The major themes and overall lessons learned from the 2008–2009 financial crisis include issues related to the mortgage crisis, to global financial systemic risk, the concept of “too big to fail” and related bailouts, negative impacts of overuse of leverage in investment portfolios, lack of transparency at many levels, lack of appropriate risk management, and... Read More
To develop a filing system as part of your overall records management system, first sort your documents into major categories that fit with your foundation’s operations. Foundations sort their documents in different ways; some foundations, for example, sort according to the following categories: Founding Documents Legal and Accounting Records Board Records Program Records Personnel Records... Read More
Board self-assessment is a process by which you objectively gather board members’ perspectives about how your foundation operates, compile what you learn, and report your findings to the full board so it can learn from the information, leverage successes, and address any shortcomings. In our experience, boards that make time for self-assessments tend to accomplish... Read More
A records retention policy, also known as a document retention and destruction policy, assists your foundation in following the federal laws that impose criminal liability on any organization that destroys records with the intent to obstruct a federal investigation. Foundations should be sure their policy follows state guidelines on how long paper and electronic records... Read More
Executive Order 13224, issued by President George W. Bush on September 25, 2001, was entitled “Blocking Property and Prohibiting Transactions with Persons Who Commit, Threaten to Commit, or Support Terrorism.” It includes a long list of individuals and organizations perceived to be associated with terrorism. If a foundation is found to be supporting any individual... Read More
The Cedarmere Foundation is a small foundation that my husband, George, and I founded in 2006. We started the foundation to involve our children and grandchildren in philanthropy. We wanted to create something that would bring them together for years to come—to make decisions together, learn more about their community, and give them a focus... Read More