Proactive philanthropy means planning charitable giving during your lifetime rather than leaving it to your estate. It treats giving as a discipline with structure, timing, and intent behind it, rather than as a year-end transaction or a line in a will.
The practical difference is timing. Giving planned in advance can be coordinated with income, with the sale of a business, with the appreciation in a particular holding, and with the family's own involvement — none of which is possible when the giving happens after death.
It also changes who participates. Lifetime giving lets a family make decisions together, which is often the first real exercise of the governance structure they have written down.
This definition is provided for educational purposes. It is general information, not investment, tax, or legal advice, and it does not account for any individual circumstances.