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

I have been talking with families and executives lately about the growing number of private foundations deciding to “sunset” after a predetermined number of years. The primary reason for this is the concern about the mission and values of the foundation shifting away over time from the original intent of the donor… 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

When you were at the table, we generally worked through consensus building, rarely actually taking a vote. Of course since you were there, we had no trouble coming to agreement. We knew whose vote counted! … Read More

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