The Values Conversation—Engaging the Next Generation Through Philanthropic Planning

The greatest threat to a long-term client relationship isn’t market volatility—it’s the wealth transfer. Studies consistently show that most heirs leave their parents’ advisor after an inheritance, often because the advisor never had a relationship with them in the first place. Philanthropic planning offers one of the most natural, lowest-friction ways to change that. Families who find it difficult to talk directly about inheritance, control, or money values will often talk openly about what they want their wealth to do in the world—making the giving conversation a powerful on-ramp to the harder wealth-transfer conversations advisors need to have anyway.

This webinar focuses on the conversation itself: the questions that surface a family’s values, the techniques that bring children and spouses meaningfully into the discussion, and the practical ways to translate those conversations into a plan that endures across generations. Drawing on the experience of community foundation experts who facilitate these discussions with families, you’ll learn how to deepen multigenerational relationships and gain valuable tips on how to strengthen client retention and position yourself as the indispensable advisor to the entire family.

You will learn:

• How to use philanthropic conversations as a structured entry point to broader wealth transfer and legacy planning, and why values-based discussions strengthen multigenerational client retention.
• Specific questions and facilitation techniques for engaging children, spouses, and other heirs in a family giving conversation—including how to navigate differing views and varying levels of interest.
• How to translate a family’s stated values into durable planning structures (such as family giving governance and successor-advised vehicles) that institutionalize the next generation’s involvement.
• How to position yourself as the lead advisor to the entire family system, and where community foundation partners can support—not supplant—that relationship.