The Family Foundation CEO: Crafting Consensus out of Complexity
This groundbreaking report focuses a new lens on the family foundation chief executive, unveiling a wide variety of important findings and insights. Some confirm preconceptions; most reinforce our sense that family philanthropy is better understood as a result of formal inquiry into staff (and specifically in this case, CEO) dynamics. The findings presented in the report form the basis for a fuller appreciation of the family foundation chief executive, for new resources to support their work, and for additional research to come.
In addition to describing the demands on the family foundation CEO, five key themes emerge in this report:
- There are demands inherent to most CEO positions but also more family foundation specific demands involving board priorities, family preferences, community expectations, and grantmaking leadership.
- There is an apparent relationship between the time spent on governance and time spent on family matters.
- Families have very different expectations of the CEO role in preparing future generations of the family for philanthropic leadership.
- CEOs of family foundations learn to put out fires well but there is a risk to exercising that skill too often.
- CEOs’ attitudes toward the family nature of foundations influences the way they play their role and their satisfaction in the position.
In the end, this research unveils important findings and insights. Some confirm preconceptions; most reinforce the sense that family philanthropy is better understood as a result of formal inquiry into staff (and specifically in this case, CEO) dynamics; and, often we were led to new, even surprising, conclusions. All form the basis for a fuller appreciation of the family foundation chief executive, for new resources to support their work, and for additional research to come.