Archive for February, 2010

The Spend-Out Presumption And The Value Of Enduring Institutions

Charles Hamilton

By Charles H. Hamilton
Senior Fellow, Philanthropy New York

Foundations should explicitly consider their lifespan options. However, in my last contribution, I wrote that focusing simply on foundation perpetuity or spending out was, per se, a distraction from: (1) attending to mission and effectiveness first and foremost, and (2) considering other forms of foundation “existence,” such as foundation mergers. I remain distracted by two things: (1) much of the discussion about foundation lifespan tends to skew in favor of spend-out, and (2) the value of enduring, independent philanthropic institutions to civil society is unfortunately ignored.
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The Post-Copenhagen Funding Landscape: Thoughts from Rachel Leon and Terry Odendahl

On January 20th, Philanthropy New York presented a collaborative program with the Environmental Grantmakers Association (EGA) and the Global Greengrants Fund to hear from our philanthropic colleagues about the outcomes from the 2009 Copenhagen UN Climate Change Conference (where world leaders discussed their responses to the climate emergency facing the planet) and what immediate opportunities there are in environmental grantmaking. We are pleased to have Rachel Leon (pictured left), Executive Director of EGA, and Terry Odendahl, CEO of the Global Greengrants Fund, share their thoughts with Smart Assets.

Rachel Leon:
Countries responsible for the bulk of climate pollution passed the first step and submitted their goals on time, as they promised at the Climate Summit in Copenhagen in late December. I had the pleasure of moderating the Jan. 20th discussion of next steps after the Copenhagen summit with Tom Kruse, Program Officer for Democratic Practice-Global Governance at the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and Terry Odendahl, CEO of the Global Greengrants Fund. Dozens of foundations attended the session, where we discussed: Who will be most impacted by the next climate treaty framework? What is at stake in terms of economic benefit, human rights, and environmental protection? How can we promote rapid, effective, and coordinated action among governments, NGOs, and civil society organizations?
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The Spend-Out/Perpetuity Distraction…and the Merger Option

Charles Hamilton

By Charles H. Hamilton
Senior Fellow, Philanthropy New York

There is renewed interest in the issue of lifespan for foundations (spend-out versus perpetuity). Nonetheless, these discussions seem like a distraction to me, for two reasons: 1) the perpetuity versus spend-out debate isn’t relevant by itself and distracts from questions of mission and impact, and 2) it diverts us from looking at other options for foundations.
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