Advisors and Consultants

Balancing Purpose, Payout, and Permanence

Posted on August 14, 2020 by Peter F. Bird, Jr., Liz Sak, George Suttles, Nicholas A. Tedesco, Tony Macklin

“How much should we spend?” It’s an essential question for all funders, and an especially complex one for endowed private foundations. The answer of “around 5%” was never universal as foundations sought creative means of ensuring that assets would serve mission rather than the other way around. In recent times, the pressure to revisit payout has increased. Endowed foundations have… Read More

The Future of Family Philanthropy: Positioning Families for Greatness

Posted on July 23, 2020 by Nicholas A. Tedesco, Kimberly Dasher Tripp

winding road_path_journey_future
Philanthropic families are expanding their impact, knowledge of the field, and becoming increasingly sophisticated in their giving. There is further demand for philanthropic guidance and resources as donors and their families leverage multiple philanthropic vehicles, engage the next generation, and look to increase their payout rates or even spend down. NCFP President and CEO Nick Tedesco has spent the last… Read More

Trust-based Family Philanthropy

Posted on July 23, 2020 by Sarah Walczyk, Shaady Salehi, Ellen Friedman, Hanh Le

Trust-based philanthropy is being embraced by a growing number of family foundations as a way to alleviate power imbalances between funders and grantees while fostering more productive and informative relationships. Driven by the central philosophy that funders should approach grantee relationships as learning partnerships, a trust-based approach encourages multi-year unrestricted funding, streamlined reporting, and transparent and responsive communication. In this… Read More

Families Funding Advocacy and Policy Change

Posted on July 17, 2020 by Julie Fernandes, Sara Watson, David Addams

Hands in air_protesting_advocacy
Advocacy is an important tool for funders seeking to address systemic inequalities ingrained in our policies and practices, and it can be the sole focus of an organization or an additional strategy employed to create lasting change. Many families pursue advocacy because of a founder’s interest or legacy, while others have introduced advocacy into their grantmaking portfolio after listening to… Read More

How Family Foundations Can Listen4Good

Posted on July 16, 2020 by Valerie Threlfall, Lisa Sobrato Sonsini, Fay Twersky, Nicholas A. Tedesco, Melinda Tuan

Philanthropy is an ever-evolving practice. It’s clear that partnering with and listening to the people and communities family foundations seek to serve are instrumental to realizing positive and enduring impact over time. This webinar describes Fund for Shared Insight’s Listen4Good feedback initiative and provides guidance on how you and your grantees collect feedback to make agile and informed decisions during this… Read More

Moving Towards Social Justice Philanthropy: One Family Foundation’s Journey, Challenges, and Lessons

Posted on June 18, 2020 by Kelly D. Nowlin

NCFP board member and Fellow Kelly Nowlin spoke on a webinar hosted by Philanthropy Massachusetts and the Social Innovation Forum.   Five generations after being established, the Surdna Foundation has been intentional about honoring founding vision and legacy, while remaining relevant to current needs and issues in society. In 2009, the family trustees took a bold step in naming social justice in… Read More

Supporting Youth and Next-gen Philanthropy: How to Get Started

Posted on May 28, 2020 by Vasser Seydel, Kimberly Myers Hewlett, Sammie Holzwarth

Durfee Foundation next-gen board meeting
Multigenerational families use different methods and techniques to teach the next generation about philanthropy. Successful future engagement depends on many considerations, including when and how to best inspire and empower next-gen family members. Please join us for a discussion that will explore a number of important considerations, including when, and how to introduce the concept of giving to your family,… Read More

Strategic Lifespan Peer Network: Learning from the Pascale Sykes Foundation

Posted on May 27, 2020 by Frances P. Sykes

The Pascale Sykes Foundation is in the process of spending its assets by 2022 or 2023. President Frances Sykes will discuss their spend down decision and answer questions about this experience. Get to know Frances and the Pascale Sykes Foundation through this real-life example and family member perspective. As a reminder, our Peer Network events are not recorded. Come ready to… Read More

Southern California Grantmakers 2020 Family Philanthropy Virtual Town Hall

Posted on May 15, 2020 by Nicholas A. Tedesco

NCFP President and CEO Nick Tedesco will be speaking at Southern California Grantmakers’ 2020 Family Philanthropy Virtual Town Hall. Never in recent history has philanthropy been called upon to respond so urgently to our communities in crisis. When facing incredible challenges, family philanthropy has boldly held to their values and acted with vigor. The scale of the current pandemic has… Read More

Using an Equity Lens in COVID-19 Response and Recovery

Posted on May 6, 2020 by Dennis Quirin, Lori Villarosa, June L. Wilson

reflection upside down through lensball
The National Center for Family Philanthropy is dedicated to serving families who give and those that work with them. In response to the COVID-19 crisis, we are offering conversations on topics of interest to all philanthropic families associated with family foundations, donor-advised funds, family offices, and other philanthropic vehicles. For questions about this series, please contact Jen Crino at jen@ncfp.org… Read More

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