& Family Boards
Most foundations run on one person’s memory.
We put the structure underneath it, so the giving still works when that person steps back.
What we usually find
Decisions get made in conversation, and a year later nobody can reconstruct why.
Nobody knows which grantees are actually well run until something goes wrong.
The next generation has never been handed anything they could actually operate.
What we build
- The board. Roles, committees, a conflict-of-interest policy that holds up, and a calendar the year runs on.
- A grantmaking system. Criteria, a docket, and a decision log, so every choice is legible twelve months later.
- Grantee intelligence. Who else funds them, who sits on their board, and how dangerously concentrated their money is. We pull it from public filings before the first meeting.
- Succession. What happens when the principal steps back, written down and agreed to while it is still a calm conversation.
- One place it all lives. Private, yours, and built so your board can see the same picture you do.
How it is usually paid for
A private foundation has to distribute roughly five percent of its assets every year. Reasonable administrative expenses and direct charitable activities generally count toward that requirement, and this work is ordinarily paid from the operating budget rather than the grant budget.
In practice that means one signature instead of a grant cycle, and it counts toward a distribution you are already required to make.
Treatment depends on how the work is scoped. Have your own counsel or accountant confirm it for your foundation before you rely on it.
Who you would be working with
Thirty years running a nonprofit: $35M budget, 500 staff, a $40M endowment at exit. Executive coach at Harvard Business School. Three-time bestselling author.
CPA. Former COO and chief of staff. Scopes the work, builds the systems and reporting, and runs every engagement start to finish.
Matt has sat on the other side of your grants. Mike builds the structure underneath them.