National Center for Family Philanthropy

Trends 2020: Community Interaction & Communication

Posted on November 19, 2020

This excerpt from NCFP’s Trends 2020 study shares data and analysis regarding various US family foundation giving trends, including external communications, communications tools, outside perspectives, and much more. Increasingly, family foundations are finding new ways to communicate and engage with the communities they support. Many families are also considering the benefits of being more transparent with their philanthropy, but others feel that… Read More

Trends 2020: Family Dynamics and Next Generation Development

Posted on November 19, 2020

This excerpt from NCFP’s Trends 2020 study shares data and analysis regarding various US family foundation giving trends, including generation dynamics, strategies for engaging the next-gen, factors impacting family participation, and much more. Engaging The Next Generation The vast majority of family foundations have either specifically decided that they will exist in perpetuity, or seek to do so. With that decision comes… Read More

Trends 2020: Governance and Staff

Posted on November 19, 2020

This excerpt from NCFP’s Trends 2020 study shares data and analysis regarding various US family foundation giving trends, including board composition, governance policies, staff composition, and much more. How do family foundations choose who should serve on the board, and how they can prepare them for success when they assume this important role? Board composition and the establishment of appropriate governance policies… Read More

Trends 2020: Foundation Identity

Posted on November 19, 2020

This excerpt from NCFP’s Trends 2020 study shares data and analysis regarding various US family foundation giving trends, focus of the foundation, family member dynamics, operational effectiveness, and much more. Size and Scope By conservative estimates, family foundations represent more than 60% of the approximately 90,000 grantmaking foundations in the country; there are more family foundations than all other forms combined in… Read More

Trends 2020: Founder Involvement, Intent, & Perspectives

Posted on November 19, 2020

This excerpt from NCFP’s Trends 2020 study shares data and analysis regarding various US family foundation giving trends, including adherence to founder intent, founder’s perspective on family dynamics, founder involvement, and much more. Founder Involvement Founders remain actively involved in most family foundations, yet this has declined somewhat since 2015, from 64% to 56%. Founder involvement is low among family foundations formed… Read More

Trends 2020: Study Methodology and Key Findings

Posted on November 19, 2020

This excerpt from NCFP’s Trends 2020 study shares data and analysis regarding various US family foundation giving trends, including foundation effectiveness, impact investing and payout, engaging the next-gen, and much more. Study Methodology NCFP engaged Phoenix Marketing International (“Phoenix”) to design and conduct a nationally representative survey of family foundations, with oversight by a diverse advisory committee of knowledgeable practitioners. NCFP and… Read More

Trends 2020: Future Directions

Posted on November 19, 2020

This excerpt from NCFP’s Trends 2020 study shares data and analysis regarding various US family foundation giving trends, including future opportunities, anticipated asset changes, board and staff changes, and much more. By their nature, family foundations are evolving organizations, with new leaders, programs, and challenges from year-to-year. They are also institutions with family legacies, relationships, and accomplishments. As family philanthropy moves into… Read More

Death, Legacy, and Leadership Transition

Posted on October 12, 2020 by Elaine Gast Fawcett

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 a foundation and as a family? And how can you… Read More
Voices from the Field

Five Lessons Learned from Running a Foundation That Gives Directly to Families

Posted on August 27, 2020 by Amy Kingman

In 2016, I was asked to join a philanthropic project that was close to the heart of philanthropist Warren Buffett and his beloved older sister, Doris Buffett. The “letters program” first started many years ago. After going public with his giving pledge, Warren (like many well-known philanthropists) was flooded with requests not just from nonprofits, but also from individuals and… Read More
Featured Article

In Memory of Carmen Castellano

Posted on August 25, 2020 by Maggie McGoldrick

Carmela Castellano-Garcia and Carmen Castellano at the 2014 National Forum on Family Philanthropy “I’m most proud of the legacy we’re leaving. Latinos are philanthropists,” said Carmen Castellano in a 2015 interview as a part of NCFP’s “I am Family Philanthropy” series. In her 81-year life, Carmen built a legacy she and the Latinx community could be proud of, modeling formalized… Read More

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