The FIRM Guide

The Philanthropy Module

The family's charitable giving — structured giving vehicles, charitable bequests woven into the estate plan, charitable beneficiary designations, and where donation records live.

Download template Nothing is entered on this page — you fill the template in privately.

Text file — the flexible one. Use it as-is, open it in any editor, or paste it into an AI tool to reshape the blank form to fit your family: rename a field, add a row, drop one you don't need.

Print / PDF — the ready-to-use one. Print it and fill it in by hand, or choose Save as PDF and complete it in your own offline PDF app. Either way it stays with you — the finished Secure Guide template goes inside your Vault.

One rule: only ever give an AI tool the blank template. Never paste your real information — passwords, account numbers, anything you'd keep secret — into an AI tool, an online service, or anywhere outside your own Vault. Customizing an empty form is fine; filling it in happens privately, offline. That's the same rule this site follows: nothing sensitive ever leaves your hands.

Secure Guide Starter Template

This template belongs in The Secure Guide, stored within The Vault. Update when giving vehicles, bequests, or designations change.

Structured Giving Vehicles
VehicleInstitution / SponsorAccount NumberAdvisor / AdministratorAccessBeneficiary / MissionNotes
Charitable Bequests — Estate Plan Integration
OrganizationLegal NameEINContactBequest TypeDocument Where Specified

For full estate document inventory, see the Estate Plan Module. For gift tax records and contribution documentation, see the Tax Planning and Documentation Module.

Beneficiary Designations — Charitable
AssetNamed CharityEINPercentage / AmountDocument Location

Where annual donation receipts and year-end tax summary documents are stored. For retention guidance, see the Tax Planning and Documentation Module.

Family Guide Starter Template

This template belongs in The Family Guide. It tells the family where giving has been directed and why.

Our Giving — A Summary
OrganizationCause / MissionWhy It Matters to Us

Note any donor-advised fund, charitable trust, or other vehicle with the institution; details are in The Secure Guide; the administrator contact (name, phone).

Note that estate documents include charitable bequests; the executor and attorney are aware; details are in The Secure Guide and the estate documents.

Optional personal statement about giving values and what the planner hopes continues.