The Trends in Family Philanthropy’s National Advisory Committee was tasked with guiding this national research initiative to identify (1) emerging issues, (2) changes in funding priorities, (3) innovative approaches to giving and decisionmaking, and (4) anticipated giving patterns among philanthropic families. Members of the committee also suggested ways to use the survey results to better understand the implications of this new knowledge and to stimulate discussions, additional research, and action throughout the field resulting from those implications.

It’s a daunting challenge to articulate a few early impressions of the data from the Trends in Family Philanthropy study, which you have in your hands (or are reading on your screen). We are just coming to understand what is included in the material described in this report.

We have had a few early conversations with the following: (1) the National Advisory Committee for this study, led by Alice Buhl, senior fellow at the National Center for Family Philanthropy; (2) staff members of the National Center for Family Philanthropy (NCFP); and (3) our research partners
at the Urban Institute. Much needs to be done to mine all that we can in order to understand and support the eld of family philanthropy. And the second portion of the project, an opt-in study of philanthropic families with different giving vehicles, has yet to be vetted.

Read the full article about 2015 foundation trends by NCFP.