National Center for Family Philanthropy

Featured Article

Help Wanted: What’s So Special About the Family Foundation CEO?

Posted on February 15, 2012 by Susan Crites Price

Editor’s note: The following is excerpted from Help Wanted: The Complete Guide to Hiring a Family Foundation CEO. At some point in the life of most good-sized family foundations, the board will need to hire a chief executive officer. (For simplicity, CEO is used here to refer to the top paid staff person who may be called executive director, president, or… Read More
Featured Article

Additional Reading: Enhancing Your Family’s Philanthropic Decisions

Posted on January 15, 2012 by National Center for Family Philanthropy

There are a variety of resources, both new and old, on the topic of enhancing diversity in the view and perspectives on family foundation boards. Here are a few of our favorites: A Place at the Table: Non-Family Membership on the Family Foundation Board by Joseph Foote and Dorna L. Allen, published by the National Center for Family Philanthropy, December 2011… Read More
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Training Opportunities for Younger Family Members and New Trustees

Posted on January 15, 2012 by National Center for Family Philanthropy

Our family foundation board is committed to adding several new next generation family members (i.e., in their 20s and 30s) to the board in the next 2-3 years. We also need to become more proactive in inviting younger family members (i.e., those in the 10-20 range) to participate in the family’s philanthropy. Do you have suggestions for opportunities for our… Read More
Featured Article

Discretionary Grants: Engaging Family… Or Pandora’s Box?

Posted on December 15, 2011 by Susan Crites Price

Editor’s note: This month’s feature story is an excerpt from the new edition of our Passages issue brief series: Discretionary Grants: Engaging Family… Or Pandora’s Box? 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… Read More

Discretionary Grants: Engaging Family… or Pandora’s Box?

Posted on December 8, 2011 by Susan Crites Price

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… Read More
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Can Private Foundations Serve as Fiscal Sponsors?

Posted on October 15, 2011 by Andras Kosaras

By Andras Kosaras, Associate, Arnold and Porter LLP Private foundations frequently receive grant applications from groups that are under the fiscal sponsorship of a section 501(c)(3) public charity.  But sometimes the request is for the private foundation itself to serve as a group’s fiscal sponsor.  Is a private foundation legally permitted to serve as a fiscal sponsor?  Why would a… Read More

Philanthropy’s Role in Developing Responsible Adults

Posted on October 10, 2011 by Allison Sole, Sam Davis III

Families of wealth face unique challenges. In most cases, children cannot avoid being set apart because of the communities in which they live, the kinds of cars they drive, the vacations they take, and the affluent friends whose company they keep. They can afford to attend elite private schools and receive the support of coaches and tutors. The extent of… Read More

A Letter to Seniors (and will be seniors): Planning for Your Future in Philanthropy

Posted on September 13, 2011 by Alice Buhl

Their stories are fascinating reminders of the many philanthropic paths available, whatever your age. Their stories fall into four categories of approaches to how they planned their own as well as their family’s philanthropic futures: senior generation members who chose to stay actively involved in leading the family’s foundation. seniors who passed on leadership but stayed active in the foundation… Read More
From NCFP

Rowing the Philanthropic Boat Together: Reflections on Consensus and Civility

Posted on August 15, 2011 by Virginia M. Esposito

A foundation needs trustees who can work together productively, but it does not require that they be unanimous in their opinions or uniform in their outlook. …A foundation’s extraordinary potential for good springs from its board’s ability to act as a collective, to be cohesive in fulfilling its public trust. As Alfred North Whitehead remarked, “No member of a crew… Read More

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