Subject: Wish it would return…

Along with many on this board, I participated in this program for almost 10 years. It introduced me to selecting a charity of my choice ( my high-school) & resulted in a benefit to something I cared about and a taxable deduction to Berkshire Hathaway.I believe the program would be alive and well today if all the charity recipients were kept anonymous thus avoiding criticism by advocacy groups.

…

“The Berkshire Hathaway Shareholder-Designated Charitable Contribution Program was one of the most innovative and philosophically distinct corporate giving experiments in American business history.
Designed by Warren Buffett and launched in 1981, the program fundamentally challenged how public companies handled philanthropy before it was ultimately discontinued in 2003.

1. The Core Philosophy (1981)
Before launching the program, Warren Buffett frequently criticized standard corporate philanthropy. In most public corporations, management decides where to donate corporate cash—often guided by the CEO’s personal interests, social pressures, or prestigious board memberships.
Buffett and his partner, Charlie Munger, viewed this as an improper use of shareholder capital, famously summarizing their view:

A common result is the use of the stockholder's money to implement the charitable inclinations of the corporate manager... For Berkshire, a different model seems appropriate."

Because Berkshire operated as a partnership of owners, Buffett believed that if corporate money was going to be given away, the owners of the company (the shareholders) should decide exactly where it went.
2. How the Program Worked
In September 1981, Berkshire obtained a crucial tax ruling from the U.S. Treasury Department that allowed the company to execute owner-directed corporate giving without it being counted as taxable income to the shareholders.
• Proportional Allocation: Each year, Berkshire designated a specific dollar amount per share.
• Shareholder Choice: Shareholders of record received a form allowing them to name up to three registered 501(c)(3) charities.
• The Execution: Berkshire wrote the checks directly to those charities. The shareholder chose the cause, but the corporation claimed the tax deduction, which indirectly benefited all shareholders by reducing Berkshire's corporate tax liability.
The program was an immense success in terms of participation. In most years, over 95% of eligible shares participated in designating their gifts. Over its 21-year run, the program directed nearly $200 million to thousands of local and national charities chosen entirely by individual investors.”

……..would be great if our new CEO could figure out a way to reinstitute this program in honor of our Chairman!

ciao