Sample Grant Agreement – No Expenditure Responsibility
Sample Document
This document is an editable grant agreement for grants not requiring expenditure responsibility.
This sample document is being provided for informational purposes only and is not to be shared without the permission of the Council on Foundations. Use of the sample document does not create an…
Knowing How and When to Monitor, Assess, and Evaluate Grants
Fundamentals
A family foundation's legal responsibilities for monitoring, assessing, or evaluating the grants it makes to organizations with 501(c)(3) tax exempt status are minimal. The IRS requires little in the way of detailed reporting on the outcome of specific grants—except for grants to organizations that…
Stories of Succession: Involvement is Mandatory
Stephanie Danforth Chafee’s ancestors trace their roots in Rhode Island back to the Mayflower. Her philanthropic heritage in the area is almost as deep and conservative.
Her mother was a leading supporter of the Parent Teachers Association, the Zoological Society and the Roger Williams Zoo. Her…
Sample Foundation Investment Policy
Sample Document
This document is an editable foundation investment policy template.
This sample document is being provided for informational purposes only and is not to be shared without the permission of the Council on Foundations. Use of the sample document does not create an attorney-client relationship, and…
Stewardship Principles for Independent Foundations
Legal Compliance Guidance
The Stewardship Principles for Independent Foundations are a set of governance best practices that embody how independent foundations can reflect fundamental values such as honesty, integrity, fairness, and trust in their board governance, management, and grantmaking.
How to Avoid Self-Dealing for Family Foundations
Legal Compliance Guidance
Slide presentation reviewing the basics of avoiding self-dealing as a family foundation.
Sample Grant File Index
Sample Document
This sample grant file index allows you to see the types of information which your foundation may need to keep on each of your grantees.
Stewardship Principles for Family Foundations
Legal Compliance Guidance
The Stewardship Principles for Family Foundations are a set of governance best practices that embody how family foundations can reflect fundamental values (including honesty, integrity, fairness, and trust) in their board governance, management, and grantmaking.
Sample Expenditure Report
Sample Document
This customizable sample report allows you to track expenditures by grantees.
The Effects of Family Culture on Family Foundations
Fundamentals
Most people do not think of their family as having a “culture.” For many, it's a group of familiar people doing what they always do.
Yet it is exactly this—a characteristic way of thinking, feeling, judging, and acting—that defines a culture. Both in direct and subtle ways, children are molded by…
Sample Docket Write-up of Program Goals and Strategies
Sample Document
This sample docket write-up allows you to customize your program goal and strategies.
A Colleague's Perspective on Trustee Orientation
External Resource
By Anne H. Morgan
Becoming a trustee of a family foundation can be a complex, confusing, and confounding experience. Suddenly you are thrust into a room full of persons whom you thought you knew, but now they are all in different roles. Your favorite aunt, who has always seemed so demure and self…
A Colleague's Perspective on Mission and Vision Statements
Fundamentals
This perspective offered by William Graustein of the William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund in 2013 provides useful context on creating your own foundation's mission and vision statements.
When you get down to it, the reason a charitable foundation exists is to change the world or, at least…
A Colleague's Perspective on Generational Succession
Fundamentals
In 2013, Merede Graham of the Namaste Foundation offered her perspective about how generational succession shaped her family foundation.
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My parents started our family foundation with the intent of providing their children with opportunities to build confidence and skills to serve us…
Closing Documents Checklist
Sample Document
As you prepare to close out grants, this customizable checklist can help ensure that you've received the appropriate documents from grantees.