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| Philanthropy |
Laying a Foundation
Jan Alexander
07/01/2004
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The Self siblings spent a day and a half meeting
in Pinecrest, N.C., with Joe Breiteicher from the Philanthropic Initiative
facilitating their sessions. By the end of the retreat, they had agreed to
fine-tune their grandfather’s guidelines. “They felt that giving directly to
universities meant [they] lost control of the donation,” says Wideman. Instead
of making outright gifts, they focused on specific programs they wished to
create with their money. They recently funded a curriculum for Montessori
education at Lander University in Greenwood, S.C., and a major research
institute, the J.C. Self Institute of Human Genetics at the Greenwood Genetic
Center, dedicated to research on the causes of mental retardation.
TOP VIEW
Jittery markets, rising costs and swamps of paperwork can dampen our enthusiasm
for starting our own foundation. But those of us with a passion for extending
our family’s vision and legacy beyond our own lifetimes may find the results
gratifying. |
These
types of meetings are crucial to a smoothly run foundation. For example, family
meetings can be venues for agreement on nettlesome questions such as the size
and nature of the administration. (A start-up of significant size commonly
requires a staff of two.) Many families find that paying the salary for an
executive director (part time or full time), who manages such duties as setting
budgets and screening grant proposals, and possibly also hiring an office
administrator, frees family members to concentrate on more compelling
activities: networking with donors, examining prospective grantees, making site
visits and focusing on the greater vision.
Whatever the budget and structure,
launching a family foundation requires long hours and a talent for managing
people, both inside and outside the family, in order to hew them to our
strategic vision. We can assign some of the work to consultants and executive
directors. But the vital factors that we can never delegate are our family’s
mission and our requisite passion for surmounting social problems.
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