Non-family Staff Peer Network: Generational Transition at the Table

Posted on January 12, 2023 by Ellie Frey Zagel

Three generations at a family philanthropy
Around each board table, there is a need to plan for the next generation and to nurture their leadership and engagement. What conditions make for successful next gen engagement and transitions? How do you empower adult family members to be involved, while also recognizing they are at a particularly busy stage of life? Learn from Ellie Frey Zagel, a next… Read More

Non-family Staff Peer Network: Managing Up for Trust, Relationships, and Impact, Part 2

Posted on January 12, 2023 by Chris Steed, Christy Uchida

Non-family staff at a board meeting
How do you manage tension and differences with your board, while building trust and maintaining important relationships? How do you reconcile doing the work and staying true to yourself? This session will offer a space for lightly facilitated small group conversations with your peers on how to work closely with your board while navigating the complex dynamics that sometime arise… Read More

Operationalizing Equity Practices

Posted on December 15, 2022 by Alison Upton López, Dwayne Patterson, Lorena Gomez-Barris, Angelique Power

Equity vs equality family philanthropy
For funders seeking to incorporate an equity lens throughout their work (and not just their grantmaking), there are many opportunities to shift internal operations towards more equitable and values-aligned practices. Yet while many families recognize the desire to make these shifts, they need further guidance around the specific decisions and considerations that will advance their philanthropy towards a more equitable… Read More

Developing a Purpose-Aligned Budget

Posted on December 15, 2022 by Suki O’Kane, Eric Stephenson, Lori Bezahler, Liz Sak

Developing a Purpose-aligned Budget
A yearly budget can appear rather cut and dry, but depending on who makes decisions about the budget and how these choices are made, there will be wide-ranging implications for the philanthropy’s grantmaking and spending policies. Budget decisions should also be informed by the collective values and purpose of a philanthropy, and not just the financial aspects. What are the… Read More

Your Impact Strategy Doesn’t Stop at Your Grantmaking

Posted on December 15, 2022 by Dr. LaTonya Penny, Meg Baesmith, Tony Macklin

Your Impact Strategy Doesn’t Stop at Your Grantmaking
While grantmaking is often the main tool funders think about in terms of impact, there are many other innovative ways to use your time, relationships, and resources to support your nonprofit partners and the communities you serve. Funders can leverage their established platform to spread the word about needed support and convene important partners, or can provide additional capacity to… Read More

Internal Evaluation and Learning

Posted on December 15, 2022 by Brittany Green Daniels, Arturo Garcia, Bruce Karmazin, Prentice Zinn

A family philanthropy has a much better chance of success if there is an intentional culture that values continuous improvement, feedback and professional development, and an integrated approach of learning and assessment across governance, philanthropic strategy, succession, and more. The assessment process asks organizations to evaluate their philanthropic purpose, governance, team, accountability, finances, and family—to answer how you can continually… Read More

Listening and Feedback: Tools to Assess Your Philanthropy

Posted on December 15, 2022 by C. Davis Parchment, Yvonne Belanger, Brenda Solorzano

Listening and Feedback: In Family Philanthropy
How can you elicit and act on feedback from your grantees and other external stakeholders? For all funders, gathering feedback is a helpful practice to understand how your work is impacting your grantees—and how you can more deeply incorporate the perspectives and experience of your partners and communities you serve. There are a number of tools available to facilitate this… Read More

Fiduciary Responsibilities and Legal Basics in Family Philanthropy

Posted on December 15, 2022 by Jeannea Varrichio, Andrew Schulz

What are the basic fiduciary duties, governance policies, and legal responsibilities that each family philanthropy board member must understand and abide by? Join this session to better understand the fundamental and nuanced federal and state laws regulating charitable giving, including self-dealing, payout, fiscal agency, excise tax, required filings, and much more. Leading experts on family foundation tax law will make… Read More

Managing Family Dynamics in Governance

Posted on December 15, 2022 by Stephanie Ellis-Smith, Betsy Erickson, Katherine Lorenz

Reaching consensus is difficult, particularly during a decision-making moment that will have a real impact on your philanthropy. How do you have productive conversations during meetings and other decision points when there are relationship dynamics, conflict, or simply differences of opinion? How do you allow for individual viewpoints across generations, but ensure there is a framework in place to push… Read More