Giving Families & Foundations

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Giving Families & Foundations

Donors and giving families are at the heart of our work. NCFP was founded in 1997 in response to the need for a national source of knowledge and expertise that advances the effectiveness of family philanthropy. Today, NCFP continues to ground its work in the perspective of donor families.

Our experience with and understanding of the very personal act of giving is reflected in the resources and services we provide. We offer a safe, confidential, and objective place for you to begin your philanthropic journey. We’re here to help you think through your options, ask the right questions, and connect with others who have been through the same process.

We think of family philanthropy as the organized commitment of a family’s private wealth—time, talent, or treasure—to public purposes. Many of the families we work with choose to honor that commitment through the family foundation vehicle. Whether you’re a donor, board member, next gen family member, CEO, or other staff member, we have the world’s largest collection of resources on family giving to help you manage the challenges of running a foundation.

Get Involved

Carmen and Carmela Castellano NCFP’s Leadership Circle and Friends of the Family network is composed of more than 300 family foundations and donor families who support NCFP on an annual basis and sustain our work. The Leadership Circle recognizes a special group of our most generous supporters. This network is the nation’s premier leadership and learning network for philanthropic families.

Friends and Leadership Circle supporters receive registration discounts for exclusive peer gatherings, including the National Forum on Family Philanthropy, the Trustee Education Institute, and special CEO Retreats for both family and non-family CEOs. In addition, Friends receive preferred access to NCFP services, including special issue briefs, personalized assistance for information requests, practical research, timely webinars, and our searchable Family Philanthropy Online Knowledge Center. Organizations in the Leadership Circle also receive personal access to the Office of NCFP President Virginia Esposito, allowing them to email or call for personalized answers to difficult questions.

Join the Family

COVID-19: Response and Recovery Resources for Giving Families

This collection features resources from the field, an interactive map of local funds, upcoming COVID-19 webinars, and more.

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Racial Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

This Content Collection includes a variety of perspectives and tools for addressing REDI issues within your organization, including a collection of customized Checklists, Quizzes, and Self-Assessment Tools for boards and staff.

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Trends in Family Philanthropy: Current Research in the Field

This Content Collection features NCFP's Trends 2020 Study and other current research on the field of family philanthropy.

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Stanford PACS Guide to Effective Philanthropy

The aim for this book is to simplify the components of effective philanthropy. The Guide has two major parts. Part One lays out a series of personal considerations that will help shape your philanthropic strategy. Part Two delves into the tactical practices of philanthropy to help you deploy your resources most effectively.

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Trust-based Philanthropy

Whether you’re a long-time practitioner or are just considering adopting this approach, we hope these resources will help you bring trust-based principles into practice.

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Participatory Grantmaking

This Content Collection features research, case studies, discussion guides, and other articles and blog posts on the practice of Participatory Grantmaking (also sometimes referred to as Community Led Grantmaking).

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Multi-faceted Giving

This content collection was curated to help answer those questions and allow your philanthropic family to better accommodate diverse systems of giving.

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Generations Together: Engaging Youth

This special collection was curated by our Engaging Youth Peer Network. We thank them for their leadership and sharing. Unless otherwise noted, all resources listed are intended to be able to be used directly with kids.

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Expenditure Responsibility

This NCFP Content Collection includes FAQs, rules and sample policies for the process of expenditure responsibility to ensure your grants to "non-charities" are for charitable purposes.

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Policy Central: Sample Policies and Practices

NCFP's Policy Central includes sample policies and practices in the areas of governance, grantmaking, family dynamics, engaging the next generation, investments, management, and staffing. New samples are added frequently, and are here when you need them!

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Get Involved

Search Knowledge Center for Resources!

We’re here to help you on your philanthropic journey. Contact NCFP for support!