Board Composition, Diversity, and Recruitment

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Featured Resources

A Steadying Hand: The Critical Role of Non-family Board Members

Passages Issue Briefs

This special Passages Issue Brief written by NCFP Distinguished Fellow Susan Packard Orr describes the various skills, expertise, and perspectives that non-family board members can provide, as well as some of the common challenges for families seeking to add their first non-family board members, and tips for how to set…

A Place at the Table: Non-Family Membership on the Family Foundation Board

Passages Issue Briefs

Family giving comes from a common cause, a shared vision, a particular need for giving back a portion of life’s gifts. Family members can focus on shared personal interests and can shape the architecture of their giving by expressing and validating shared family experience. Foundation board service can be the…

hand pulling back white paper to reveal mountain backdrop

Open Calls in Philanthropy: An Uncommon Approach that Can Reveal Weaknesses and Maximize Strengths

Blog Post

This article was originally published by Mission Investors Exchange and is re-posted here with permission. In philanthropy, the open call interview process to fill board- and committee-level positions is not typically a common practice. These positions are often filled by those who already have an existing relationship with the foundation,…

Families In Flux: Guidelines for Participation in Your Family’s Philanthropy

Passages Issue Briefs

Family members marry, divorce, remarry, form domestic partnerships and, in many cases, move far away from the family home. With families growing ever more complex, varied, and far-flung, foundations and donor-advised funds need clear guidelines regarding who participates in their philanthropy and in what roles. This Passages report addresses changing…

Passing the Baton: Generations Sharing Leadership

Passages Issue Briefs

Today’s family foundation field has many well-prepared next generation members and a whole generation of longer living, active senior members. And while the field has been resourceful in promoting next gen involvement, it has done little to address succession issues for the senior generation or to consider options for shared,…

Choosing and Preparing Your Grantmaking Successors

Passages Issue Briefs

Family foundation donors and first generation boards should begin the continuity and succession discussion early in the foundation’s lifetime if perpetuity is the objective. In a succession plan, one trustee usually succeeds another. However, before succession can take place there should be continuity of governance where members of more than…

Community Board Members: Panta Rhea Foundation Recruitment Documents

In 2020, the board of directors for the Panta Rhea Foundation announced it’s intentions to expand the board to include leadership and representation from outside the donor family. In 2021, after a long search involving trusted partners & grantees, the foundation welcomed trustees from the broader social justice and nonprofit community, Solomé Lemma and Cedric Brown. The following documents share various aspects of their community board member recruitment and interview process.