Home      Login

Abstract: 

The Case Study method was pioneered by Harvard Law School and Harvard Business School as a practical way of exposing students to the real world decisions they will face as managers or advisors. Mark Neithercut, founder and principal of Neithercut Philanthropy Advisors and a contributor to Family Foundation Advisor, developed a series of typical cases from his firm’s practice as an analytical exercise in foundation decision-making. The scenarios are real, and include situations in which a donor is asked to make a lead gift to a create a new university research center; continuing after a founder’s death; the pitfalls of a naming gift; how to ramp up a new family foundation after the sale of a business creates a sudden infusion of cash; and avoiding family conflict in foundation decision-making. While the final outcomes of each case are of great interest, the structure and methods used to arrive at a decision are what make them especially useful.

Keywords: Assessing Gift Solicitations; “Naming” Gifts; Building Foundation Structure; Succession Planning; Outsourcing

Affiliations:  1: Neithercut Philanthropy Advisors.