When your family decides to create a foundation, you’ll face a number of important choices that will guide your philanthropy for decades to come. Splendid Legacy 2 is NCFP’s trusted guide for navigating these crucial decisions. Filled with advice and resources from the field’s foremost experts in family philanthropy, Splendid Legacy 2 is an essential reference for any family looking to build a philanthropic legacy. This updated edition is also a great source of advice for existing family foundations that are looking to rethink their strategies or incorporate new generations into their work.
To read and download individual chapters, please see the list of chapters and their descriptions below.
I. Creating Your Family Foundation
Foreword and Introduction
by Paul and Debbie Brainerd and Virginia M. Esposito
Read letters from Paul and Debbie Brainerd and Virginia M. Esposito about the motivation and development of Splendid Legacy 2.
Read the Foreword and Introduction
Chapter 1: Core Values of a Splendid Legacy
by Sarah Jane Cavanaugh
Sarah Jane Cavanaugh, the first CEO of the Russell Family Foundation, shares her family philanthropy’s journey to articulating their values, the importance of defining your values, and ideas to get started. The chapter ends with a selection of example value statements.
Chapter 2: Goals and Mission
by Virginia M. Esposito
A crucial first step on the family philanthropy journey is deciding on your giving goals and overall mission. Inspired by conversations with family foundation donors over the years, this chapter looks at common motivations and goals for starting a family foundation.
Chapter 3: Ethics in Family Philanthropy
by Michael Rion
Clear ethical thinking can help avoid unintended mischief and enhance the integrity of charitable giving. It starts with understanding more precisely what we mean by ethics. This chapter defines the importance of ethical decision-making in family philanthropy, including a discussion of three essential ethical dimensions: consequences, principles, and character.
Chapter 4: Things We Wish Our Founders Had Told Us
by Susan Packard Orr
After the 20th anniversary of her father’s passing, Susan Packard Orr reflects on the guidance she wishes her parents, the founders of the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, left her and fellow trustees.
Chapter 5: One Family’s Story – A Conversation with Bill Gates Sr.
by Bill Gates, Sr.
Bill Gates, Sr., is no ordinary father, and Bill Gates III is no ordinary son. But their experiences in creating the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation are ordinary to all families beginning the journey into family foundation grantmaking. In this chapter Bill Gates, Sr., who was present from the first idea of the foundation, talks about its origins and formation with Virginia M. Esposito.
II. Creating Your Framework
Chapter 6: Family Foundations and the Law
by John Sare
Starting a foundation requires careful planning and navigating through complex foundation law. This chapter outlines questions and legal matters to consider as you’re setting up your foundation.
Chapter 7: Funding Your Family Foundation
by Antonia M. Grumbach (with a 2017 review and update by John Sare and Brian Sweet)
Founders face choices both in how to fund their family foundations and in which assets to use. The decisions of when to fund a foundation and how much to fund it with will depend not only on a founder’s available assets, but also on how the founder plans to use the foundation. This chapter includes examples of founders using different funding methods as well as a look at the implications of using a family business as a source of income for grantmaking.
Chapter 8: Good Governance: The Foundation Imperative
by Virginia M. Esposito
Good governance is an integral component to the long-term success of a family foundation. To build good governance practice, philanthropic families need to decide who participates, how decisions are made, the fiduciary obligations of grantmaking, and the roles of individual trustees and staff. This chapter explores key aspects of governance and various ways of addressing them.
Chapter 9: Managing Your Family Foundation
by Elaine Gast Fawcett
There are many approaches to the operations and management needs of a foundation. Finding the right one will be based on the preferences of your family, board, and grant partners, as well as on how you wish to carry out your impact strategies. This chapter describes the key requirements of managing a foundation and explores approaches for identifying the one that best serves your mission.
Chapter 10: Finance and Investments
by Jason Born, Pam Howell-Beach, and Sarah Stranahan
The financial decisions of your foundation should flow naturally from its philanthropic mission. Learn how to use your mission to develop your foundation’s spending policy, the investment strategy to support that spending policy, and the administrative structures and expenses that best support those goals.
III. Creating Your Processes
Chapter 11: Effective Grantmaking: The Fulfillment Of Your Mission
by Susan Crites Price
Effective family foundations find ways to keep their impact strategies flexible to meet changing community needs as well as evolving family interests. This chapter highlights questions to consider as you develop your grantmaking strategy including focus area, grant budget, funding preference, grant type, process for receiving and reviewing grant applications, and evaluating grant impact.
Chapter 12: Communications: Enhancing Process, Participation, and the Public Face of Your Foundation
by Nina Sachdev Hoffman and Vincent Stehl
A foundation’s communicating style can be a powerful tool to raise awareness about your mission and sharing your story. Explore communication strategies in an increasingly digital world and what makes the most sense for your philanthropy.
IV. Re-Creating and Revitalizing
Chapter 13: Engaging the Next Generation
by Susan Crites Price
Many families grapple with how and when they should engage the next generation. This chapter elevates the common challenges, questions, and methods that come with onboarding the next generation. Compare the pros and cons with engaging youth versus adults, using next generation boards, and other related strategies.
Chapter 14: Assessment and Renewal
by Virginia M. Esposito and Peter Panepento
Building systems that allow for assessment and renewal of the board and impact strategies are essential for ensuring that your family foundation is effective. Learn about the importance of internal assessments and planning time to renew your grantmaking strategy.
V. Commencement
Chapter 15: The Currency of Trusteeship – Tools for the Work of Governance
by David Dodson
Trustees hold a vital role in managing a foundations’ endowments and ensuring grantmaking is aligned with the overall mission. To be effective stewards of the foundation’s assets, it’s crucial to understand how trustees hold trust, build trust, and fulfilling that trust.
Chapter 16: The Spirit of Philanthropy and The Soul Of Those Who Manage It
by Paul Ylvisaker
Described as the heart and soul of organized philanthropy, Paul Ylvisaker dedicated his life to serving the American people through his work in urban planning and philanthropy. The concluding chapter of this book is an essay by Paul Ylvisaker, on defining the spirit and power of organized philanthropy.