The Foundation of a Philanthropic Family

Introduction

Although establishing a private foundation does offer attractive tax advantages, families are often motivated by a desire to create positive change, both in the world and in their own lives together.

When starting a private foundation, many foundations adopt an external mission (what the foundation does, why, how and for whom), and also draft an internal mission specifying how the foundation will function to build family, encourage education, and confer family values to younger members. Internal missions might focus on increasing family participation and cohesiveness, perpetuating family traditions, building core abilities, preserving family history and/or training future generations.

In the following pages, we offer examples of these internal missions and how Foundation Source clients have used their family foundations to achieve them. As the nation’s leading provider of outsourced support and advisory services for private foundations, we’ve been privileged to observe how these families use their foundations to make a difference within the family as well as in the external world. We are pleased to share what they have taught us.