Give Smart: How to Make a Dramatic Difference with Your Donation Dollar.

Janet Collins is a freelance writer in Sechelt, British Columbia.

Everybody likes a good story. Given the long-running success of David Chilton’s The Wealthy Barber, telling a good story is also a great way to offer financial advice.

Give Smart focuses on the issue of charitable donations, one of the most common ways to help ourselves by helping others. By following a fictional woman considering her own giving options, Kelly guides readers through the maze of strategies and tax and estate implications that can help them achieve the best value for their charitable dollars.

The majority of the book, Cynthia’s story, helps the reader consider some of their own giving options. This is excellent preparation for the four appendices, the workbook portion of the text. Several giving strategies—from cash gifts to establishing a trust—are discussed, as are the advantages/disadvantages to making contributions from your income versus your estate. A list of information resources is also provided.

Give Smart is a good primer for those starting to give to charity, and a good source for those wanting to increase their giving for personal and financial reasons.