Hiring takes a good deal of time and sometimes money. The more thorough and careful your recruitment process is, the more likely the staff you choose will be successful and long term. Here are several tips: Decide whether to manage the search internally or with outside assistance—If your foundation decides to handle it, designate a... 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
Board policies work in tandem with the foundation’s bylaws or trust document to create the foundation’s structure. Bylaws or the trust document are legally binding and based in state law; policies also are considered binding, but they are less likely to be backed by force of law and are easier to amend (e.g., usually by... Read More
As managing director of a small family foundation, I had often wondered what would happen if the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) or the state attorney general came knocking on our foundation’s door. Would we be prepared for an audit? Would the foundation be in compliance with legal and tax reporting requirements? Did our original organizational... Read More
Consultants can be found to help foundations with every aspect of foundation management, including legal counsel, fiscal oversight, grantmaking support, board development assistance, strategic planning facilitation, program evaluation, and even complete foundation management. When it comes to types of consultants, the variety is equally broad. From independent consultants to small consulting companies, to asset management... Read More
Most foundations share basic activities, and most executive directors have common responsibilities; therefore, it is possible to use a generic executive director job description as a template and adapt it to fit the needs of your foundation. Generally, a template should be used only after you have determined what tasks should be completed by trustees,... Read More