National Center for Family Philanthropy

Contributions

How do family foundations typically provide discretionary grants?

Posted on July 21, 2016 by National Center for Family Philanthropy

Q: How do family foundations typically provide discretionary grants? What about for committee members that aren’t board members? A: According to our 2015 Trends in Family Philanthropy study, “Most family foundations (85 percent) allow individual board members to recommend discretionary grants for foundation funds.” Each family foundation ultimately has to find the balance that’s right for them! NCFP has published two issue… Read More

Advocacy and Lobbying

Posted on June 22, 2016 by National Center for Family Philanthropy

This Content Collection features a series of guides and resources on advocacy and lobbying from Learn Foundation Law, a free first-of-its-kind resource for private and family foundations, as well as NCFP webinars and other resources on advocacy grantmaking strategies. Read More

How can board members stay connected across time zones and significant distances?

Posted on June 9, 2016 by National Center for Family Philanthropy

As families grow, geographic dispersion of family and board members will become a common challenge. Each and every family must figure out a strategy that is right for you. Kelly Nowlin, family trustee of the Surdna Foundation, suggests the following, “The executive director or president of the foundation can make trips to dispersed board members and schedule one-on-one time to… Read More

What are common mistakes family foundations make when trying to engage next gen?

Posted on June 8, 2016 by National Center for Family Philanthropy

If you’re reading this, chances are you’re already avoiding Mistake #1: thinking that you’ve got nothing left to learn about next gen engagement. The truth is, getting and keeping people engaged in your foundation’s work can be difficult, regardless of age. But, Biz Ghormley of Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy, Iris Brilliant of Resource Generation, and Mary Galeti of Nexus, sat… Read More

How do we ensure that the family will not lose “control” of the foundation over time?

Posted on May 3, 2016 by National Center for Family Philanthropy

There are a variety of strategies that family foundations around the country have used to retain control while engaging non-family board members in their work. These strategies may be used alone or in combination, and may include the following: Strategy 1: Create term limits for current board members. A technique used by many family foundations, term limits can be a… Read More

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