Overseas Wealth.

Merrill Lynch looking toward Europe

Building on the rapid growth of its philanthropic services in the United States, Merrill Lynch is casting its net across the Atlantic Ocean.

In 1995, when it began offering philanthropic services as a separate financial planning tool for high-networth clients, Merrill Lynch managed $350 million in philanthropic assets for 350 clients, said King McLaughon, first vice president of Merrill Lynch & Co. and director of Merrill's Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Management.

At the end of 2000, the company managed $4.7 billion for 4,600 clients, he said.

That represents nearly one-fourth of $17 billion managed by Merrill Lynch Trust Co., which has built its assets from $10 billion since the end of 1999.

Philanthropic assets that Merrill manages should grow another $1 billion to $1.2 billion this year, and double to $10 billion by the end of 2005, McLaughon said.

Now, based on the regulatory climate in individual countries, Merrill is studying strategies for targeting individual clients in Europe with its philanthropic services. Merrill could begin offering its package of philanthropic services - such as planned gifts, charitable trusts and donor-advised funds -- in the United Kingdom in 2002, followed by Germany and Italy, McLaughon said.

In the United Kingdom, for example, lawmakers last year created the first direct individual tax incentives for charitable giving, he said, a policy the United States has had for 90 years.

"Part of what we're doing as a firm is looking at that unique environment in the U.K. and trying to develop a similar service to U.K. clients that would support their philanthropy in the context of their regulatory environment," he said.

Germany looks promising for a number of reasons, including tax incentives for individual charity, the development of community foundations and an on overall history of individual giving, he said.

Italy holds potential because its dependence on the Roman Catholic Church to support social initiatives has left room for a big increase in giving by individuals, he said.

Youth initiative

Preparing a new generation of philanthropists is the focus of a Michigan teaching project being expanded throughout the United States. Launched four years ago by the Council of Michigan Foundations, Learning to Give has developed nearly 500 lesson plans about philanthropy.

Those plans -- available for free to teachers anywhere at learningtogive.org -- have been built into teaching plans and requirements for Michigan students in kindergarten through high school studying history, geography, government and economics.

Now, Learning to Give has teamed up with Independent Sector in Washington, D.C., a coalition of national nonprofits, to expand the program to 90,000 public schools and 25,000 private schools serving 54 million K-12 students. Working with universities offering graduate programs both in philanthropy and education, Learning to Give initially will introduce the program in nine states, said Project Director Kathy Agard of the Michigan Council.

Learning to Give, which has been funded with $5 million from a handful of foundations, is the offspring of a separate council effort to boost philanthropy in the state. Funded with $65 million from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in Battle Greek, that 12-year-old effort has increased the number of community foundations in the state to 65 from 30, along with 34 affiliates, and helped each of them create a youth grantmaking committee consisting of students from 8th grade through 12th grade.

"We knew we needed to prepare young people to become grantmakers because they were handling a substantial amount of money," said Agard. "As we worked with young people, we realized how little they knew about the nonprofit sector."

AFP opens Canada office

The Association of Fundraising Professionals in Alexandria, Va., has opened its first international office in Ottawa to support the group's 1,800 members and 11 chapters in Canada. It will be run by Mary de Toro, a former AFP member who has worked for several members of Parliament and nonprofit organizations.

Wilmington Trust taps officer

Wilmington Trust in Wilmington, Del., appointed Lawrence Jones, formerly in the philanthropy unit at Merrill Lynch & Co., to head its new Philanthropic Services Group. Jones, who handled planned giving, endowment and investment planning services for the Nonprofit Services/Philanthropic Financial Services group at Merrill Lynch, said Wilmington Trust initially will focus on strengthening its existing relationships with organizations for which it handles philanthropic assets, and on high-net-worth individual clients.

Todd Cohen is editor and publisher of Nonprofitxpress, an online newspaper a www.npxpress.com.