Wealth Beyond Riches: Building Prosperity With Purpose, Values, and Impact

How to Plan Your Charitable Giving to Make Impactful Contributions with Katie Collins (Ep. 18)

• Abbey Henderson, CFP®

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How can you make your donations more meaningful and fulfilling? What steps can you take to align your giving with your values and passions?

Discover how to transform your charitable giving from a scattered approach to a strategic, impactful journey.

This week, Abbey Henderson, CFP® , CEO Wealth Advisor & Coach, chats with Katie Collins, Founder & Principal of Pathway Philanthropic Solutions, on transforming your charitable giving from a scattershot approach to a strategic and fulfilling endeavor. 

Katie's unique journey spans roles in fundraising, grant making, and wealth management, offering invaluable insights into making your philanthropy more intentional and impactful. 

Whether you're already giving to multiple causes or just starting, this episode will guide you on becoming a more informed and effective donor.

Together, they discuss: 

  • The concept of “peanut butter philanthropy” and its implications
  • Transitioning from reactive to strategic philanthropy
  • How to identify and focus on your core values and motivations
  • Tips for involving and educating the next generation in philanthropy
  • Practical resources and tools to enhance your charitable giving
  • And more!


Resources:

Connect with Abbey Henderson: 

Connect with Katie Collins: 


About Katie Collins:

Katie Collins brings a unique background and experience to her work, having sat on all sides of the table with a career spanning across fundraising, grantmaking, and wealth management. A self-proclaimed “philanthropy nerd,” Katie’s path to this career started in high school and college where the mission of both schools incorporated compassion and helping others. Leading with honesty, humility, and a sense of humor, Katie has established extensive relationships within the philanthropic landscape over the past two decades. She remains in contact daily with her community, leading to an evergreen knowledge of the space which only further strengthens the work she undertakes for her clients.

Outside of her work at Pathway Philanthropic, you can find Katie on the sidelines of sports fields and hockey rinks most evenings and weekends cheering on her three children. You may also find Katie


Wendy (00:02)

Hello and welcome to the Wealth Beyond Riches podcast with your host, Abbey Henderson, where we talk about enriching your life in every way. I'm Wendy McConnell. Hi Abbey, how you feeling?


Abbey Henderson (00:15)

I am back from vacation. vacation was awesome. Of course, I picked something up along the way on coming home, but other than that, I am fabulous. How are


Wendy (00:24)

Okay. Well, you know, we were hoping you were going to be renewed and refreshed.


Abbey Henderson (00:30)

99 % that 1 % bug, but I'm gonna be over it soon


Wendy (00:34)

Okay, see strong women, you can fight it off. Just fight it right off. Yeah. So, all right. So we have a guest today. Abbey, do you want to tell us about your guest?


Abbey Henderson (00:37)

That's right.


Yes, I mean, you know, I'm always so excited because I have the most fabulous guests. But today, we have someone who is an expert in service and philanthropy. And you know that that is a huge thing for me personally, for Abaris. It's something that is really important to our B Corp certification. So I am so excited to introduce everyone to Katie Collins.


Katie is the founder and principal of Pathway Philanthropic Solutions, which is a consulting firm supporting funders, nonprofit organizations, and advisors. And Katie is super unique in that she has sat on all sides of the table with a career spanning fundraising, grant making, and wealth management. Prior to Pathway Philanthropic Solutions, she held positions


in the development office at Dana Farber and she's held positions at Fidelity Charitable and Fiduciary Trust Company. So Katie, welcome.


Katie Collins (01:51)

Thank you for having me. It's a pleasure to be here, Abbey.


Abbey Henderson (01:53)

my gosh, we're thrilled to have you. So I can't wait to hear how your journey has unfolded through all of these twists and turns and then how you ended up founding your own


Katie Collins (02:05)

Yes. Well, you know, it started really junior high, high school and college. I went to institutions that really thought about empathy, instilling that in folks and volunteering was a huge part of my education. So from an early age, I was interacting with nonprofits in food pantries, at shelters and heading out of college. I thought no better way to spend a career than to try to make an impact in the world.


So that's really how it started. And I sort of fell into a development role at Dana-Farber really early and cut my teeth there under just amazing leadership, mostly women leadership team that just taught me what I needed to know, the best moves and donor stewardship, how to talk to individual donors and spent about a decade there. And so in terms of twists and turns,


You know, it was interesting. think it was a sign for me towards the end of my tenure there. I was working with a donor and she had given small amounts here and there to Dana Farber. But when I was asking her what was really important to her, wasn't necessarily a health care. wasn't necessarily cancer, although she was very loyal to giving back because of a friend who had passed. For her, it was the arts. And so I started to try to find solutions for her around the arts. And that was a sign to me that it was time to move on and maybe broaden my horizons a little bit.


So I joined Fidelity Charitable for almost another decade, actually, I spent there as well and really became a generalist because I needed to know a little bit about a lot of different things and worked with a multitude of donors, their families, their advisors, their family offices, and just learned a ton about what's going on nationally, locally. And it was just, it was also a huge time of growth for donor advice funds when I was there.


Abbey Henderson (03:52)

Mm.


Katie Collins (03:54)

So I was there from about 2013 to about 2021 -22. So it was exponential growth in terms of donor -advised funds. So it was a really fascinating time to be there, learned a lot. And then, you know, coming out of the pandemic, I think a lot of folks thought, you know, what am going to do? Let's do something different. And I did recognize as much as I was thrown into rooms and conference rooms with folks that knew a lot about finance, I myself didn't have investment background.


And so I thought that that might be a nice way to kind of round up who I am and how I work with donors and their families. And so I veered into wealth management for a few years and really enjoyed it. I learned a ton, met some really great folks at Fruity Shari Trust, but I had a sign actually last summer, I believe in signs, and this was a literal sign. I was waiting for the train into Boston and I was on the platform and it was a hot day. It was like a year or so ago, a year and a half ago.


Abbey Henderson (04:38)

Me too.


Katie Collins (04:49)

It was sticky out in July and I looked up and the MBTA, which is the commuter rail program here in the Boston area had rolled out signs for the 988 suicide lifeline is what they call it. And I had actually worked with a donor years before to get some funding to NAMI to do policy work in DC around making that a reality. And it just really reminded me of what I love to do in terms of facilitating grant making between individuals and nonprofits and making an impact.


And that was the start of my journey with Pathway Philanthropic. I thought, you I really wanted to veer back into what I loved and what I had learned. And so my focus is really largely on individual donors and families, as well as nonprofits, and then working with advisors as well to help kind of facilitate those conversations with their clients. So that's really a summary of how I got here and those twists and turns.


Abbey Henderson (05:41)

love it when women open their own businesses. Shocker. So you and I have chatted about peanut butter philanthropy. Tell us what you mean by


Katie Collins (05:44)

Yeah.


Yes. So I can't claim credit for the phrase. think I had heard it started way out on the West Coast. There was some manifesto in the corporate world around peanut butter philosophy. But in terms of philanthropy, it's really the notion if you think about your spreading peanut butter on a piece of bread, whether it's for you or your kids, you're thinking about right. It's spreading thin on the surface. And so what I've seen over the years is a lot of donors who give to 50, 100 different organizations.


And if you think about it, you really are then spreading your resources thin. You're not making as much of an impact. And in turn, I think if you're giving to a multitude and that many organizations, you yourself aren't having as a fulfilling experience as a donor, because how do you get to know 50 organizations really well, right? And so it's just a phrase that I've used over the years when I've met folks at the very beginning where they give me a list of, these are the 150 organizations I give to annually.


it starts a conversation of, is that strategic? Is that intentional? And we start to kind of navigate that together.


Abbey Henderson (06:55)

Yeah, I'm curious if that is driven partially by, you know, people who are giving $50 to this person's, you know, charity for their, their charity ride. And then this person, you know, giving another $50 to a 5k for charity. And it just kind of, all of a sudden you look back at the end of the year or in April, probably when you're talking to your accountant and all of a sudden you do have 150 on your list and they're


you know, they can be very small dollars, potentially.


Katie Collins (07:29)

Yeah, you know, I think some folks call that more like reactive giving, right? So you're giving to your best friend who's running the marathon, you're putting money in the Salvation Army pot, right? So you're, you are doing it and the intentions are good. But if you take a step back and you look at all those, right? All those gifts at the end of the year, you have to ask yourself, you know, are you making an impact in a space that you're passionate about?


Abbey Henderson (07:42)

Mm -hmm.


Katie Collins (07:53)

Are you moving a needle? Are you knowledgeable on any of these issue areas? do you want to be, right? And so that's where you start to veer into this conversation of creating a giving plan, creating a mission statement, or providing some type of accountability or structure around your giving.


Abbey Henderson (08:12)

Do you find that there's sort of a tipping point where someone decides they do want to become more strategic with their giving?


Katie Collins (08:21)

I think it's different depending on the donor. I mean, I have had some donors, kind of what you were describing, right? At the end of the year, they have all these different receipts and they're fed up. They're just saying, well, what am I doing? I had one donor I worked with where she was getting about 30 solicitations a month in the mail, right? From various nonprofit organizations. And that was kind of her aha moment of, what am I doing? They're asking for like $25 every month or, you know, $50 a year.


And so that was her commitment to start to figure out which of the ones she wanted to go deeper with. I also think for donors that come into sizable assets, I think that's kind of a tipping point as well, whether someone passed away and left them a large amount and some of that went into some type of philanthropic vehicle. think some, I've worked with a lot of folks where they started in their basement or their garage, a company, and then 30 years later sold it for $500 million. And so some of those funds,


were earmarked for philanthropy from kind of a minimizing tax implication standpoint. And so I think that's when it really pushes folks to take the step back and think, okay, I have a responsibility here to do something really great with this money. I also think it's about timing too, I will say. I've worked with a lot of folks who are committed to their career and wealth generating mode and then they retire and...


Abbey Henderson (09:19)

Mm -hmm.


Mmm.


Katie Collins (09:41)

Their second chapter is philanthropy and is being a grantmaker. And then that is when they become much more strategic. I've heard some folks reference it as their philanthropic nest egg, right? Where they are just kind of heading towards that and know that what they're doing right now might not be strategic on paper, but that that's gonna be their second chapter.


Abbey Henderson (10:01)

Yeah, that makes the


Wendy (10:01)

Can I ask you quick question? What do mean by when you say strategic? In what way?


Katie Collins (10:07)

Yeah, so it's a good question. So there's a lot of kind of conversation around that in the philanthropic sector right now, right? What defines strategic giving? And so I won't go too deep in it, but it's really starting at the top. I know we've talked about this, Abbey, in terms of defining your values and your motivations as a donor. And then Wendy, it's really veering into, okay, of the 50 organizations I'm giving to.


are there three issue areas that I wanna learn more about, right? Is it education? Is it foster care reform? Is it health? And so from there, you can start to really dive into, okay, are there particular issues within those issue areas I wanna address? So for education, I've had a lot of donors say that broadly. I'm really passionate about education. And I say, okay, tell me more about that. What part of education, right? Because there's a multitude of ways you could approach this as a donor.


And so from there, you can kind of really start to hone in further and further, right? You're starting at the 30 ,000 foot view of various issue areas. You start to say, okay, like maybe I want to go deeper in these two or three. And then you start to address, well, what type of issues or populations do you want to support? And you keep kind of honing further and further in and you become educated as a donor and you start to learn and your grant making becomes more impactful because you're educated on the topic. You know what the issues are.


and you know how you wanna support different organizations. I will say back to kind of the top where I referenced, there is a tension in the philanthropic sector right now around what does it mean to be strategic? So there's one camp that focuses on this phrase of philanthropic pluralism, which is what we're talking about. It's a fancy way to say ultimately it's the donors whose motivations and intentions are driving their philanthropy. And then on the other side, there's something called prescriptive philanthropy.


which is more the camp that believes there are particular areas that need funding now over others and that there's research behind it and evidence behind it. So there's a little bit of a tension right now around that. And I'm not saying one is right or wrong, but wanted to just name that as folks continue to navigate this space and think about the impact they wanna make in the world.


Wendy (12:22)

So can I sum it up sort of like I want to give to animal causes, but I want to be more strategic and I want to go, I want to donate my money to no kill shelters that specialize in small breeds. You know, is that kind of what you mean?


Katie Collins (12:38)

Yeah, and then from there I would say educate yourself on what other funders are giving in the space. I find a lot of the larger institutional funders and foundations that might be giving to no kill shelters, they're happy to on their website highlight the grantees that they're supporting and they're happy to share some of the research they've done. have found no one's ever shut their door to me when I've asked that question. I've reached out to another funder where they have staff or teams that are doing this every day. As an individual donor, you can really learn from those folks and I think that can help you be more strategic.


Abbey Henderson (13:09)

So for our peanut butter philanthropists that are listening, pitch them on what the value is to them to become more strategic.


Katie Collins (13:22)

Yeah, so I think for those donors, it's a more fulfilling experience to start to hone in on a smaller number, right? So let's say if you have 50, you're giving to annually, even 25. Are there some that have piqued your interest? Are there some that have sent newsletters out with research that have made you pause and think, this is interesting. I didn't realize they're doing this policy work or they're moving the needle in this space. And I would say to those donors to


Raise your hand, reach out, try to get a little bit more involved. And you will in turn get to know an organization and a team and you will start to build relationships that you will find hopefully fulfilling and that you will learn and you yourself will become more of an expert in a space. You can't do that when you're giving to 50 different organizations annually, right?


I think it's more fulfilling to donors. think they have a more joyful experience. They learn a lot more. And I think it opens them up to community too, if they're willing to raise their hand, get involved. I find so many individual donors that don't have staff and don't have support, find it really lonely and isolating. And so if you do start to get involved and maybe go to events, I think you'll find there are other donors there. You'll be able to kind of get to know folks, hear about their journey, how they came to this organization.


And I think community sometimes can be very empowering for donors who have found it a really lonely journey.


Abbey Henderson (14:50)

Hmm. All right, you've sold me. what's my first step? if a client comes to you and wants to go down this path, what do you do with them first?


Katie Collins (15:02)

Yeah, so a couple of things. So one is we do look at historical giving. We have a conversation of where have you given in the past? In some ways we get really granular. We look up the 501 C3s. We look up their IRS sector code and we do a mapping of OK, you know 60 % of your giving is in the arts. 20 % is environment and you know we kind of do a reflective exercise of how they feel about that. It is also really interesting because during that exercise you can also.


to your point about reactive giving and giving to the races and all that. That comes up a lot in those conversations where they acknowledge and say, well, you know, give to my kids private school, I give to my alma mater, I give to my temple, but you're right, I'm not really moving the needle in any other space beyond that. And that doesn't feel right to me. And so I've had those conversations with couples and families. So we'll do a little bit of reflective giving, historical giving review. And then we do talk about who they are as people, right?


their upbringing? Are there values that their parents instilled in them? What are their earliest memories of giving back and philanthropy? There are also several tools out there for families or individual donors, couples to kind of push the conversation. So one, and I have some examples to show here. 2164 is a great organization that is a 501c3. They focus on multi -generational conversations.


Abbey Henderson (16:22)

Love


Katie Collins (16:29)

They have produced these great motivational values cards. So this is one great exercise I've done with family is again donors where you talk about what values are important to you And with some families they have family value statements I've worked with some families where they come and they have it already which is great a little rare but great And so for me, you know community is one that comes up time and time again with the donors I've worked with for me dignity compassion humility. Those are always words that are on my list


And going through this exercise, you'll start to kind of peel back the onion with your family or with yourself on what's important and what should drive some of your motivations for giving back. 2164, if the words don't resonate with folks, they also have a great, I prefer this, I've seen a greater outcomes with this, a deck of really beautiful cards, it's called Picture Your Legacy, and it's a way to talk about the impact you wanna make, the legacy you wanna leave behind. And I find...


Sometimes the folks aren't open to the words and that exercise, the images kind of conjure other feelings and emotions. And I'll just share a story. I was working with a family. was, I think G5, so the fifth generation. There were eight cousins all in their 20s, mostly in early 30s. And I couldn't get much from them. was all via Zoom. It was during the pandemic. I was trying to get kind of some of that, like, who are you? What's important to you? And it was struggle. It was a struggle. So I sent each of them this deck.


Abbey Henderson (17:29)

Mm.


Katie Collins (17:55)

And it was so fascinating of the eight cousins, five of the eight came with this card, which is basically a garden. looks like it, you know, and just kids in the garden learning, you know, digging. And it was really fascinating that they all, they were all different parts of New England and they came with that same card. And in the end, there was a theme of commitment to sustainable agriculture, healthy food access.


Abbey Henderson (17:59)

Wow.


Katie Collins (18:22)

And it started to kind of create the foundation of what they were going to give to collectively. So I would say, you know, that's where I started, the really beginning. And then from there, you know, we talked about this a little bit after kind of having the values conversation, the impact you want to make, you start to talk through, okay, like in that example, clearly food is a big area the family wanted to address. And from there drilling down further into what about food do we want to address, right? And is there a geography what we want to focus on?


I will say a big trend I've seen is bigger families acknowledging that maybe the community where the original G1 established the company or made the wealth is not where G5 lives right now, right? So that they've opened it up to a broader definition of community where the different family members live. And so it's really kind of going through that motion when I meet with a new client and figuring out where they want to make their impact.


Abbey Henderson (19:22)

That's really cool that you're working with families that are five generations out. So G1 being first generation, G5 being all the way to the fifth. That's some of my favorite work too, is when you get to work with multiple generations. But with that can come some conflict, as can working with couples. So I'm curious if you have any tips or stories about how you've navigated, maybe


Katie Collins (19:40)

Yes. Yes.


Abbey Henderson (19:51)

conflict, maybe even less alignment in goals or values or desire to impact any of those sorts of things.


Katie Collins (20:03)

Yeah, so I know pretty quickly which way we're going to go in terms of the families. it a family where a collective giving model will work, right? Where they're all going to come around the table and they're all going to align with one mission statement, one focus area. I would say the majority of what I see is kind of more of the individual model, which is the older generations acknowledging, OK,


they're not excited about philanthropy. I'm not seeing as much involvement with whether it's the family foundation or donor advice fund. What can we do to kind of create some movement of those philanthropic muscles, right? And so I would say the most functional families are those that see it, acknowledge it, and create some type of process or system to encourage individual approach.


What I saw a lot of my days at Fidelity Charitable was foundations that would open donor advised funds for the next generation so that the next gen could have their own sort of pot of funds. They could kind of lean into what they were passionate about and start to just go through the motions of what we've talked about, about figuring out what's important to them, where they want to give. So I found that to be the best model when a family recognizes we're not all going to sit together on the table and all align on what we're giving to.


Abbey Henderson (21:25)

Mm -hmm.


Katie Collins (21:26)

So that and then I have found with the next gen as well that they like to be amongst each other. And so I've seen a lot of success in introducing other next geners to each other from different families so that they can learn from each other and grow. And I think there's something really powerful in that too.


Abbey Henderson (21:33)

Yeah.


And do you have any thoughts around teaching kids about philanthropy or things families can do even on very small scales or a small scale as to sort of start those juices flowing early?


Katie Collins (22:05)

Yes. So there are some tools and some ideas as early as age like five or six. I think it's important going back to kind of this notion of a family value statement, whether it's a formal document statement or just important to you as parents to instill empathy and compassion and giving back within your kids. There are books, there's a cute parents to your bear book, actually I do with my kids.


There's also just a bunch of different resources. So there's a foundation out of Colorado called the Moniker Foundation. They produce these really great comic books. They're also like coloring books called the Daring Duo. And they focus on ages about six to 12. And again, it's about just thinking, not about grant making and something formal, but about giving back. What do we have in the house that we don't need that we could donate to? The lemonade stand that you fundraise for a local charity.


There's another great book and you can get this one right I think on Amazon called the giving book and it it's its stories as well as different exercises and it ends up being a scrapbook and I've had a lot of success with this one and Then also just I would say seek out volunteer opportunities for the kids. I mean in the Boston area There's a great nonprofit called Cradles to Cran you can start volunteering their kids as young as I think six or seven there I brought my kids when we've done meal delivery volunteering


And so just bringing them along for things like that, I think, starts to instill some of those philanthropic intentions, some of those awareness of what's going on in the world. And I'll just share, this is more of a formal example, but I worked with this great family several years ago where the grandparents established a fund for the grandkids. The grandkids range in age from eight to 20. And every Thanksgiving, they would have kind of a holiday off site at the, it was a lovely summer home.


And each of the grandkids was tasked with bringing a proposal of a nonprofit they wanted to give to. And each of them were then kind of either approved or not. And it was the older cousins that were the ones doing kind of the vetting. It wasn't like the grandparents or parents that were the ones. So it was empowering the older cousins to play a leadership role. And it was just lovely to see them get up there with their reports as young as eight. And so I've seen a variety of things, but I think starting young and even doing


Abbey Henderson (24:09)

that's cool.


Katie Collins (24:23)

Save, spend, mason jars is something simple you can do around allowances even.


Abbey Henderson (24:29)

And the thing I love about your family that did the holiday event, you can do that at any level. You could do that for $100 donations. It doesn't have to be something that's particularly expensive per se. It's more the intention,


Katie Collins (24:48)

Exactly. I've done it with my two older kids. We've given them each $100, right, around the holidays. And it forces them to take a step back and think, my gosh, where do I even start with this, right? And it's really interesting to hear what they're interested in. And Wendy, back to your question, my oldest, right, loves dogs. And so that was an area that she looked into. So you can start really small. It doesn't have to be thousands and thousands of dollars.


Abbey Henderson (25:12)

And the other thing that just occurred to me as we were chatting, listeners can maybe check out their local community foundations to see if they have youth programs, which I suspect you have some knowledge of as well.


Katie Collins (25:25)

Yes, I would say in the Boston area, we're spoiled that the Community Foundation for Metro West has a really wonderful program called Youth and Philanthropy Program, or they lovingly call it YIP, is the acronym. And so that really is working at the high school level. And they really go through a process of figuring out where they want to make an impact, how to vet a nonprofit. And it's a really great on -ramp to the world of philanthropy and a very kind of acclaimed program.


Abbey Henderson (25:54)

That's awesome. So we're running out of time. You and I could talk forever. But what would you want listeners, more than anything, to take away from this episode?


Katie Collins (26:00)

next.


Sure. So if the peanut butter philanthropy analogy resonated at all with you, I would say make a commitment to yourself of doing something different or identifying some organizations within that list that you might already support that you want to get to know more closer. I would also say to your reference to community foundations, if you do feel like you don't know where to start, you, let's say you want to scrap the list and start at the beginning.


There are a lot of different resources individual donors can look to. So community foundations is one. There are a few national websites I will reference. One is called the Giving Compass. It's a great resource, public domain. Donors can go and read about different issue areas, other funders. Another one is called the Center for High Impact Philanthropy at the University of Pennsylvania. That acronym is CHIP. They have wonderful donor giving guides on a multitude of topics as well that can be kind of a guide for donors.


And then locally, again, I would say community foundations and other funders are really proud and happy to share their research and their favorite grantees, right? They're happy to share that with other donors. So don't be afraid again to raise your hand, put yourself out there a little bit to learn and potentially join in with a great community. I think in the end, again, you'll feel more fulfilled and more intentional and just smarter about your giving.


Abbey Henderson (27:25)

That's awesome. Thank you for all of those amazing resources. Where can our listeners find out more about you and your organization?


Katie Collins (27:36)

Sure, so of course I'm on LinkedIn, Katie O 'Leary Collins. I also have a website which is pathwayphilentropic .com. So check that out and then also I welcome any and all conversations. If I can help be a curator of connections for you or give you any type of knowledge, please reach out. I'm at kcollins at pathwayphilentropic .com. But thank you for having me. This was a real treat. And of course, happy to come back at any point and continue the conversation.


Abbey Henderson (28:05)

I'm going to take you up on that for sure.


Katie Collins (28:06)

Yeah.


Wendy (28:08)

Well, and as somebody who doesn't really feel they have a lot of money to be giving to these kinds of causes, somebody once said that if you don't give now when you feel that you don't have money, you will never give when you have more money. So what you need to do is to dig in and give what you can. And I have made it against three


charities that are very near and dear to me. give $25 a month to one, $10 a month to the other and $5 a month to the third. And I'll tell you what, they don't laugh at me. They have not thrown my $5 back in my face. They take it happily. Yeah. So, all right. So Abbey, how do people get in touch with you?


Abbey Henderson (28:43)

Mm -mm.


for sure.


All the usual suspects, the website, www.AbarisFinancialGroup.com. I'm on LinkedIn, both myself personally and the firm, same with Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, links to everything in the


Wendy (29:12)

All right, well, thank you to both of you and thank you for listening today. Please like, follow and share this podcast with your friends. Until next time, I'm Wendy McConnell.