Here are several ways to prepare children and teens for foundation giving. Invite them to board meetings Make younger family members feel like part of the group by inviting them to see how the foundation works. Keep in mind that board meetings can be tedious for some kids, especially younger ones. They don’t necessarily have... Read More
The impact investing field has a lot of momentum. Learn from foundations and other organizations at the center of the movement, as well as from foundations that are earlier in the process. Foundations The Case Foundation published a short guide to impact investing. F.B. Heron Foundation is a leader in impact investing. KL Felicitas Foundation’s... Read More
Budgets are both a financial tool to help manage operations and a fiscal control mechanism. They give your board a clear sense of available, committed, and unrestricted funds, and help the board understand the relationship between operating costs and grantmaking expenditures. Read on for a comparative look at two different foundation budgets—one from each coast—to... Read More
The primary purpose of financial statements is to communicate the financial health of the grantee. A non-accountant should be able to understand a well- written statement. The balance sheet, a statement of position, views a grantee on a specific date. The income statement, a statement of activity, looks at a year’s operating activity. The statement... Read More
The past 10 years have been exciting ones for the Hill-Snowdon Foundation and the Snowdon family. For 40 years prior, we acted as a typical family foundation, coming together once a year to nominally approve grants recommended by family members. We funded some wonderful organizations reflecting the varied interests of the family, but you would... Read More
How do small foundations scan? For starters, they venture into the community, listen to grantees, talk with community leaders and residents, review publications, and commission research and reports. Foundations have the privilege and opportunity to talk with almost anyone in a community. “We try to keep a pulse on the community and learn of things... Read More