Round-table Discussion: Concierge Services
Concierge Services Roundtable Discussion
10/17/17 NCFP Community Foundation Workshop
Peer group discussion led by Barrett Krise (Greater Atlanta CF) and Pam Funai (Hawaii CF)
(Katherine Scott notes)
Highlights from Atlanta Center for Family Philanthropy
- 17 years old center
- Value proposition: community knowledge + family philanthropy
- Lots of materials shared as resources throughout the Dropbox
- 200 donor families qualify for services (qualified: originally meant a fund above $250k, now means a minimum fee of $2500, minimum fee of $5k to control asset selection)
- 2 tiers of services (chart with more details in Dropbox)
- 1) central services (every donor receives): philanthropic advisor, accounting help, grantmaking, etc.
- 2) concierge services: full grantmaking, RFP support, family meeting prep (mission vision, values), site visits)
- Package developed off what people asked for and discussed. For full service example, see the case study on Dobbs Family
- Families must opt in or out of the program
- Annual youth philanthropy program & book on engaging next gen. about 20 kids participate a year
- 15 very active “core families” and 30 who come and go, using services as needed
- Staff training: CAP, 21/64, Charlie Collier & Cathy Wiseman- Cathy still does this work, Bowen school, TPI Excellence in family philanthropy, facilitation training from Essential facilitator by leadership strategies
- Plus/ Deltas: higher average fund size, great marketing tool; lots of work, can be frustrating when people indicate interest but don’t engage actively
- Staffing: All report to the VP of philanthropy, 4 phil officers (2 Sr. and 2 PO), Each Senior officer has 150 clients with no just a center focus, including 4-5 deep clients
- Private foundation services: fee for service, contract basis, new area of work, hourly rate. Goal: family creates a DAF or opens more DAFs or can be supported across generations
- 7-8 supporting organizations exist, requiring 1 staff as board member
- Professional Advisor Leadership Program also supports this work.
Highlights from Hawaii “Private Foundation Services”:
- (Materials in Dropbox)
- History: originated from PFs moving from banks to the community foundation, most were family foundations
- Staff: 2-3 main staff and a couple others work on scholarships
- A new one seems to be created every 3-5 years
- No one else provides this suite of family office services
- Largest fund: 4 deadlines a year with 50-100 proposals; current work: 6-7 PFs and about a dozen scholarships
- Support offered: accounting, strategy, crafting RFPs, proposals and evaluations. All decisions are made by the family, but all evaluation and back office is completed by staff, like evaluating grants or reporting.
- Meetings for private foundations are administered by the board VP/ President or the community foundation
- Competitor: Bank of HI- no community knowledge, no NPO vetting
- Staff serve as program & finance
- DAFs reside in another department at the foundation
Skills, Knowledge, Questions, Hop Topics for Future Trainings or Discussions
- How to get started: can we share easy steps?
- Marin Foundation started with an 18 month analysis they offered to share
- How to price the work/ budgeting
- Making the case internally
- Working with CFOs (to get internal buy in and be able to leverage opportunities) and cost structure
- What’s in it for you, other than more work/ the tie to strategic plans
- Next gen & generational work (including empathy and values training)
- Investment options and structure for those who want to control investments or use an alternative advisor
- How to engage next gen who have moved away and keep them engaged (making topics more issue-based, keeping their attention, etc.), what data to store on the next gen, running family meetings, etc.
- Programs could help other cities if a next gen lived there- how could we discuss supporting each other.
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