about : president's letter

by Randy Fox
August 2005.

Many of you remember the spring conference in Chicago when Claire Gaudiani captivated us with her keynote about the roots of philanthropy as part of the essence of culture. Ms. Gaudiani made reference to the fact that before we had a Declaration of Independence we had a “Declaration of Interdependence” in this country. You may also remember that I challenged a task force of our members to create a declaration of interdependence that would be relevant to the membership and culture that we are attempting to create within Advisors in Philanthropy (AiP) and in our relationship to society.

I am proud to announce that my challenge was met with the following. Please adopt this declaration as part of your own vision statements and spread the word that AiP represents a unique organization of planners and advisors who are adamant about improving the quality of life on the planet.

Declaration of Interdependence

In recognition of a global perspective, we acknowledge every human's uniqueness as being a form of wealth and that our survival, growth and longterm achievement hinges on interdependence. As each of us contributes energy, effort and riches, the prosperity of all is compounded. Even the least among us can participate in what our predecessors called a “social contract”. Weaving together the unique contributions of diverse societies, we will create a world fabric that emulates the best of what it means to be human.

We promote & encourage:

♥ an environment that honors the aspirations of all human beings
♥ the responsible and compassionate use of wealth through philanthropic giving
♥ ethical and professional conduct through collaboration, teamwork & consensus
♥ advisors educating & motivating donors to achieve clarity of their philanthropic vision
♥ answering the questions “How much is enough?” and “Wealth for what purpose?”
♥ donors & advisors to leave the world better than they found it

Using these guiding principles, we envision a world in which (millions of) families connect their wealth to their meaning and transform communities through inspired giving.