From NCFP

The Governance Checklist blog series is a practical guide to building and maintaining the best possible family foundation board. Framed around a series of questions, the Checklist can inform and help shape a discussion or series of discussions about the founding of a new board. It can also serve as a useful tool for a healthy, and well-advised, reconsideration of… Read More

At the very onset of this year’s 2021 Trustee Education Institute, David Callahan, founding editor of Inside Philanthropy, said that even before COVID-19 and the social and political unrest of the last several years, he was skeptical of philanthropy’s ability to shift: “I doubted that most foundations would ever be willing to change,” he said, “and yet many foundations have… Read More

This blog summarizes key notes from our September Fundamentals of Family Philanthropy Webinar. Giving families often reach a point where they grow their giving; however, it is often challenging to understand the practices that promote success. How do you develop an effective strategy and systems as your philanthropy expands? When does a philanthropic effort require staff and what are the… Read More

The Governance Checklist blog series is a practical guide to building and maintaining the best possible family foundation board. Framed around a series of questions, the Checklist can guide a discussion about the founding of a new board or a healthy, and well-advised, reconsideration of your board’s development and effectiveness. The first installment focused on the principles that inspire and… Read More

The field of philanthropy lost one of its most remarkable leaders last month. So did the fields of conservation and environmental protection, those committed to racial and economic justice, children and families, and the people of South Carolina. And all was lost in the person of one small yet extraordinary woman, Anne Springs Close. The last opportunity I had to… Read More

For the last few years, the Effective Philanthropy Learning Initiative (EPLI) at Stanford’s Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society (Stanford PACS) and the National Center for Family Philanthropy (NCFP) leadership teams have been meeting regularly as part of a number of sector collaboratives (the Impact-Driven Philanthropy Collaborative, Destination Impact, and Stanford’s own wealth advisor initiative) aligned around the shared mission of moving donors toward more effective giving… Read More

The first installment of this blog series on building and maintaining your board focused on which principles will inspire and guide your governance policies and practices. These principles articulate critical issues of attitude and approach to governance and provide invaluable context for all board work. And while you likely are more than ready to start picking people, what are you… Read More

Courtesy of Mike Enerio on Unsplash This post features reflections from NCFP President and CEO Nick Tedesco on our recent CEO Retreat and the role of family philanthropy executives. “Holding paradoxes simultaneously is an evolved human skill.” — Tina Runyan, psychologist Sitting at a Crossroads: Family Cohesion and Social Impact Staff leaders play an important, yet challenging role in the… Read More

Mary Mountcastle, June Wilson, and Kelly Nowlin speaking at the 2019 National Forum on Family Philanthropy Learn more about the Racial Justice Learning and Action Network. In 2018, the National Center for Family Philanthropy (NCFP) announced its second class of fellows, naming Kelly Nowlin, June Wilson, and Mary Mountcastle as distinguished fellows. Each of us independently chose to focus our… Read More

One year ago, I joined the National Center for Family Philanthropy (NCFP) as its second president and chief executive officer. On my first day, our esteemed founder Ginny Esposito gifted me a plaque engraved with a prophetic message: and so the adventure begins. And what an adventure it has been! As I was finding my footing in a new role,… Read More