Research Initiatives

The National Center conducts and commissions groundbreaking research on philanthropic families —and we're known for helping philanthropists turn research into action.

Tenth Anniversary: National Symposium

In September 2008, more than 100 donors, trustees, staff, advisors, and thought-leaders in the field of family philanthropy gathered at the first National Symposium on the Value of Family Philanthropy.

The symposium is the heart of a research and education initiative that seeks to better understand and articulate the value of family philanthropy. Until now, no one has examined and made the clear, compelling case for the value of family participation in philanthropy. This initiative aims to address this important objective.

Family Foundations: A Profile of Funders and Trends

In 2000, the National Center for Family Philanthropy funded and advised the first comprehensive analysis on U.S. family foundations. Since “family foundation” is not a legal term that allows for family foundations to be readily identified, the National Center and the Foundation Center developed objective criteria that, for the first time, revealed the size, scope, and giving patterns of the nation’s family foundations. A milestone for the field, Family Foundations: A Profile of Funders and Trends, inaugurated the consistent collection and reporting of data specifically on family foundations —work the Foundation Center continues through its Key Facts on Family Foundations series.

Generations of Giving: Leadership and Continuity in Family Foundations

In 2004, one of our most significant studies culminated in the seminal publication of Generations of Giving: Leadership and Continuity in Family Foundations. Generations of Giving tackled the nature and dynamics of family foundations, exploring how families effectively structured their giving programs, and pulled off the often monumental task of succeeding for at least two generations. A pioneering examination of multigenerational family foundations, Kelin Gersick’s “authoritative study on family foundations” quickly became “a must-read for anyone who has a family foundation or is considering one.”

Pursuit of Excellence

Generations of Giving led to the development of the first-ever assessment tool specifically designed for family foundations: Pursuit of Excellence. Developed for trustees who wish to understand their strengths and discover opportunities for improvement, Pursuit of Excellence differs from other board assessment tools in that it is the first one designed to include the family-specific aspects of governing and managing a foundation. It not only provides the information families need to measure and compare their individual model of philanthropy with the broader field, it also provides resources to help them put a strong action plan in place to elevate their performance.

In 2008, as a part of this special research initiative, the National Center conducted a first-of-its-kind random, representative survey of the key governance and management practices of family foundations. Another milestone for the National Center, Pursuit of Excellence challenges the cynical picture of family foundations as bickering or haphazard grantmakers with a portrait of a field that, while not without its own challenges, is deeply committed to its founders’ visions for family and community and to adopting the practices most likely to realize those shared dreams.

Pursuit of Excellence: Family Foundation Practices

Future research initiatives include further developing our Pursuit of Excellence assessment tools, determining the true scope of family giving, and pinpointing the indicators of family foundation effectiveness.