Endowments & Investing
Developing an Asset Allocation Strategy
Fundamentals
As needs in their communities continue to grow, community foundations recognize the importance of making the right investment decisions. That’s because good investments help attract donors, preserve the long-term purchasing power of assets, and increase the amount of money available for grantmaking…
Accounting for Agency Endowment Funds Held at Community Foundations
Legal Compliance Guidance
Introduction
Nonprofits place their endowment funds with community foundations for a variety of reasons, including investment expertise, efficiencies, and access to planned giving advice and services. As nonprofit organizations seek to place their assets and partner with the foundation, questions…
Conflicts of Interest: Dealing with Foundation Investments
Legal Compliance Guidance
This article focuses on conflicts of interest around foundation investments. May foundation board members (or other closely affiliated individuals or businesses) manage foundation investments? May they be paid for this service? What factors should foundation managers consider before they select an…
Investment Management Practice Tips and Resources
Legal Compliance Guidance
Practice 1. The board (and investment committee and staff, if any) of a foundation should understand and fulfill their respective fiduciary responsibilities and duties under applicable law and the governing documents of the foundation and stay informed regarding any relevant changes in law, duties…
Working with a Donor's Investment Manager
Legal Compliance Guidance
“If I create a fund at the community foundation, can my investment manager still manage the funds?” You may have already come across a donor that asked this question. Such a donor is essentially requesting that the fund they create be invested outside of the foundation’s investment pool(s). While…
Oxford University Said Business School Offers Inaugural Impact Investing Event Following Skoll World Forum
Over the past several years, no strategy for change has captured the imagination of philanthropy more than impact investing. In the United States and even more so in emerging markets, people and institutions with financial means are deploying those resources in new and sometimes innovative ways.…
Complete Capital: How Impact Investing Will Realize Its Potential
This is post is part of an ongoing impact investing series onRE: Philanthropy.
In recent years, I have championed the potential of impact investing to unlock new forms and sources of capital for the social sector. But financial capital is just one piece of the puzzle. Through my work at the…
Joining the Impact Investing Conversation
This is the first post in an ongoing impact investing series on RE: Philanthropy.
The new vision for the Council on Foundations, as President and CEO Vikki Spruill outlined in her blog post “Relevance + Network + Speed = Impact,” describes exactly how and why the Council is poised to support…
Improving Lives, Building Communities
Despite having a steady job, a mom in South Carolina, who hopes to help her daughter go to college, cannot afford to pay rent in the city in which she works. A promising entrepreneur in Wisconsin has a great idea to improve his community but cannot get the loan needed to get his business off the…
Mission Investing for Community Foundations
I first started working in the community foundation field more than 15 years ago. It goes without saying that I’m a big fan. I believe in this democratic model of philanthropy where the collective power of many creates powerful change. I’m also a fan because most community foundations understand…
Building Investor Readiness Through Skills-Based Volunteerism
As the practice of impact investing matures, evolving from a peripheral concept to a mainstream practice, the momentum around this nascent industry is growing. At a time when governments, foundations and donors look to do more with less, impact investing offers a means to generate social and…
Let’s Talk about Impact Investing
Do you ever wish that your foundation had more money to solve social problems and transform your community? As need grows faster than grant dollars, many foundations are making mission and impact investments in order to unlock new capital for social good. Community foundations are investing…