Voices from the Field

NCFP’s 2015 Trends in Family Philanthropy study found that more than 90 percent of respondents cited the “impact of their giving” as the top motivation for their participation in family philanthropy. This same study found that just 45 percent of family foundations participate in efforts with other funders. If grant makers are interested in increasing the impact of their giving, they should give serious consideration to participating in a donor collaborative. … Read More

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