Does the family foundation invest in governance?
Does your client’s foundation have a written statement of board members’ key responsibilities? Do board meetings have clear written agendas? Good member participation? Productive outcomes? Does the board regularly do a self-assessment? Family foundations also take the duties of trusteeship seriously. Family foundations report that their boards are very involved in the work of the foundation. Board meetings have good participation rates, with 94 percent of board members attending the foundation’s last board meeting. In addition, 92 percent reported good member participation in discussions and 95 percent said the meetings lead to productive outcomes. However, several points provided cause for concern. Only about half (53%) of the responding foundations indicated having a written conflict of interest policy. Furthermore, most boards (66%) reported having no process for self-assessment. Contrast this to how foundations reported their performance around fiscal responsibilities. Almost all t
