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How a Diversity Focus Changed One Foundation’s Board
Over 20 years ago, the Anna B. Stearns Charitable Foundation launched its Girls’ Initiative to amplify support for women and girls. More recently, the foundation’s board, historically mostly women, expanded its equity and inclusion focus to include race and culture for both grantmaking and board composition. Leadership sees its own diversity as essential to driving... Read More
Let’s Be Candid About Board Succession Planning
Joe Wilson, founder of the Xerox Corporation, and his wife, Peggy, formed the Wilson Foundation in 1963. A few years ago, we engaged in strategic planning to revisit our giving priorities. At the time, our board had 24 members that spanned three generations, and were spread across the country. In order to achieve our impact... Read More
Why We Accept Proposals Written for Other Funders
A few years ago, the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation painfully let go of important issues and organizations, believing we could do more for New York City by focusing our giving. Our board of directors decided to invest in city leaders, their networks, and the organizations that develop them. After that, we started to rethink how we... Read More
Preventing Wire Fraud at Foundations and Family Offices
Wire fraud is a daily danger. Cyber-security filters may stop 90%+ of attempts, but some still get through. For international clients, efforts are especially focused when US, European and Asian bank holidays are out of sync. Scammers want to prevent you from verbally verifying a wire request, since the requester’s office is closed. Here are other... Read More
Lessons From Launching an Impact Investing Portfolio: One Family Foundation’s Journey
We established the Richard W. Goldman Family Foundation in honor of our late father. The foundation aims to promote equality and reduce barriers to opportunity for marginalized families. It does this by increasing access to education, health and financial resources during early childhood. We enthusiastically explored impact investing in 2016, but didn’t know how to... Read More
More Lean Funders Should Consider General Operating Support
General operating support helps support a nonprofit’s mission, rather than specific programs or projects. Grantees can use funds to strengthen the organization, or further its charitable purpose as they see fit. For example: salaries and overhead, investing in technology, furthering fundraising efforts, and more. Philanthropists working with few or no staff are uniquely positioned to offer... Read More