Is Spending Down Right for Your Philanthropy? How to Make the Decision and What to Consider in the Process

Interested in learning more about spending down? Join our Strategic Lifespan Peer Network. Many in this group have decided to operate with a limited lifespan. Others are thinking about the decision to spend down.

Key Moments from the Webinar

00:00 Introduction

06:15 Introduction to the McClatchy Foundation

08:18 Introduction to the Posner Foundation of Pittsburgh

09:32 Introduction to the Stupski Foundation

12:22 Communicating your Spend Down Decision

28:27 Programmatic Strategy During Spend Down

38:59 Staffing

41:49 Preserving Legacies?

47:32 Board and Staff Alignment

50:20 Investment Strategy

Determining the lifespan of a philanthropic effort is one of the most important decisions a philanthropy’s board, staff, and family members make.

Would the philanthropy have more impact and better meet community needs by spending more or all of its assets in a limited timeframe instead of existing in perpetuity? How does a philanthropic family make this decision? What plans must be put in place related to grantmaking, investing, staffing, and communications while a lifespan decision is being considered and when it has been finalized?

Hear from family philanthropy staff and board members who can provide guidance on the critical questions to ask, how to go about making a decision on lifespan, and how to successfully navigate the spend down journey once that decision has been made.

About the Series
Community Conversations are topical webinars on issues and trends in family philanthropy and are available to the field at large. These events lift up experts in the field, challenge philanthropists in their thinking and practices, and share timely stories and strategies in the family philanthropy community.