Robert and Margaret Thompson

Long-established wealth in Toronto. Generous and steady for decades. What is missing now is the next generation, and they worry their values will not carry forward.

Step 1 — Intake

 

Partner's name: Margaret Thompson

Do you have children? Yes → Andrew Thompson (born August 12, 1981); Catherine Thompson (born October 3, 1984)

Annual Giving Budget: Min 150000 · Max 200000

What brings you here today? (select all):

  • Want to involve our family in giving decisions;

  • We're thinking about our Estate;

  • We want to be more intentional about our giving

(Session for: Robert Thompson)

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How did you get involved with most of these? (select all):

  • Personal experience;

  • Professional connection;

  • Friend or family

Step 3 — Values Discovery

Q1 motivations (rank):

  1. Nurturing what I love

  2. Changing how things work,

  3. Caring for those in need

Q2 what shaped you (select): A community I'm part of; Someone I admire showed me what giving looks like; My professional work

Q4 North Star, impact (select): Support the organizations and communities I already believe in

Q5 North Star, experience (select): Shared with my family as something we do together

Q6 North Star, scale (select): Spread my giving across several causes that matter to me

Q7 population (rank): No specific group — I care more about the issue than the population

Q8 geography (rank):

  1. My province or region,

  2. Canada

Q9 stage of need (rank):

  1. Helping life flourish,

  2. Helping people build

Q10 proven vs new (slider): toward Proven and established

Q11 gift use (slider): toward Flexible funding

Q12 deep vs wide (slider): toward deep

Q13 timeframe (slider): toward Generational

Q14 structured (slider): strongly toward Planned

Q15 flexible % (slider): 10%

Q16 relate to orgs (select):

  • I prefer making long-term commitments to organizations I believe in;

  • I'd like to be personally connected to the leadership;

  • I like giving alongside other donors toward a shared goal

Q17 faith module? No

Family module

Andrew's generous qualities (select): Asks questions about money, fairness, or why things are the way they are; Loves figuring out how things work, building things, or solving problems.

Catherine's generous qualities (select): Is proud when they contribute to something bigger than themselves; Is curious about people and places beyond their own community

How involved (select): Having a say in where some of the giving goes; Researching causes or organizations together; Managing a small giving budget of their own

What you hope they take away (select): How to think critically about where money goes; Connection to our family's values; That they have a responsibility to help others

Crisis module

Crisis geography (rank):

  1. Anywhere in Canada,

  2. Wherever the need is greatest in the world

Crisis timing (slider): middle

Trusted crisis orgs? (select): Yes, I already know who I'd give to. (Optional: "The Canadian Red Cross.")

 

Step 4 — Focus Areas (select up to 5, rank)

  1. Primary: Arts and Culture

  2. Primary: Healthcare

  3. Secondary: Environment

  4. Secondary: Education

Before the final analysis — Additional context (open box)

 

Some context after forty years of giving. We know what we care about. The real question now is succession: will our children carry this forward, and does our giving still reflect who we are today rather than who we were. On the children, since the qualities were picked as a group: Andrew (the older) is analytical and asks the hard questions about fairness and how things actually work; he would respond to the strategy and the numbers. Catherine is the connector, proud to be part of something larger and curious about the wider world; she would respond to the people and the stories. We would like the plan to give each of them a genuine role suited to that, perhaps Andrew helping evaluate where the money goes, and Catherine helping choose and stay close to the causes. Margaret's heart is in the arts, the Conservatory above all. Robert quietly funds food security, which Margaret is less connected to. The Princess Margaret gift is the one thing we are equally and deeply committed to. A year from now we want our giving to be a shared family practice, and our children ready to carry our values forward.

(Continue through Enrichment and the app generates the Plan.)

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