October 4, 2001 | Read Time: 1 minute
Living the Legacy: The Values of a Family’s Philanthropy Across Generations, edited by Charles H. Hamilton, discusses the question of whether foundations should alter their missions over time. In an opening essay, Mr. Hamilton, executive director and secretary of the Clark Foundation, in New York, writes that some people worry that the values and priorities of deceased donors and past generations (the “dead hand of the past”) have too much influence over current grant making. Still others feel that foundations should stick to the original donor’s intent, he writes. Both viewpoints are “static,” he suggests, because it is “precisely the ongoing legacy of values, vision, and giving that holds family foundations together (or may tear them apart), propels them creatively into the future, and is the basis of their positive impact on society.” This journal, the third volume in a series from the National Center for Family Philanthropy, in Washington, contains essays from people working in the field of family philanthropy, including Howard Husock, director of the Case program at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and John E. Marshall III, president and chief executive officer of the Kresge Foundation. Essays examine how a foundation should change over time; how a donor’s intent should be interpreted, maintained, adapted, and carried out by later generations; and how progeny of the original donor can blend their interests with those of their forefathers. One section contains case studies from family foundations.
Publisher: National Center for Family Philanthropy, 1220 19th Street, N.W., Suite 804, Washington, D.C. 20036; (202) 293-3424; fax (202) 293-3395; http://www.ncfp.org; 169 pages; $45.
