Ask NCFP

How do I set priorities as the new CEO of a family foundation?

Posted on June 15, 2012 by National Center for Family Philanthropy

Editor’s note: This article is excerpted from the NCFP CEO Guide, Performance Review: The Complete Guide to Evaluating the Family Foundation CEO. Setting priorities can be challenging for a new CEO, what with the myriad responsibilities of the job. When Kathleen Odne, the executive director of the Dean & Margaret Lesher Foundation, became the foundation’s first staff person, she came… Read More
Ask NCFP

Can Private Foundations Serve as Fiscal Sponsors?

Posted on October 15, 2011 by Andras Kosaras

Private foundations frequently receive grant applications from groups that are under the fiscal sponsorship of a section 501(c)(3) public charity. But sometimes the request is for the private foundation itself to serve as a group’s fiscal sponsor. Is a private foundation legally permitted to serve as a fiscal sponsor? Why would a private foundation serve as a fiscal sponsor and… Read More
Ask NCFP

How do we ensure that the family will not lose “control” of the foundation over time?

Posted on May 15, 2011 by National Center for Family Philanthropy

Our foundation has begun discussions to add nonfamily trustees to enhance and complement the skills and perspectives currently on our all-family board. How do we ensure that the family will not lose “control” of the foundation over time? There are a variety of strategies that family foundations around the country have used to retain control while engaging non-family board members… Read More
Ask NCFP

Donor Legacy Statements, Values Statements, and Ethical Wills

Posted on March 15, 2011 by National Center for Family Philanthropy

I work for a small family foundation as their non-family executive director. The foundation has been in existence for 25 years. In the near term, I will be sitting down with the founder, who is preparing to write his legacy. I am wondering if you’re familiar with other founders who have shared excerpts concerning their vision for philanthropy that you thought to be… Read More
Ask NCFP

How to Manage Relationships with your legal, financial, and investment advisors

Posted on September 15, 2010 by Patricia Angus

How can we get an honest picture from our advisors about whether the strategies they are pursuing are the right ones? How do we know our advisors are telling us everything we need to know? Consider having general investment, legal and other training sessions for your foundation board that are conducted by someone other than the advisors who you’re working… Read More
Ask NCFP

Emeritus board members: Curse or blessing?

Posted on August 15, 2010 by Alice Buhl

Mom and Dad are aging but we want to keep them involved. Aunt Sally has been running the foundation forever but the other board members feel it is time for someone else to take over. Uncle John is beginning to get confused. The three sisters in the second generation have been controlling things for years but the next generation wants… Read More
Ask NCFP

What is the five percent payout rule?

Posted on October 15, 2008 by National Center for Family Philanthropy

This familiar, if complex, rule is getting additional attention from family foundations looking at the fourth quarter of the year amid an economic downturn. What do the rules require? And what will that mean next year for foundations and the nonprofits they support? So what exactly are the rules? The figure below from Splendid Legacy 2: Creating and Re-creating Your… Read More