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Training Opportunities for Younger Family Members and New Trustees

Posted on January 15, 2012 by National Center for Family Philanthropy

Our family foundation board is committed to adding several new next generation family members (i.e., in their 20s and 30s) to the board in the next 2-3 years. We also need to become more proactive in inviting younger family members (i.e., those in the 10-20 range) to participate in the family’s philanthropy. Do you have suggestions for opportunities for our… Read More
Featured Article

Discretionary Grants: Engaging Family… Or Pandora’s Box?

Posted on December 15, 2011 by Susan Crites Price

Editor’s note: This month’s feature story is an excerpt from the new edition of our Passages issue brief series: Discretionary Grants: Engaging Family… Or Pandora’s Box? If you asked at a gathering of family foundation folks whether using discretionary grants is a good idea, you’d never reach consensus. Many family foundations don’t use them. Those that do have widely varied… Read More
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Can Private Foundations Serve as Fiscal Sponsors?

Posted on October 15, 2011 by Andras Kosaras

By Andras Kosaras, Associate, Arnold and Porter LLP Private foundations frequently receive grant applications from groups that are under the fiscal sponsorship of a section 501(c)(3) public charity.  But sometimes the request is for the private foundation itself to serve as a group’s fiscal sponsor.  Is a private foundation legally permitted to serve as a fiscal sponsor?  Why would a… Read More
From NCFP

Rowing the Philanthropic Boat Together: Reflections on Consensus and Civility

Posted on August 15, 2011 by Virginia M. Esposito

A foundation needs trustees who can work together productively, but it does not require that they be unanimous in their opinions or uniform in their outlook. …A foundation’s extraordinary potential for good springs from its board’s ability to act as a collective, to be cohesive in fulfilling its public trust. As Alfred North Whitehead remarked, “No member of a crew… Read More
From NCFP

Qualities of a Good Trustee

Posted on July 15, 2011 by Virginia M. Esposito

Ginny Esposito
“As I see it, there is no other way that as few people can raise the quality of the whole American society as far and as fast as can trustees and directors of our voluntary institutions, using the strength they now have in the positions they now hold.” ~ Robert K. Greenleaf Recently, I had a wonderful opportunity to spend… Read More
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Attracting the Right Grantseekers… and Keeping Them from Drowning in Paperwork

Posted on June 15, 2011 by National Center for Family Philanthropy

How do we put together guidelines that attract the right grantseekers… and that are respectful of their time and resources? Many family foundations have written the National Center over the past 15 years asking for guidance on how to create grantmaking guidelines that attract the right grantseekers and that do not place undue burden on the applicants (or the foundation… Read More
From NCFP

Family Giving and Fairness: 8 Lessons Learned

Posted on June 15, 2011 by Virginia M. Esposito

Many of the philanthropic families who call on me for help in doing their best possible work in the best possible way invariably reach a point where they say they want a system that is fair to the family. Most start by wanting family fairness as a means to doing good grantmaking. However, over time, the goal of family fairness… Read More
Featured Article

What Makes a Family Foundation CEO an Effective Leader: Insights from William M. Dietel

Posted on June 15, 2011 by National Center for Family Philanthropy

Editor’s Note: This is the second in a series of reports on NCFP’s Leadership Symposium for Family Foundation CEOs held March 23-24 in Washington, DC. The unique role of the family foundation chief executive often involves a very complex relationship in which the CEO serves the public good and the foundation’s mission, and at the same time, helps a private… Read More
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Keeping “Control”

Posted on May 15, 2011 by National Center for Family Philanthropy

Our foundation has begun discussions to add nonfamily trustees to enhance and complement the skills and perspectives currently on our all-family board. How do we ensure that the family will not lose “control” of the foundation over time? There are a variety of strategies that family foundations around the country have used to retain control while engaging non-family board members… Read More

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