Family stories and profiles

A Legacy Lives On: The Kaplan Family Foundation’s Successful Leadership Transition

Posted on December 18, 2013 by Dinaz Mansuri, Mollie Bunis

[Photo: Members of the next generation of the Kaplan family gather to discuss strategy.] Ask any family member and they are usually able to identify the current family leader. This is the person around whom everyone gathers; the person who takes responsibility for family networking, intervenes in family disputes, reminds others of the family’s history and generally serves as the… Read More

Notes on an Effective Family Culture: The Roy A. Hunt Foundation

Posted on April 15, 2012 by Terry Hunt

This set of tips from the Board of the Roy A. Hunt Foundation was shared as a handout on NCFP’s January 2012 Teleconference, “Finding Common Ground, Valuing Different Views.” It is a useful set of tips for any family seeking to create a culture that respects differences of opinion and diverse political views… Read More

Choosing and Preparing Your Grantmaking Successors

Posted on March 4, 2010 by Mary Phillips

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 one generation are working together as peers. This Passages profiles… Read More

Next generation leadership: Exploring transition at the Andrus Family Fund

Posted on August 4, 2009 by Deanne Stone

How to involve a family that size was daunting enough, but the trustees faced another hurdle. Historically, the seats on the family boards had been filled by a handful of family members from a few family branches. The fourth-generation wanted to have a more democratic selection process, but could they suddenly and convincingly open the doors to the family’s philanthropies after decades of exclusion?… Read More

Family Governance Meets Family Dynamics: Strategies for Successful Joint Philanthropy

Posted on October 28, 2007 by Fredda Herz Brown, Patricia Angus

This Passages issue paper explores the interplay of family dynamics and family governance in family philanthropies, concluding families who think about their governance systems, including how decisions will be made, are less likely to be encumbered by family dynamics than families who begin their philanthropies informally, progressing to formality over time. In addition, families who openly address their underlying internal… Read More

Generations of Giving: Chapter 7 – Family Dynamics

Posted on September 27, 2006 by Deanne Stone, Howard Muson, Katherine Grady, Kelin E. Gersick, Ph.D., Michele Desjardins

Chapter 7 of Generations of Giving: Leadership and Continuity in Family Foundations, the landmark 2006 study by a team of researchers led by Kelin Gersick and co-published by the National Center for Family Philanthropy.  This Chapter features an in-depth look at the role of family dynamics in multi-generational family foundations. The Chapter explores three overarching issues that reflect the lessons… Read More

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