NCFP Blog

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative LLC raised the question about why some philanthropists choose a limited liability company (“LLC”) instead of a private non-operating foundation (“foundation”) to carry out their mission… Read More

As the world faces one of the largest refugee crises since World War II, understanding how to fund effective solutions has proven to be a difficult, complex task… Read More

Over the past 18 months, the trustees and staff of the David Rockefeller Fund have embarked on a journey to engage a new generation of family trustees and reinvent a 25 year-old family foundation for a new century of philanthropic challenges… Read More

Every grant award offers a potential risk that should be understood and properly mitigated. Providing grants to a charity that has had its tax-exempt status revoked — even unknowingly — can lead to the disbursement being considered a taxable expenditure, prevent foundations from meeting the annual 5 percent distribution requirement, and cause the IRS to levy excise taxes — stiff fines — on the foundations involved… Read More

Some of philanthropy’s core practices may unwittingly be leading funders to perpetuate the inequities they’re trying to eliminate… Read More

Let’s start listening to (seeking first to understand) our grantees, before responding with answers and solutions. Let’s facilitate the solutions of a problem by asking questions such as, “What are the outcomes you/we want from this situation?” “What support do you need from me?” “How can you hold me, as the funder, accountable?”… Read More

Many families turn to community foundations to solve challenges ranging from geographic dispersion to anonymity, and to learn about community issues or make grants outside of the family’s core mission. … Read More

Once a donor has decided that a DAF is the right giving vehicle, she has to make a very important decision: where is she going to house her fund? Mark Neithercut, a donor and philanthropic advisor with offices in Traverse City and Chicago, shares four reasons why he chose to house his DAF in his local community foundation… Read More