Many families put off preparing for a transition until it is upon them. Fear of the day a key family member and leader will no longer be able to participate is a common explanation for why families don’t address critical preparation for a leadership transition.
This Content Collection encourages you to view upcoming transitions as an opportunity – to learn from where you’ve been, to envision a future built on that past, and to establish systems and practices that allow you to fulfill all the potential you can imagine. It’s the gift of family philanthropy—legacy and promise.
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Family Philanthropy Transitions: Possibilities, Problems and Potential
Passages Issue Briefs
Even if your family foundation or fund is very new, chances are you have already experienced at least one transition in the lifecycle of your giving program. What have been the keep turning points in the life of your fund from the founders' initial concept to the present? Which transitions…
Generations of Giving: Transitions in Family Foundations
Book Chapter
This excerpt from the introduction for Generations of Giving: Leadership and Continuity in Family Foundations, explores the six components of transitions in a typical family foundation, introduced as follows: The overall time span of a transition may be a few months or several years, depending on the type of transition…
Profiles of Families
A Legacy Lives On: The Kaplan Family Foundation’s Successful Leadership Transition
Passages Issue Briefs
[Photo: Members of the next generation of the Kaplan family gather to discuss strategy.] Ask any family member and they are usually able to identify the current family leader. This is the person around whom everyone gathers; the person who takes responsibility for family networking, intervenes in family disputes, reminds…
Additional Reading
In Times of Growth: Planning for an Influx of Assets
Passages Issue Briefs
An influx of assets is a powerful transition point in your philanthropy. With rising resources comes the budding potential to do more of what you’re already doing—or, perhaps, try something new. This Passages Issue Brief will help you plan now for growth tomorrow, and manage change if you’re in the…
Emeritus Board Members: Curse or Blessing?
Ask the Center
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…
Death, Legacy, and Leadership Transition
Passages Issue Briefs
The death of a foundation leader or senior family member is likely the most emotional change a foundation will undergo. Suddenly, or not so suddenly, family members and the board face grief and loss, and also an onslaught of financial, legal, and organizational issues. How can you plan ahead, as…
