Blog | Network News

November 2019: News and Notes from NCFP’s Friends of the Family Network

Friends Focus highlights updates from members of our Friends of the Family network and their cutting edge work. This month features updates from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation; McKnight Foundation; Perrin Family Foundation; Russell Family Foundation; and the Silicon Valley Community Foundation. Are you a current Friend or Leadership Circle member of NCFP with an update or good news about your Read More
Blog | Voices from the Field

Funding the Heat

October 25, 2019 | Crystal Hayling
Editor’s Note: This post was originally written for the Libra Foundation’s blog and is posted with permission. Crystal Hayling, Executive Director of the Foundation, and Regan Pritzker, President, spoke about funding advocacy at our 2019 National Forum on Family Philanthropy. Check the highlights from the Forum on our blog. The prison abolitionist movement reacted with outrage to Ford Foundation President Read More
Blog | Voices from the Field

Family Funders, Go Where You Are Uncomfortable: NCFP Forum 2019 Recap

October 24, 2019 | Elaine Gast Fawcett
If there’s one theme that resonated most strongly throughout the 2019 National Forum on Family Philanthropy, it’s the importance of being willing to be uncomfortable. I’m not talking about the break-out room temperature, or how hard or soft the hotel pillows were, or even one of those jittery ‘not-your-best-networking’ moments. This is about a conscious act of choosing to be Read More
Blog | Voices from the Field

Name, Claim, and Share Power: Perrin Family Foundation (Passages Issue Brief Excerpt)

October 23, 2019 | Elaine Gast Fawcett
As a family funder, how can you acknowledge and responsibly navigate the power of your position? How does the power and privilege you hold affect those you interact with and support? How can you use your power for good—to make lasting impact? This Passages Issue Brief features stories, perspectives, and practical tips on power, and suggestions for how family funders Read More
Blog | Voices from the Field

NCFP Launches Trends 2020 Report

Giving families have historically turned to each other for advice about family philanthropy. NCFP translated these stories into data by producing the first statistically-significant benchmarking study of national family foundations, Trends 2015. The study’s findings have helped families navigate the sector for the last five years—highlighting what their peers are doing and why. NCFP is now proud to present the Read More
Blog | Voices from the Field

Six Timeless Tips for Raising Philanthropic Children

Editor’s note: While this post is from 2005, the advice is timeless!  Providing for children not only involves ensuring that they have clothes on their backs, roofs over their heads, and food in their stomachs, it also requires that families supply a sense of appreciation for their gifts, monetary and otherwise, and the desire to share those gifts with others. Read More
Blog | Effective Family Philanthropy in Action

What Makes a Family Foundation CEO an Effective Leader: Insights from William M. Dietel

Editor’s Note: This is the second in a series of reports on NCFP’s Leadership Symposium for Family Foundation CEOs held March 23-24 in Washington, DC. We’re reviving this piece from 2011 because we’ll be talking about CEO leadership during our 2019 National Forum on Family Philanthropy! The unique role of the family foundation chief executive often involves a very complex Read More
Blog | Voices from the Field

Involving Non-Family Members in the Foundation

October 9, 2019 | Exponent Philanthropy
Editor’s Note: Originally posted to Exponent Philanthropy’s blog. Many of our clients consider whether to involve non-family board members either early in the formation of their foundation or at some point during the foundation’s growth and development. This article discusses factors to consider in determining whether and how to include “outsiders”: the selection criteria of non-family members for board service; Read More
Blog | Voices from the Field

Balancing Privilege and Responsibility

October 7, 2019 | Ellie Frey Zagel
Editor’s Note: This blog post originally appeared here and on NCFP’s blog in 2018. Balancing privilege with responsibility is no small feat. And then, after you miraculously have figured it out for yourself, how do you pass this wisdom down to your next generation? In this blog, I will highlight what I mean by privilege and then share a few examples of Read More
Blog | Voices from the Field

Are you or your org guilty of Trickle-Down Community Engagement?

October 4, 2019 | Vu Le
Editor’s Note: This post originally appeared on Vu Le’s Nonprofit AF website and appears as per their crossposting guidelines here. In Seattle, if you’re a person of color and you walk down a dark alley late at night and you feel like you’re being followed, it’s probably someone trying to do some community engagement: “Psst…hey buddy—Go Hawks!—you want to attend Read More