Book excerpt: Imagine all you'd like to accomplish with your philanthropy. Now picture a large portion of your resources never reaching their intended use due to poor strategies, mismanagement, or unnecessary taxes. Today the opportunities in the philanthropic sector are greater and more varied than ever. Private foundations, which offer several estate and tax-planning advantages as well as unparalleled donor control, have become the vehicle of choice for more than sixty thousand individuals and families--and may be ideal for you. Creating a Private Foundation introduces the issues you need to understand and gives the big picture on how foundations work. It tells you exactly what is involved for you, for the causes you care about, for your finances and taxes, and for your heirs. Chapters address the practicalities as well as the implications of founding, funding, organizing, and operating an effective foundation, including growing its endowment, allocating its assets, and selecting professional foundation management help. Roger Silk, James Lintott, and their colleagues, leaders in the foundation consulting arena, have pooled their wisdom in this comprehensive guide for donors and your advisers. If you're looking to make a difference, there is no better guide.