The Power of Urgency: Options for Spending Down and Limited Life Foundations

Posted on November 14, 2013 by Alice Buhl, Joseph W. “Joe” Clark, Tony Proscio

This conversation will provide a fascinating look at the advantages and disadvantages of the limited life approach, both for the community of grantees and for family members themselves. Even if your family is not currently considering the limited life option, the strategic approaches taken by the boards of these foundations to achieve their goals will offer many valuable lessons and insights… Read More

The Power of Urgency – The Eckerd Family Foundation

Posted on October 16, 2013 by Jason Born

Organized from its inception as a limited life foundation, the Eckerd Family Foundation took a bold and strategic approach to using its assets to create significant change on issues affecting young people, including juvenile justice, foster care, and education… Read More

Giving While Living

Posted on November 10, 2010 by Gara LaMarche, Lenore Hanisch

The number of limited life foundations is increasing. Donors who decide to spend their philanthropic resources while alive employ different strategies in their grantmaking and have different goals than those families whose philanthropies are planned to exist in perpetuity… Read More

Closing the door: Spending out frees the Beldon Fund board’s imagination

Posted on October 21, 2005 by Deanne Stone

Many family foundations that make the decision to spend out their assets within a limited timeframe say that doing so keeps them focused on the mission, energized, and on their toes. Bill Roberts, former executive director of the Beldon Fund, speaks for many of the foundations interviewed for NCFP’s Passages Issue Brief on this topic, “Alternatives to Perpetuity: A Conversation… Read More

Difficult Discussions at Difficult Times

Posted on March 4, 2002 by Deanne Stone

This Passages Issue Brief offers suggestions for preparing for and responding to the effect of crises of different magnitude on philanthropic families. These include personal crises such as death, illness, and interpersonal conflicts, as well as community and national crises — including natural disasters, riots, economic recession, and terrorism… Read More