Voices from the Field

Susan Packard Orr on the legacy of her parents, David and Lucile Packard

Posted on May 28, 2014 by Cole Wilbur, Susan Packard Orr

Editor’s note: the following is reprinted from Living the Legacy: The Value of a Family’s Philanthropy Across Generations, published by the National Center for Family Philanthropy in 1999. In a family foundation there is no question as to the importance of learning from the donors and carrying out their legacy. David and Lucile Packard left our foundation their estate as… Read More
Voices from the Field

Transparency in Family Foundations: the Strength of Glass Pockets

Posted on May 28, 2014 by Brad Smith

Family foundations, by their very nature, are complex. With significant involvement of family members on the board and sometimes in operations as well, there can be layers of generations, widely divergent views and the need to preserve positive family relationships. This complexity is a challenge but not an excuse for avoiding transparency about how family foundations do their work… Read More
Voices from the Field

Giving while living: Melinda Gates

Posted on December 15, 2013 by National Center for Family Philanthropy

Editor’s Note: The National Center has been delighted to partner in 2013 with the Bridgespan Group to share videos from its Conversations with Remarkable Givers series. In this month’s installment, our final in this series, we feature Bridgespan’s interview with Melinda Gates, board member and guiding force behind the world’s largest family foundation, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. As co-chair… Read More
Voices from the Field

Giving while living: Carolyn and Peter Lynch

Posted on November 15, 2013 by National Center for Family Philanthropy

Editor’s Note: The National Center is delighted to partner in 2013 with the Bridgespan Group to share videos from its Conversations with Remarkable Givers series. In this month’s installment, we feature Bridgespan’s interview with Carolyn and Peter Lynch, co-founders of The Lynch Foundation. Under Peter Lynch, Fidelity Investments’ then-obscure Magellan Fund rose from $18 million in assets in 1977 to… Read More
Voices from the Field

Giving while living: Charles Bronfman

Posted on October 15, 2013 by National Center for Family Philanthropy

Editor’s Note: The National Center is delighted to partner in 2013 with the Bridgespan Group to share videos from its Conversations with Remarkable Givers series. In this month’s installment, we feature Bridgespan’s interview with Charles Bronfman, son of Seagram Company founder and philanthropist Samuel Bronfman and founder, along with his wife, of The Andrea & Charles Bronfman Philanthropies. During his… Read More
Voices from the Field

Giving while living: Emmett Carson, the Silicon Valley Community Foundation

Posted on September 15, 2013 by National Center for Family Philanthropy

Editor’s Note: The National Center is delighted to partner in 2013 with the Bridgespan Group to share videos from its Conversations with Remarkable Givers series. In this month’s installment, we feature Bridgespan’s interview with Emmett Carson, founding CEO of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation. Carson has long been one of the field’s most prominent supporters for the power and flexibilty of community… Read More
Featured Article

Families and Community Foundations: Natural Partners, Enhanced Results

Posted on September 15, 2013

Family philanthropy has been at the heart of the community foundation field since its inception. In 1914, Frederick H. Goff and his family created the first community foundation in Cleveland, Ohio.  Since then, tens of thousands of families, individual donors and corporations—many of them family businesses—have helped to launch, sustain, and grow the more than 700 community foundations that exist… Read More
Voices from the Field

Giving while living: Jennifer and Peter Buffett

Posted on August 15, 2013 by National Center for Family Philanthropy

Editor’s Note: The National Center is delighted to partner in 2013 with the Bridgespan Group to share videos from its Conversations with Remarkable Givers series. In this month’s installment, we feature Bridgespan’s interview with Jennifer and Peter Buffett, founders of the Novo Foundation. While Peter has been in the news lately for his New York Times critique of The Charitable-Industrial Complex,… Read More