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In last month’s issue we explored several ways to expand your philanthropic agenda to include new giving vehicles and new ways of thinking about effective giving. Among the giving options we explored was the idea of program-related investing, wherein philanthropies use their financial resources to support ventures or projects whose mission complements their own. This month we’ll look more closely…Read More

Foundations do not need a lot of money to be effective. If, indeed, they were to exploit only a fraction of the strategies available to them, their individual and collective impact on American life would be vastly and beneficially expanded. -Paul Ylvisaker, “Small Can Be Effective” As families become more hands-on in their philanthropy and their personal stake in its…Read More

The holiday season is a time of the year that brings families together: around dinner tables, lighted candles—for Hanukkah and Kwanzaa—Christmas trees, and fireplaces. It’s a time of year that inspires people to send out cards and well-wishes, exchange gifts with loved ones and strangers alike, and to reconnect with the spirit behind their philanthropic endeavors. Much of the holiday…Read More

Even for families with a long history of charitable giving to church groups, civic organizations, educational institutions, and other non-profit organizations, deciding to embark on a formalized philanthropic agenda may seem like a formidable task. Perhaps your family already has a giving vehicle—a donor-advised fund or foundation—and is considering launching a second one, or even a third, to accommodate increasing…Read More

Should families establish perpetual foundations or should they create foundations, donor-advised funds, and other giving vehicles designed to “sunset” or spend out their endowments at a certain point in their lifecycle? Or might both options be appropriate? While perpetuity—or, at least, perpetuity for the foreseeable future—is by far the most commonly chosen option among foundations in America today, a growing…Read More