Succession Planning in a Private Foundation

Client Story

This client foundation was led by the G2 of a family along with select members of the community. They were focused on two key priorities: honoring the legacy of the first generation of the family by continuing the foundation’s work in the community and taking steps to ensure the foundation’s future. At the helm for more than ten years, this leadership team was at a turning point in its tenure, focusing its attention on the development of a new iteration of foundation governance and hoping to encourage rising generations of family members to join its ranks.

Although the trustees were committed to helping the foundation exist in perpetuity as a family foundation and continue to build upon its funding relationships and community impact, they were not clear on how to achieve their goals and were facing some challenging questions:

• How can we identify the foundation’s future governance needs?
• How can we find interested and eligible candidates and what information would be important to share with them?
• How should we train our successors?
• Should program focus areas remain fixed or should they be flexible based on changing board interests and community needs?

They were eager for a smooth transition to knowledgeable and enthusiastically engaged successors but needed guidance on how to identify future board members, define their roles, and build interest and commitment.

FOUNDATION PROFILE*

ASSETS: ~$50M
GRANT VOLUME: ~60 grants/year
EMPLOYEES: 1
NUMBER OF DIRECTORS: 7
GENERATIONS ON BOARD: Second (G2) and Third (G3)
YEARS OF OPERATION: 15

*At the time of the project.