Family Members and Donors

Generations of Giving: Chapter 3 – Choices and Challenges for the Controlling Trustee Foundation

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

This is Chapter 3 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 introduction to the controlling trustee foundation, and a look at the giving motivations and perspectives of founders and donors. The… Read More

Sharing Values Effectively Across Generations

Posted on August 10, 2006 by Sharna Goldseker

Sometimes it can be tough to communicate values across generations even if the only thing that changes is the vocabulary. Although at heart we know that members of our family share values, defining and verbalizing a shared philosophy can take a special effort… Read More

Alternatives to Perpetuity: A Conversation Every Foundation Should Have

Posted on October 21, 2005 by Deanne Stone

This Passages is aimed at new donors considering a limited lifespan for their foundation, existing foundations that have already set a closing date, or any family contemplating the question of perpetuity. Author Deanne Stone gives background on the perpetuity vs. spending down debate and discusses the motivations for considering an alternative to perpetuity. The paper then identifies the basic challenges… Read More

Closing the door: Spending out frees the Beldon Fund board’s imagination

Posted on October 21, 2005 by Deanne Stone

Many family foundations that make the decision to spend out their assets within a limited timeframe say that doing so keeps them focused on the mission, energized, and on their toes. Bill Roberts, former executive director of the Beldon Fund, speaks for many of the foundations interviewed for NCFP’s Passages Issue Brief on this topic, “Alternatives to Perpetuity: A Conversation… Read More

Choosing a philanthropic agenda: Five factors to consider

Posted on September 15, 2005 by Bruce Sievers

The most basic factor influencing the overall work of any family foundation is, surprisingly, often also the least examined: the initial determination of the foundation’s primary purposes and priorities. Issues of effectiveness, impact, strategy, assessment, and accountability get all the attention, while little discussion is given to the most fundamental determinants of what foundations do: donor preferences. This is the… Read More

Raising Charitable Children

Posted on July 13, 2005 by Kathryn Agard

Kathryn Agard, long-time executive director of Learning to Give, shares some of the steps that parents can take to help their children become philanthropic and provided examples of what parents can do for their preteens (10-12) and teenagers (13-18) to involve them in family philanthropy… Read More

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