Featured Article

Authors and leaders throughout the field have published articles and tools (e.g. Grandparent Legacy Project) aimed to help families ask questions to elicit the core values of our founders. When we are able to connect our founders’ values to real-life stories, it can have a profound impact on our families and those we serve… Read More

What if our generation aspired to create what our predecessors had by getting out ahead of the growth of our city and creating a new system of parks that would inject new life into Louisville’s neighborhoods? … Read More

Philanthropy is often described as society’s “risk capital.” Our generosity can support causes and ideas that business and government agencies cannot or will not. We can use our resources to inspire new ideas, challenge existing thinking, or continue supporting an organization when others won’t. However, the idea of risk in philanthropy quickly muddies as we direct our generosity through a family foundation, donor-advised fund, or other collective effort. Our ideas about and tolerance for risk diverge, shaped by individual, family branch, professional, and other experiences… Read More

In our day-to-day work in family philanthropy, we often worry about ‘what’ we do and don’t often pause to consider the ‘why.’ Perhaps we should also spend some concerted time thinking about the why — asking questions like, "Why is our family involved in philanthropy? What impact do we hope to see in our families through this work?”… Read More

When the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation added four non-family members to its board, it wanted to bring new perspectives into its meetings, while also promoting the integrity and values of the family and the foundation… Read More

For much of the 20th century, the vast majority of U.S. foundations operated under the assumption that they would be in business forever. However, as a new generation of family philanthropists take over a growing number are deciding that they would rather spend down their assets during a set period of time than manage their endowments in perpetuity… Read More

Lisa Parker remembers the first time she met someone like her. Parker, now the third-generation president of the Lawrence Welk Family Foundation, had grown up in a prominent philanthropic family. But it wasn’t until middle school — when she learned that one of her classmates was the daughter of a family that ran a California family foundation — that she discovered that she is part of a larger tribe. “We looked at each other and thought, ‘We’re the same aliens,’” Parker recalled earlier this month from the main stage of the National Forum on Family Philanthropy in Seattle… Read More

I can’t not do this. It’s not that I can do this, it’s that I can’t not. I don’t have time to not make an impact. I could not imagine not..." I don’t remember the first time I heard someone use one of these grammatically incorrect phrases. But I hear these statements consistently, to this day, from educated and literate people. I know you have heard of “can-do” people, they are eager and willing, we admire them and hope our children become like them when they grow up. But the regular heroes you will meet in this book go way beyond can-do, they can’t not do. … Read More

An influx of assets is a powerful transition point in your family’s philanthropy. With rising resources comes the budding potential to do more of what you’re already doing – or, perhaps, to try something new. Either way, additional resources will often provide your foundation with new options for making a difference according to your foundation’s mission. … Read More

Editor's note: This month's article features NCFP and Frieda C. Fox Family Foundation's Youth Philanthropy Connect's Igniting the Spark: Examples of Next Gen Engagement Strategies case study on the Andrus Family Fund. … Read More