Giving Compass' Take:

• Fran Sykes shares how Pascale Sykes is closing its doors forever in 2022 to increase its impact. 

• How can other foundations shift to this model? What are the arguments for forming a perpetual foundation? 

• Learn why the MAVA Foundation is also going to close in 2022.

When Pascale Sykes was three years old, my husband and I attended a conference that changed the foundation’s future forever. We learned there is a market for consultants whose purpose is to protect donor intent. Those consultants create videos and special directives—and even prepare legal documents—in which donors fully explain and even particularize their intent. After the donor has passed away, the consultant may continue to advise and counsel trustees.

It seems well-intended, but I saw it from another angle. What if my children don’t want to run a foundation? What if my passion “working low-income families, doing the right thing,” isn’t their passion? Are we saddling our children with responsibilities they would prefer to avoid? Are we preventing them from pursuing their own charitable callings?

It was at the same fateful conference that I also learned that scores of consultants thrive on “bringing the next generation on board” or “taking it to the next level.”

What if we instead gave our foundation an expiration date?

Pascale Sykes had for years limited awards to a few substantial long-range grants, renewed annually. Once we became fully funded and implemented the spend-down plan, our funding policies became even more impactful. We could focus on implementing collaborative efforts, constantly evaluating and revising to better serve our target population. We could engage professionals to evaluate and publish our results. We could affect a region and bring about systemic change.

We then recognized the most important justification for closing our doors: spending all our funds could really move the needle.

Read the full article about shutting down Pascale Sykes by Fran Sykes at Exponent Philanthropy