Engaging Stakeholders for Better Grantmaking
We hear more and more these days about working with grantees as partners. But how is that really done? And does it truly make the work of your foundation more effective? Read More
From Checkbook to Family Fund: Why Organize Your Giving?
July 15, 2008 | Virginia M. Esposito
A great enthusiasm is building for getting the most out of your charitable giving, for working with your family in this pursuit, and for focusing for greater impact… in Israel! Read More
Questions from NCFP Members on Board Compensation
March 15, 2008 | National Center for Family Philanthropy, Andrew Schulz
Q: Our foundation’s third generation is coming on the board and some have young children. Some family members say the lack of child care during board meetings hinders participation. Can the foundation pay for child care so that parents can attend board meetings? Read More
Telling Your Family’s Story
September 15, 2007 | Kevin Laskowski
Family philanthropies are intimately connected with the past that shapes them. As stewards of both a public trust and a family legacy, philanthropic families are constantly drawing on their history for wisdom, energy, and focus. That’s why growing numbers of families are recording their stories to share with future generations. The sharing can be as simple as storytelling at a Read More
Motivations for Board Service
May 13, 2007 | Virginia M. Esposito
Why many family members want in and some don’t want to leave Of all the governance questions I get and stories I hear, none come more frequently and with more urgency than those related to preparing the next generation of trustee leaders. Now those of you who have read these columns or heard me speak know that my concern in Read More
Program and General Support: Choices for Giving Families
April 15, 2007 | Kevin Laskowski
In an ongoing salvo in the decades-long debate surrounding program and general operating support, a 2007 report from the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy charges: The grantmaking practices of a significant part of the foundation sector may be crippling small community-based and other nonprofit organizations because of one significant factor—the unwillingness of most foundations to provide general operating support to Read More
Charitable Children and the Season of Giving, Getting and Growing
December 15, 2006 | Virginia M. Esposito
Why do you want your children to understand generosity as a key family value and how do you hope they will take both a personal and a family role in philanthropy? Read More
Geographic Dispersion: Opportunities for Far-Flung Families
September 15, 2006 | Kevin Laskowski
Among all the challenges that family philanthropies of all types face, giving families increasingly find themselves struggling with geography. In 2000, the National Center for Family Philanthropy and the Foundation Center found that the grants of a vast majority of family foundations were committed to a city, state, or region; only 7.8% of family foundations were classified as national or Read More
Legacy Grant Making: What Granddad Would Have Wanted
July 13, 2006 | Virginia M. Esposito
In many situations, legacy grants are not directly the result of explicit donor intent -- there may have been no specific instructions from the founder to continue this funding. Read More
Maximizing Returns: Mission Related Investing
June 8, 2006 | Luther M. Ragin Jr., Sharon King
By divorcing grantmaking from investment strategies, many foundations use only a small portion of their fiscal power and influence in trying to make an impact for good. Read More
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