The UHNW Institute DECEMBER 2025 MONTHLY THEME – That’s A Wrap!
Happy Holidays!
We are grateful to our members, our educational partners, our advisors, and our board who helped make the Institute’s annual Symposium: The Firm of the Future: Living in the Real World – The Toolkit in Action, a success — and the work we do possible.
In this spirit of gratitude and giving, we offer our community a way to say thank you to those who make your work meaningful, your relationships stronger, and your conviction to serving families beyond financial capital paramount.
We are delighted to introduce the 2025 Holiday Gift Guide, an industry-inspired, curated collection of bespoke and meaningful gifts for colleagues and clients. Each item is thoughtfully aligned with the UHNW Institute’s Ten Domains of Family Wealth and reflects our commitment to weaving learning, legacy, and purpose into everyday moments. From an extravagant champagne vending machine to a bottle of bubbly from a favorite vineyard, from hammers to our signature IFWM Toolkit, and from sweet treats to custom portraits for the family retreat, we have the perfect gift to acknowledge everyone on your list.
The guide also showcases several of this year’s key initiatives by reinforcing how new tools, a collaboration of ideas, and a sharing of experiences can enhance relationships across generations and across our industry. Through a mix of flagship events, like the Women’s Leadership Summit, the SFO Circle events across the country and new International Community programs, our community continues to deepen its engagement while advancing our shared mission of elevating the industry.
We brought members together through roundtables, masterclasses, peer exchanges, and learning cohorts designed to foster collaboration and accelerate meaningful progress within firms and family systems. Highlights included expanded programming for single-family office executives, emerging leaders, development of our Beneficiary Stories Initiative, and new advisory-focused content rooted in real-world application, like this month’s podcast, Philanthropic Advising Competency Model, developed to support philanthropic families.
We invite you to celebrate the season, enjoy the guide, up your gift-giving capital, and peruse some of the great Resource Library links below, including our extended Gift Guide in the Institute’s Community Forum.
Until 2026, That’s a Wrap!
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The UHNW Institute Podcast: Philanthropic Advising Competency Model
Host Russ Haworth is joined by Tony Macklin (Daylight Advisors) and Marguerite Griffin (Northern Trust) for a conversation about the Philanthropic Advising Competency Model developed by Daylight and what it means for advisors and firms that support philanthropic families.
They discuss how the model is structured, how it can guide hiring, training and development, and why cultural dexterity and behavioral intelligence are so important for trust and effective communication in philanthropic conversations.
ARTICLES | BOOKS | WHITE PAPERS | PRESENTATIONS
Philanthropic Advising Competency Model
Daylight Advisors
A field-informed framework that outlines the knowledge, skills, and behaviors advisors need to serve clients and communities today. The thirteen core competencies reflect a dynamic, evolving profession that requires both technical fluency and relational skills. It provides a flexible structure for advisors, employers, and professional networks to assess and strengthen their practice.
Overcoming Psychological Barriers to Giving
National Center for Family Philanthropy
NCFP explores the behavioral science behind the ten most common barriers to giving—such as too many choices, fear of uncomfortable family dynamics, and lack of urgency—and provides effective and actionable ways for donors to overcome those barriers.
Research Report | Advanced
National Center for Family Philanthropy’s Trends 2025
The National Center for Family Philanthropy, 2024
The National Center for Family Philanthropy publishes this comprehensive report every five years, highlighting notable trends. Over the past decade, there has been a shift away from donor-centric decision-making towards community-centric designs. Foundations were the most commonly used giving vehicles, and there has been an increased demand for formalized family philanthropy structured through governance. The results are presented according to four guiding principles: accountability, equity, reflection and learning, and relationships.
The UHNW Institute’s Holiday Gift Guide—proof that even in a world of AIMs, ABMs, ESOPs, SFOs, and other acronyms, everyone still loves a great gift. The 2025 UHNW Institute’s Holiday Gift Guide is an UHNW industry-inspired, curated collection of bespoke and meaningful gifts for colleagues and clients aligned with the UHNW Institute’s signature Ten Domains of Family Wealth framework and key initiatives.
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PODCASTS
The UHNW Institute Podcast: Philanthropic Advising Competency Model
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VIDEO
The UHNW Institute Roundtable: Research in Philanthropy and Social Impact
Betsy Erickson, Phil Cubeta, Tony Macklin / UHNW Institute, 2024
In this roundtable, a panel of experienced advisors presented findings from major new philanthropy research. The studies provide novel insights into the state of charitable giving, exploring psychological barriers that prevent engaging in philanthropy. Attendees learned about the evolving role of philanthropic advisors and how to improve client engagement.
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TOOLS & OTHER RESOURCES
The UHNW Institute’s Holiday Gift Guide — You’re invited to add your suggestions to the extended version of the guide with even more gift giving ideas. The 2025 UHNW Institute’s Holiday Gift Guide is an UHNW industry-inspired, curated collection of bespoke and meaningful gifts for colleagues and clients aligned with the UHNW Institute’s signature Ten Domains of Family Wealth framework and key initiatives.
