Board selection, training, roles, and responsibilities

2018 Trustee Education Institute: The Signature Seminar for Family Foundation Board Members

Posted on March 6, 2018 by Virginia M. Esposito, Andrew Schulz, David Grant, Hanh Le, Holli Rivera, Alice Buhl, Leticia Peguero, Lindsey Griffith, Mary Phillips, Nat Chioke Williams

NCFP’s Trustee Education Institute provides a comprehensive introduction to all of the key legal, investment, ethical, grantmaking, and family dynamics issues facing family foundation board members. Featuring a faculty made up of NCFP’s senior staff and highly respected philanthropy experts, this three day, intensive seminar typically covers: What does it mean to be a steward of both the public’s trust… Read More

Recommended Best Practices in Managing Foundation Endowments

Posted on November 29, 2017 by Council on Foundations

While foundations differ in sophistication, resources, staff, and amount of financial resources, there are both specific responsibilities incumbent on foundation boards and generally accepted principles for investment management. These best practices are universal to effective management of investment portfolios as applied to fit the specific circumstances of each foundation… Read More

What are the roles of board committees?

Posted on June 20, 2017 by National Center for Family Philanthropy

Board committees are at the heart of good governance. Committee members should make the necessary decisions and provide the day-to-day oversight needed to ensure that a family foundation board follows its fiduciary and legal obligations. Refer to Policy Central: Board Commitees for examples of how to organize your foundation’s committees. Once board roles have been established, you should then determine how you… Read More

Opportunity of a Lifetime 2.0: Multigenerational Family Philanthropy

Posted on June 12, 2017 by Kylie Musolf, Danielle LaJoie

More than ever before, giving families are working to involve multiple generations in their philanthropy. According to the National Center for Family Philanthropy’s Trends in Family Philanthropy Study, nearly 3 in 5 U.S. family foundations engage younger family members in the foundation — and more than 40 percent say they expect to add to or increase the number of younger-generation… Read More

Trends in family philanthropy: A conversation with NCFP founder and president Virginia Esposito

Posted on October 18, 2016 by Virginia M. Esposito, National Center for Family Philanthropy

NCFP’s recently released Trends in Family Philanthropy study was based on the first-ever nationally representative sample of family foundations, and features a treasure trove of data on topics such as family foundation governance, board activities, and grant making strategy. This complimentary event, featuring an overview of the study by NCFP President Ginny Esposito, will highlight issues and topics of interest to all family… Read More

Core Components of Foundations that Learn

Posted on July 21, 2016 by Harold Richman, Josh Weber, Leila Fiester, Prue Brown, Ralph Hamilton, Robert Chaskin

There is a growing sense in the philanthropic field that knowledge, strategically applied, is as important to community-change efforts as money. If this is true, then foundation leaders must re-imagine and reconstruct the role of learning and give it a central place in their organizations’ missions, goals, strategies, internal structures, and external partnerships. In short, foundations must become learning institutions… Read More

How can board members stay connected across time zones and significant distances?

Posted on June 9, 2016 by National Center for Family Philanthropy

As families grow, geographic dispersion of family and board members will become a common challenge. Each and every family must figure out a strategy that is right for you. Kelly Nowlin, family trustee of the Surdna Foundation, suggests the following, “The executive director or president of the foundation can make trips to dispersed board members and schedule one-on-one time to… Read More

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