Giving motivations, interests, and identity

What Donors Want

Posted on February 8, 2007 by Deanne Stone, Jan McElwee, Shirley Fredricks

With the creation of new family foundations, donor-advised funds, and supporting organizations still flourishing, many advisors to today’s donors (and often donors themselves) wonder, ‘What kind of information/ assistance/ inspiration/ support do new founding donors want these days?’ Advisors benefit from knowing what the concerns of new donors are, and new donors benefit from understanding what other donors are seeking… Read More

The Practices of Effective Families

Posted on January 12, 2006 by Charles W. Collier

In this interactive session, Charles W. Collier, the senior philanthropic advisor at Harvard University, explored and discussed seven practices of effective families through the lens of family systems theory. He also provided fresh insights on developing the four basic components that comprise true family wealth: human, intellectual, social, and financial capital… Read More

Ethical Wills: Passing on a Philanthropic Legacy

Posted on October 20, 2005 by Susan Turnbull

An Ethical Will is a beautiful, sensible and compelling document, which provides the means to answer the question, ‘What do I want my loved ones to know?’ Legal and financial documents address only, ‘What do I want my loved ones to have?’ Yet our lives and legacies are so much richer than simply our monetary assets. This session with an… Read More

Choosing a philanthropic agenda: Five factors to consider

Posted on September 15, 2005 by Bruce Sievers

The most basic factor influencing the overall work of any family foundation is, surprisingly, often also the least examined: the initial determination of the foundation’s primary purposes and priorities. Issues of effectiveness, impact, strategy, assessment, and accountability get all the attention, while little discussion is given to the most fundamental determinants of what foundations do: donor preferences. This is the… Read More

Estate Planning As A Family: A Collaborative Approach

Posted on April 4, 2005 by David Gage, Ph. D.

The time has come to cast estate planning in a fresh light. For too long,parents and their advisors have conducted estate planning behind closed doors. Each year, billions of dollars of family assets pass from benefactors to inheritors but the process continues to be one of the most sensitive—and secretive—activities within families… Read More

Generations of Giving: Lessons on Governance and Continuity

Posted on February 25, 2005 by Kelin E. Gersick, Ph.D.

For every family member involved in a family foundation or advised fund, there are two fundamental questions: Why are we doing this? And why am I participating? The second in a two-part series, Kelin Gersick presented key lessons on governance and explored questions in the areas of reviewing and reinventing mission, considering family dynamics, and preparing for future generations involvement… Read More