Getting Past Inertia: Ten Simple, Valiant Steps To Align Your Foundation’s Endowment With Your Mission – Or Not

Huff Post blog by Untours Foundation Director Elizabeth Killough

There’s a lot of judgment these days about your endowment. You use it only to grow more money when it could be doing that and much more. I admit to my own judgment and perhaps you can face up to yours.

You inherited a 100-year old practice of handing your endowment over to someone else while your board and staff focus mainly on grant making. You could help your grantees and your foundation’s very purpose more, if you demanded more of your endowment. While you wish for more resources to grow your foundation’s effectiveness, you are sitting on a gold mine.

The Surdna Foundation recognized its opportunity and decided to go down a path that is worth studying.  READ MORE

Carra Cote-Ackah, a fifth generation member of the Andrus family, the Surdna Foundation founders, and Vice Chair of the board.