Celebrating Fifteen Years of Family Giving
The National Center is celebrating our 15th year of providing advice and assistance for families in philanthropy, and what better way to celebrate than to share the perspectives and comments from many of the families we have served over the years. Thank you for your support!
Do you have a testimonial to share regarding your experiences with the National Center? Please share in the comments section below, or email to lauren@ncfp.org.
Ira Hirschfield, President of the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund
“Year after year, the National Center for Family Philanthropy demonstrates why it continues to deserve its reputation for being one of the most highly regarded resources for donor families and the advisors who support them. This 15-year-old organization has built an impressive body of knowledge that helps articulate the value of family philanthropy to society.
It has been the preeminent think tank for learning about best practices in the field of family philanthropy. Whether a family philanthropy is in its first generation or its fifth, the Center provides thoughtful and valuable resources. It encourages families to assess and improve their performance. It provides powerful lessons for families to learn from, practical tools and useful models. We believe the Center has played a leading role in ensuring there will be generous and effective family philanthropies for years to come— philanthropy that embodies family values while incorporating meaningful involvement for succeeding generations of Trustees.
While the Haas, Jr. Fund does not have a focused program area on encouraging philanthropy, we have been pleased to support the Center each year for the past 15 years. We believe funding the Center and its work has been an important investment. A gift to the Center helps everyone deeply engaged in family philanthropy continue to grow and increase their effectiveness to benefit the communities and causes they care about most.”
– Ira S. Hirschfield, President, Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund (15 year partner & supporter)
Teresa Sloyan, Executive Director, Hyde Family Foundations
“We extend our best wishes to you for continued success. It is a pleasure to be among your supporters.”
–Teresa Sloyan, Executive Director, Hyde Family Foundations (Leadership Circle)
Charles Hamilton, founder, The Hamilton Foundation
“You are all making a wonderful contribution to American family philanthropy at a time when the understanding and appreciation of philanthropy is facing internal and external challenges.”
– Charles Hamilton, Donor, Hamilton Foundation (Friend of the Family)
Shirley Fredricks, trustee and her daughter, Lisa Parker, president and executive director of the Lawrence Welk Family Foundation
“The National Center consistently and brilliantly presents the very best education to Family Foundation and Donor Advisor funders. Though I actively participate in educational opportunities with many organizations in the philanthropic center it is those offered by NCFP that drill deeper into issues, savor the nuances of family grantmaking and produce products that motivate and inspire in an all embracing understanding of families and the dynamics that challenge them. I wouldn’t be without the Center and their talented staff.”
– Shirley Fredricks, Vice President, The Lawrence Welk Foundation (Founding Board member & Friend of the Family)
“All of us at the Foundation continue to recognize that you and your colleagues do important work and add considerable value to the field. We are pleased to know that you continually examine important issues and trends in family philanthropy with both a rational and emotionally intelligent approach.”
– Nancy White McCabe, Executive Director, Kohlberg Foundation (Friend of the Family)
“Our enthusiasm for the work you all do is as robust as ever and the enclosed contribution to Friends of the Family comes with our tremendous gratitude. We stand here a multigenerational family foundation in large part due to the practical wisdom we have gleaned from NCFP.”
– Lisa Parker, President/Executive Director, The Lawrence Welk Foundation (Friend of the Family)
Additional Comments on Our Programs and Services
Dr. Anne Hodges Morgan, Family Philanthropy Consultant
“As a long time consultant to family foundations, this was the best presentation on evaluating the family foundation CEO I have ever heard. The research behind NCFP’s work is superb and compelling. The presenters were excellent and the materials shared were useful for both family foundations and independent foundations as well. In fact, anyone looking at a CEO evaluation would find the materials very helpful. My comment is thanks to all and BRAVO.”
– Anne H. Morgan, PH.D. Consultant to Foundation and Non-profits Trustee of two family foundations, one independent foundation and a former family foundation CEO
“The Family Philanthropy Webinar series is a wonderful resource, allowing us to ‘attend’ sessions from all over and to share materials with other members of our foundation. The transcripts of the sessions are also a valuable resource. Thank you for these teleconferences! “
– Sukey Garcetti, Secretary/Treasurer, Roth Family Foundation (Friend of the Family)
“Teleconferences are an effective way for me to be stimulated and educated. I always expect excellent presenters and up to date information from NCFP, and have not been disappointed with the teleconferences. The last one discussing women and philanthropy was very timely as women grow in their capacity and leadership roles in philanthropy. Thank you NCFP!”
– Jane Leighty Justis, The Leighty Foundation, (Friend of the Family)
“The National Center’s webinars are the best education in philanthropy that one can find anywhere. Even for those of us with decades of experience they continue to reveal nuances and best practices that we can use in our grantmaking. Bravo to the National Center for setting the bar so high for us and then helping us achieve it.”
“The Teleconference presentations are very informative and provide well-rounded examinations of issues that are very important to family foundations. I hope that this continuing education program will continue. It’s a great service to the family foundation community.”
“Our subscription to the Family Philanthropy Online Knowledge Center has really driven our members to our members-only website and been a terrific resource for them. We always advertise NCFP webinars in our e-newsletter and have generally found the arrangement with NCFP to be extremely beneficial. Any service like yours that increases our capacity to provide quality information, programs and products to our members has value beyond the subscription price. This is exactly the type of national leverage/partnership that my board hopes we will achieve.”
– Liz Wilder, Executive Director, Grantmakers Forum of New York (Family Philanthropy Online Partner Subscriber)
“Our subscription to the Family Philanthropy Online Knowledge Center has been an invaluable service for our family foundation members. As a regional association we recognize that our main objective is to connect our foundation members to the best information available. Sometimes we can provide that information to them directly, based on our own resources. Often, we enlist the services and minds of the “best in class” on any particular topic, recognizing that our strengths can only run so wide or run so deep. NCFP is clearly the national authority on all things family foundation related. Their staff, website and materials are truly best in class. Our members have made it clear to us how much they value being able to access NCFP’s resources; everything from their webinars to the FP online Subscription. We recognize that we will never be an organization which is a content expert on all things family foundation related, but we cherish our relationship with NCFP, an organization that clearly is.”
– Janine Lee, President and CEO, Southeastern Council on Foundations (Family Philanthropy Online Partner Subscriber)