuck Feeny secretly began giving away large portions of his vast estate and assets. Eventually, he acknowledged his plan called “Giving while Living” which was his idea of giving away his entire fortune before he died. His idea also influenced Warren Buffet and Bill and Melinda Gates when they launched the Giving Pledge in 2010. Of Feeny’s $8 billion in donations, about $3.7 billion went to education. In September of 2020, Feeny and his wife shuttered his foundation, the Atlantic Philanthropies, after the last of its assets had been given away.

You may not be a billionaire, but as you can see, charitable giving can do great things to improve communities, people, and fund research and equality across the world. Donating real estate to a private foundation can help that foundation by providing multiple ways for them to use the donated property. In addition, you can avoid capital gains taxes on the transfer of the property, and receive a tax deduction on donated real estate.

Are you ready to donate real estate to a private foundation?

If you are interested in donating a house, rental property, or commercial real estate, contact the Urban Renewal Project, we’d like to help you donate to a worthy cause in such a heartfelt way.