August 5, 2004 | Read Time: 1 minute
Facing Forever: Planning for Change in Family Foundations, by Elaine Gast, is designed to help grant makers cope with changes in foundation leadership, fluctuations in assets, family discord, and other challenges. Ms. Gast, who previously worked in the family-foundation unit of the Council on Foundations, in Washington, advises board members of family foundations on developing plans to deal with concerns such as the death of a family member or a family that is too large to have all members participate in foundation oversight. The guide also gives suggestions for developing criteria to select new board members when families are too small to fill all board positions. It describes options for splitting, merging, or terminating foundations, as well as the process of spending all the assets in a specific period of time. Also included are sample foundation bylaws, letters from donors stating their goals for their foundations, and other documents, as well as advice from people who work at family foundations.
Publisher: Council on Foundations, 1828 L Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036-5168; (202) 466-6512; fax (202) 785-3926; http://www.cof.org; 170 pages; $25 for members, $40 for nonmembers.
