is it possible to set up a trust for a charity and have the donor
remain anonymous? If so, is it difficult to do?

I should preface my answer by noting that your question deserves more
than a hour's fast skimming of Web sites.  As noted in the disclaimer
at the bottom of this page, my answer is not intended to substitute
for informed professional tax, legal, investment, accounting, or other
professional advice, and you should consult with a one or more of
those professionals before making any decision.

Having said that, the brief answers are apparently "Yes", and "not too
difficult, but potentially expensive, and will requre the services of
a lawyer."

According to a 1996 BusinessWeek article ....

http://www.businessweek.com/1996/26/b3481122.htm

"If you choose not to go through a charity's planned-giving office
because you want to remain anonymous or retain control over the
investments, you can set up a charitable trust privately. But it's
bound to cost more. Legal fees to draft the trust may run more than
$1,000. Plus, there'll be an annual trustee's fee of as much as 1% of
the assets. ..."

If you're planning on making a substantial gift, an overview of what
you need to do can be found at Nolo's site ...

http://www.nolo.com/lawcenter/ency/article.cfm/objectID/42AE8B2E-F150-42E8-86DB468AB47C6196/catID/257899BC-C5FA-435D-BA9BCC083F55357E

If you're planning on contributing less than $5,000, an alternative
would be contributing to a pooled charitable trust, where the gift
could also be made anonymously.  See ...

http://www.nolo.com/lawcenter/ency/article.cfm/objectID/3045416C-EDC6-48F2-A310DAF212E2361D

You don't mention your location, but if you live in the United
Kingdom, you may want to explore the "All About Giving" site run by
CAF (Charities Aid Foundation), an international non-governmental
organisation which provides specialist financial services to other
charities and their supporters.The "All About Giving" site notes
"...by using the service offered by CAF, where CAF Trustees are the
trustees, you can establish your trust within a week without set up
costs."

See more details at http://www.allaboutgiving.org/yourowntrust/uk/ind_faq.cfm

Home site of the CAF is at http://www.cafonline.org/

Hope that gives you enough to start with.

rico

The short answer is "yes".  This is a simple question.  FYI, I have
been a Director of Planned Giving at two institutions and have
completed my Certified Financial Planning courses on the way to
getting my CFP designation and have dealt with this before.  If you
need references look at the www. nolo.com and business week references
above; skip the references to the United Kingdom as this does not
pertain to US tax law.

Go see an estate planning attorney, preferably one that is board
certified in your state.  Not all attorneys are the same or know the
same body of law.  Just as if you had a Rolls Royce, you would not
take it to a Hyundai mechanic.  Since this is a legal matter, please
seek qualified legal assistance; don't consult a divorce or personal
injury attorney.  Please note my disclaimer that my response is not
meant to be qualified legal advice, but is meant for illustrative and
educational purposes only and you are advised to seek the assistance
of a qualified legal or finacial advisor.

A "charitable remainder trust" (CRT), whether a charitable remainder
annuity trust (CRAT), charitable remainder unitrust (CRUT), net income
make-up trust (MINCRUT), or "flip-trust" (NIMCRUT-to-CRUT) is a legal
entity that you, the donor set up, for the benefit of you and/or a
beneficiary (present interest) and a qualified (501c3) nonprofit
(future or remainder interest).  It is filed with the federal
government and has to meet IRS scrutiny to be valid.  It is a separate
legal entity that will require its own FEIN (Federal Employee
Identification Number), annual reports, and annual tax filings.  The
nonprofit that will ultimately receive the corpus of the trust need
not be aware of the existance of the trust; thus it is anonymous in
every sense of the word.  However, for the trust to be valid, you must
ascertain that the proposed remainderman(/men) are qualified 501(c)3
organizations.  You may also want to name a contingent remainderman
(or succesor organization) in the case that at the termination of the
trust (either at the death of the last living beneficiary or a set
period of years not to exceed 20) the original remainderman is no
longer in existence.

Some charities will list donors and trusts in their annual reports and
other giving materials as "anonymous".  These are not truly anonymous,
since the organization knows who the donor is.  If you truly want to
be anonymous, set up the trust with outside counsel and either be the
trusteee yourself, designate another person as a trustee, or select a
corporate trustee.  The rationale for taking this route is to protect
yourself from organizations that may seek further gifts, or from
family members that all of a sudden realize that "Aunt Daisy" has
lotsa bucks, or from public records about your wealth, especially if
the trust is funded by stock from publicly traded companies.

If you think my answer was a bit terse and technical, it was somewhat
purposefully so, so that you would seek the advice of qualified legal
counsel.  This is very complex for the average person and such trusts
are irrevocable.  But, such gifts to charities whose vision you share
are one of the most personal gifts that a person can make and should
be done in full accordance with your wishes.