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Family offices may take on a variety of roles in service to the family, so it is essential that there is a strategy that helps frame the office’s purpose and an overarching plan to help align and execute against diverse interests. The panel will cover three key areas during this session: 1) Share critical questions to ask and answer when designing ...

In times of significant change, it is easy to become paralyzed by uncertainty and indecision. However, such changes are inevitably accompanied by new opportunities. In this Wealth Planning Outlook, insights—and action items—are provided on the most vital planning issues amid epochal technological innovation in artificial intelligence (AI); an uncer...

What is the consequence of your philanthropy and who will steward future efforts? Legacy requires creating and implementing plans for donor intent, lifespan, continuity, and succession. Explore how to define and build your legacy and prepare for transitions. This primer is the seventh in a series of seven about the Family Giving Lifecycle b...

Effective philanthropy is a process of continual learning. An assessment plan will help you define and measure the progress of your partners, your strategy, and the governance and operations of your social impact vehicles. Find out how to create a robust learning agenda and assessment plan. This primer is the fifth in a series of seve...

Governance is the framework that helps you establish decision-making principles, policies, and practices. Understand the process and value of building a strong governance structure. This primer is the third in a series of seven about the Family Giving Lifecycle by the National Center for Family Philanthropy, comprising of seven inflection p...

Creating a family office and sustaining its success starts with a thorough assessment of your family’s priorities, objectives, and capabilities. Whether your family is considering forming a family office or evaluating one that already exists, there are ten questions that should be addressed to help put your family in the best position to be success...

Join host Damien Martin in his ongoing quest for insights and best practices for affluent families and their advisors as he sits down with guest Jeff Davidson to unpack the often mystifying and sometimes daunting world of the family office. Here’s what’s covered: Who is Jeff Davidson? @02:35 Developing a national family business succession pl...

Just as government and businesses require sound governance to do their work well, so too do families—and their philanthropy. The Family Governance Pyramid provides a model and framework for philanthropic families that is even more relevant and necessary today than when it was first introduced nearly two decades ago. This article by the National Cen...

As enterprising families expand across generations, they often stray from their entrepreneurial wealth creation roots to a more risk-averse wealth-protection mode. However, if maintaining shared family capital across multiple generations is the goal, wealth protection mode is not an ideal strategy and may have some unintended consequences. Building...

It is not uncommon for enterprising families to end up making sub-optimal capital allocation decisions due to limited visibility into, and planning around, the entirety of their shared family assets. To optimize the value of shared family capital, both the business and other entities or advisors in the enterprise ecosystem must work in harmony. Wit...

While every philanthropic journey is unique, there are points at which all families must make decisions. This series of seven short videos offers a comprehensive introduction and refresher to critical concepts to consider at each stage of your family philanthropy—from philanthropic purpose and selecting giving vehicles, to operations, successi...

In philanthropy, meaningful change is the aim—it’s the purpose and the promise. But in striving for and achieving impact, effectiveness must go beyond healthy funding practices with grantees and the greater communities we serve. It must touch on intra-family dynamics, family philanthropy staff, and speak to the varied stages within the family fivin...

Governance, a system for who will make decisions and how, is the guiding framework for your family philanthropy’s long-term success. There are many governance constructs that support an effective board, and different methods to engage family within each construct. But what are the common elements that contribute to an effective board across all gov...

The current next-generation family members are changing the way families view wealth, no longer focusing on creating wealth for wealth’s sake. It’s still about creating wealth, but now more questions are being asked about, ‘how can we use this wealth to improve society?’ and less about ‘what we can do to just keep building it.’ This process is refe...

This issue brief examines the kinds of decisions that family foundations often face and sets out practical, easy-to-apply guidelines for ensuring that the foundation’s decision-making methods vary appropriately, as conditions and circumstances change. It includes factors to consider when selecting a decision-making method, guidance on how to commun...