Succession & Legacy

Stories for Engaged Learning is a collection of case studies rooted in the practical experiences of family and private foundations; the stories are designed for engaged learning.

Based upon a study of foundations in the United States and Canada that have survived through at least two generations, the authors ask probing questions, including: Why were these foundations started? How did the families of the founders come to be involved? And how did they organize themselves to do their work from year to year, decade to decade?

In this unprecedented time of increasing needs and decreasing financial resources how can family funders support their closest grantees to more efficiently and effectively accomplish their critical missions? Volunteers are a vastly underutilized yet virtually unlimited resource that can expand and enhance nearly every area of an organization. However, to effectively tap volunteer resources requires creating a culture that values

This Content Collection shares perspectives from nonprofit leaders and foundation colleagues on the challenges of power dynamics in family philanthropy, and possible solutions for how to address these issues.

In this Content Collection, you’ll learn about the most common conflicts in family philanthropy, the creative “tactics” some boards use to perpetuate the avoidance, and how you can use simple tools to address conflict in a healthy, productive way.

Giving While Living — the idea that people with wealth should use it during their lifetime to help others — is central to the work of a growing number of donors, including Atlantic Philanthropies’ founder Chuck Feeney, who has been a leading spokesperson in this movement to inspire individuals at varying levels of wealth to actively give their funds, skills

This Content Collection provides resources, perspectives, and sample polices for families and boards thinking about board composition and recruitment, both within and outside the family.

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 policies governing how much money is available, who is eligible to make the grants, and whether the grants must be within the foundation’s mission and guidelines.