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Abstract: 

This special issue is devoted to a comprehensive discussion of trustee conflicts and strategies for resolving them. Eight years ago, the author treated the topic in a series of three articles; she has now updated the material and integrated it all into a wide-ranging treatment readers can read and refer to when conflicts arise. Like any organization, a family foundation must deal with internal conflict, whether between the board and the executive director, the board and the staff, or among board members themselves. The potential for trouble may be particularly high in a family foundation, where disagreement easily brews among family members who have varying ideas regarding the legacy of the organization. How such conflicts are addressed and resolved has significant effects on the organization, sometimes even leading to the termination of the entity. This article comprehensively guides family foundations through all aspects of trustee disputes and their resolution. First, it examines the types of conflicts that typically arise in family foundations, and explores best practices for their resolution—how foundation policies and practices can be aligned to address and defuse conflict. It then goes on to examine how, when conflict cannot be resolved, a foundation can be terminated or converted into a different kind of nonprofit organization, or into new and more productive nonprofit organizations. It concludes with a discussion of the legal and tax consequences of terminations and reorganizations.

Keywords: Disengaged or Disruptive Board Members; Generational Conflicts; Mission Creep; Good Governance; Code of Ethics; Conflict-of-Interest Policy; Resignation Protocol; Whistleblowers; Response Continuum; Mediation; Section 507(a) Termination

Affiliations:  1: Bourland, Wall & Wenzel, P.C..