A Nonprofit Goes for Broke.
Bays, Jonathan, André Dua, and Lynn K. Taliento, 2006. “A Nonprofit Goes for Broke.” McKinsey Quarterly, September. Free registration required. The organizational challenges stemming from the decision by the Atlantic…
Against Strong Headwinds
This is the eighth and final report on the concluding years of the Avi Chai Foundation.
Alternatives to Perpetuity: A Conversation Every Foundation Should Have
Stone, Deanne, 2005. Alternatives to Perpetuity: A Conversation Every Foundation Should Have. Free registration required. Washington, DC: National Center for Family Philanthropy. This paper provides background on the perpetuity…
As Foundations Close, Anxiety for Charities
Johnston, David Cay, 2009. “As Foundations Close, Anxiety for Charities.” New York Times, November 11. Newspaper article examining the reaction of charities to the prospect of their…
Beyond Five Percent: The New Foundation Payout Menu
Waleson, Heidi, 2007. Beyond Five Percent: The New Foundation Payout Menu. New York: Beldon Fund. This paper looks at 13 foundations and examines the ways in which their nonstandard…
Brainerd Foundation Sunsets
Krumboltz, Ann, 2008. “Brainerd Foundation Sunsets.” EGA Journal, Fall: p. 18. Brief article by the executive director of the Seattle-based Brainerd Foundation on its intention to spend down its…
Debates on Perpetuity
Wooster, Martin Morse, 1998. “Debates on Perpetuity.” Philanthropy, July/August. Cover story in Philanthropy magazine revisits “Principles of Public Giving,” an article Julius Rosenwald wrote for the Atlantic Monthly in 1929, and its…
Escaping the Perpetuity Mindset Trap
Schmidt, Arthur “Buzz,” 2009. “Escaping the Perpetuity Mindset Trap.” Nonprofit Quarterly, vol. 16, Spring: pp. 64-68. The founder and CEO of GuideStar International argues that foundations can increase their…
Existing Forever Versus Doing Some Good
Kleiman, Kelly, 2012. “Existing Forever Versus Doing Some Good.” Nonprofiteer blog, March 28. Blog post arguing that foundation spend-down is in sync with both donor intent and…
First Annual Report to The AVI CHAI Foundation
The first report tells why and how the AVI CHAI Foundation decided to spend down its endowment, and documents and assesses the first year of the…
Foundation Sunset: A Decision-Making Guide.
Ostrower, Francie, 2011. Foundation Sunset: A Decision-Making Guide. Washington, DC: Aspen Institute. This research-based guide offers a framework that can help donors and trustees craft a sunsetting plan that…
Foundations with a Limited Life
Jacobs, Deborah L., 2010. “Foundations with a Limited Life.” New York Times, November 10. Newspaper article examining the phenomenon of spend-down foundations.
Gearing Up to Spend Down: A Foundation in the Midst of Paradigm Shifts
The second report examines the changes brought about by the board’s determination to begin governing the institution less from the perspective of individual grants and…
Giving It All Away: Strategies from the Spend-Down Experts
Piereson, James, and Gara LaMarche, 2011. “Giving It All Away: Strategies from the Spend-Down Experts.” Philanthropy Roundtable Annual Meeting. Audio file (55 minutes) of conversation between the…
Giving It Away Now to Make the Most Difference
Hanisch, Lenore, 2011. “Giving It Away Now to Make the Most Difference.” Tactical Philanthropy, January 3. Guest post on the Tactical Philanthropy blog by the co-executive director…
Giving Our All: Reflections of a Spend Out Charity
Tubney Charitable Trust, 2012. Giving Our All: Reflections of a Spend Out Charity. London: Author. Short book that tells the story of a British foundation, from its founding through…
Giving While Living
LaMarche, Gara, and Lenore Hanisch, 2010. “Giving While Living.” National Center on Family Philanthropy, November 10. Audio file (1 hour, 24 minutes) of teleconference hosted by the president and CEO…
Giving While Living: The Beldon Fund Spend-Out Story.
Carlson, Neil, and Theodora Lurie, 2009. Giving While Living: The Beldon Fund Spend-Out Story. New York: Beldon Fund. The Beldon Fund’s decision to establish a clear end date…
Harvest Time for The Atlantic Philanthropies – 2011-2012: Focus, Exit, and Legacy
The third report covers 2011-2012, two difficult years of judgment, planning, and adjustment. As each year passes, more and more decisions become irreversible, and Atlantic…
Harvest Time for The Atlantic Philanthropies – 2012-2013: Decline & Rise
The fourth report details unexpected turns in the foundation’s approach to commit its entire endowment in a limited time frame.
Harvest Time for the Atlantic Philanthropies – 2013-2014: Final Priorities
The fifth report describes how, in preparation for its final burst of expansive, long-vision grants, Atlantic drew its longstanding programs to a close, downsized its…
Here and Now or Forevermore?
Stehle, Vincent, 2005. “Here and Now or Forevermore?” Foundation News and Commentary, vol. 46, no. Article excerpted from “Considering the Question of Perpetuity,” chapter one of the National…
Irwin Sweeney Miller Foundation: A Study In Spend Down
This is the story of the third generation members of the Miller family who chose to spend down the Irwin Sweeney Miller Foundation, with assets…
Julius Rosenwald and the Rosenwald Fund: A Case in Non-Perpetual Philanthropy
Hoereth, Joseph K., 2007. “Julius Rosenwald and the Rosenwald Fund: A Case in Non-Perpetual Philanthropy.” In Louis Delgado, ed., Lessons from Philanthropy: A Case Studies Approach: A Report to the…
Julius Rosenwald’s Crusade: One Donor’s Plea to Give While You Live
Ascoli, Peter M., 2006. “Julius Rosenwald’s Crusade: One Donor’s Plea to Give While You Live.” Philanthropy, May/June. Cover story in Philanthropy magazine focusing largely on an article by Julius…
Last Danforth Foundation Gift Goes to Science Center
Gustin, Georgina, 2011. “Last Danforth Foundation Gift Goes to Science Center.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 8. Newspaper article reporting the shut-down of the 84-year-old Danforth Foundation of…
Limited Life Foundations: Motivations, Experiences, and Strategies.
Ostrower, Francie, 2009. Limited Life Foundations: Motivations, Experiences, and Strategies. Washington, DC: Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy, Urban Institute. Although most foundations are established in perpetuity, the limited…
New Uncertainties — and Opportunities — as the End Approaches
This is the sixth in a series of reports on how the AVI CHAI Foundation goes about putting its full endowment to use and completing…
Perpetuity or Limited Lifespan: How Do Family Foundations Decide?
Renz, Loren, and David Wolcheck, 2009. Perpetuity or Limited Lifespan: How Do Family Foundations Decide? New York: Foundation Center. While awareness of lifespan planning options has grown, research…
Private Foundations: The Trick
Cullman, Lewis B., 2003. “Private Foundations: The Trick.” New York Review of Books, September 25. Opinion piece by the founder of the Lewis B. and Dorothy Cullman Foundation,…
Shifting the Spend-Down into High Gear: A Foundation Begins Implementing Its Strategy
The third report marks a significant change: a period of exciting, promising, and sustained—indeed, reassuring—action and direction.
Solving Today’s Problems with Today’s Money
Harrison, Verna, 2008. “Solving Today’s Problems with Today’s Money.” EGA Journal, Fall: pp. 24-26. Interview with John Hunting, founder of the Beldon Fund, which closed in 2009.
Some Strategies Beginning to Pay Off…And Promising Hints of Others, Like Early Glimpses of the Dawn
The fourth report describes the process by which AVI CHAI plans and carries out its grantmaking so as to achieve significant, lasting objectives in the…
Spend Down or Act Like It!
Peery, Dave, 2011. “Spend Down or Act Like It!” PF Whiteboard, January 19. Post on the blog of the Peery Foundation by board member and day-to-day manager…
Spending Down in the 21st Century
Kass, Sarah, 2011. “Spending Down in the 21st Century.” Report originally submitted as a memo to the board of trustees of the AVI CHAI Foundation, May 2010.
Spending Down: A Mid-Size Foundation Seeks a Lasting Impact on Public Policy
Davis, Martin A. Jr., 2003. “Spending Down: A Mid-Size Foundation Seeks a Lasting Impact on Public Policy.” Philanthropy, September/October. Cover story for Philanthropy magazine outlines seven one-time, high-dollar grants awarded by…
Spending Out, the Markey Way
Dickason, John H., and Duncan Neuhauser, 1999. “Spending Out, the Markey Way.” Foundation News & Commentary, vol. 40, no. 5. Cover story on spend-down at the Lucille P.…
Spending Out: Learning Lessons from Time-Limited Grant-making.
Association of Charitable Foundations, 2010. Spending Out: Learning Lessons from Time-Limited Grant-making. London, UK: Author. This booklet continues the series of guides for ACF members, supporting them…
Strategic Plan, 2007-2012.
Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund, 2007. Strategic Plan, 2007-2012. London, UK: Author. The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund is an independent grant-giving charity established in September…
Structuring the Investment Portfolio of a Limited-Life Foundation
Coates, Philip, 2008. “Structuring the Investment Portfolio of a Limited-Life Foundation.” Effect, vol. 2, no. 3: pp. 29-30. The chief investment officer of the Atlantic Philanthropies outlines a strategy…
Sunset Approaching More Rapidly Than It Seems
The fifth report tells how the AVI CHAI Foundation goes about putting its full endowment to use and completing its grantmaking.
Sunsetting: A Framework for Foundation Life as well as Death.
Ostrower, Francie, 2011. Sunsetting: A Framework for Foundation Life as well as Death. Washington, DC: Aspen Institute. This paper contends that, when approached in a strategic fashion, sunsetting…
Survey of Writings on Time-Limited Philanthropy
Foundation Center, Survey of Writings on Time-Limited Philanthropy, Spreadsheet, created July 2015.
The Aaron Diamond Foundation: AIDS Research in New York City.
Nash, Matthew T.A., 2007. The Aaron Diamond Foundation: AIDS Research in New York City. Durham, NC: Center for Strategic Philanthropy and Civil Society, Sanford School of Public Policy, Duke…
The Center for the Public Domain: A Short-Lived Venture Philanthropy
Case study examines a foundation that was conceived as a “venture philanthropy” that would spend down its assets over a relatively brief time in support of its…
The Insider’s Guide to Spend Down: Switching Off the Lights at the Olin Foundation
Piereson, James, 2002. “The Insider’s Guide to Spend Down: Switching Off the Lights at the Olin Foundation.” Philanthropy, vol. 16, no. 2. In this magazine article, Olin’s executive director describes the ongoing process…
The Power of Now: Spend Out Trusts and Foundations in the UK.
Institute for Philanthropy, 2010. The Power of Now: Spend Out Trusts and Foundations in the UK. London, UK: Author. This paper seeks to better understand the phenomenon of…
The Saving Remnant Is Shining Bright, Its Fire Now Spreading Renewing Light
This is the seventh in a series of reports on how The AVI CHAI Foundation is going about completing its grantmaking.
The Whitaker Foundation 2005: The Final Annual Report of the Whitaker Foundation
Whitaker Foundation, 2006. The Whitaker Foundation 2005: The Final Annual Report of the Whitaker Foundation. Arlington, VA: Author. Includes statements from the Chairman and the President of the Whitaker…
Time Is of the Essence: Foundations and the Policies of Limited Life and Endowment Spend-Down
Thelin, John R., and Richard W. Trollinger, 2009. Time Is of the Essence: Foundations and the Policies of Limited Life and Endowment Spend-Down. Washington, DC: Program on Philanthropy…
Turning Passion into Action: Giving While Living
Waleson, Heidi, 2010. Turning Passion into Action: Giving While Living. New York: Atlantic Philanthropies. This publication describes the growing trend of Giving While Living, shares the stories of…
Winding Down The Atlantic Philanthropies: 2009-2010: Beginning the Endgame
The second report covers events from late 2009 to early 2011, some five to six years before Atlantic expects to make its last grant commitments.
Winding Down The Atlantic Philanthropies: The First Eight Years: 2001-2009
The first report addresses the questions raised by the seminal decision made by Atlantic Philanthropies founder Charles F. Feeney to witness the social benefits of his donation during his lifetime:…