The Conviction
The de Villiers family had been giving consistently for years, but a growing conviction gradually shifted how they thought about what generosity actually meant. Regular income giving felt like giving from the harvest. The question that began to take hold was whether it was possible to give from the tree itself: to commit capital, not just cashflow, to Kingdom purposes. 'We wanted to give not just of the fruit, but of the tree itself,' Coenie explains. 'That distinction became important to us as a family.'
The Complexity
The de Villiers family held a position in Naspers Limited, built up over many years. The shares had appreciated, which made direct sale unattractive from a tax perspective, and simply liquidating them to donate the proceeds would have meant a portion of the value being absorbed by capital gains tax before it ever reached a charitable purpose. The question was how to transfer that value, intact, into a vehicle dedicated to giving, without the administrative difficulty of establishing a private structure from scratch.
The Solution
A Donor-Advised Fund with Tree of Life provided the answer. By transferring the shares directly, rather than selling and donating cash, the family was able to contribute the full market value of the shares to the DAF without triggering a capital gains tax event. The contribution was structured as a written donation, with Tree of Life managing the transfer from the stockbroking account. 'The process was seamless,' Coenie recalls. 'The team guided us through every step. More of the value stayed dedicated to the causes we care about.' The DAF now functions as what the family describes as a long-term giving wallet, a dedicated structure that holds charitable capital, allowing grants to be recommended over time to organisations that align with their values.
The Impact
With the structure in place, the family has a permanent vehicle for giving from capital, not just income. The DAF is not a once-off transaction, it is a platform that can receive further contributions over time and continue directing resources to causes that matter. For the de Villiers family, the shift has been both practical and meaningful: a giving structure that reflects the depth of their conviction, not just its regularity.
