Several years ago, the Salwen family did something most wealthy American’s might think is crazy: They sold their dream house, moved into a home half its size, and gave the proceeds—more than $800,000—to charity. 

The decision came after 14-year-old Hannah Salwen saw a homeless man and a Mercedes-Benz right in the same view and told her parents, Kevin and Joan Salwan, that the family should do something to make a difference in the world. Together the family spent a year deciding where to direct the money, a journey Kevin and Hannah chronicled in their book, The Power of Half: One Family’s Decision to Stop Taking and Start Giving Back. 

The Chronicle has teamed up with Bolder Giving, an organization that works to encourage philanthropists to more generously, to develop a series of live online discussion with some of the nation's most interesting philanthropists.

Read the transcript from our recent Bolder Giving discussion with Kevin and Hannah Salwen from Wednesday, April 28, when they discussed the family's life-changing decision to give a major portion of their wealth to charity.