Limited Life Philanthropy

“I believe strongly in giving while living. I see little reason to delay giving when so much good can be achieved through supporting worthwhile causes today. Besides, it's a lot more fun to give while you live than to give while you are dead.” –…

Atlantic founder Chuck Feeney’s belief in Giving While Living—that people of great wealth should put their money to the service of humanity now—inspired the board to limit the foundation’s life to a fixed number of years. The determination to complete all grantmaking at the end…

An in-depth look at The Atlantic Philanthropies' limited life journey.

A fascinating look at the numbers behind The Atlantic Philanthropies' life-changing projects and world-changing impact—all thanks to the passionate pursuit of getting to zero.

Mistakes? We made a few. Read what we learned in hindsight.

This post by Maria Pignataro Nielsen, Atlantic's Chief Human Resources Officer, is part of GrantCraft's "Making Change by Spending Down" series. Although Atlantic is often referred to as a “spend down” foundation, we think of ourselves as a limited life foundation, with our final years…

As The Atlantic Philanthropies began the final phases of closure, management knew that, as the largest limited life foundation to spend down its assets, it would be a model for the philanthropic sector, particularly to other foundations interested in the concept of limited life or…

Atlantic made a grant to Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors to conduct the following surveys, reports, guidance, and case studies on time-limited philanthropy and Giving While Living. Strategic time horizons–the length of time for which a philanthropic organization chooses to actively carry out its mission–have increasingly become…

When Atlantic commissioned philanthropy consultant Tony Proscio in 2010, in conjunction with Duke University Center for Strategic Philanthropy & Civil Society, to write a series of reports charting the foundation’s final years, it was the largest foundation planning to put all its charitable assets to…

Leaders of limited-life foundations often assert that spending all of their resources in a relatively short period gives them the ability to do more good, to produce more social value, than if they were to hold the same resources in a lasting endowment and disburse…

In "End-Game Evaluation: Building a Legacy of Learning In a Limited-Life Foundation," co-authors Ashleigh Halverstadt and Benjamin Kerman share the emerging hypotheses of The Atlantic Philanthropies and the S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation about the opportunities and challenges for evaluation in the limited-life context. The authors argue…

By Joanne Florino Many thanks to the Center for Effective Philanthropy for a thoughtfully structured and informative research report on the why and how of limited life foundations. Any foundation donor and/or board considering an option other than perpetuity will be well served by a…

Since the 1990s, philanthropy has seen a growing share of foundations embrace a limited life, setting a defined endpoint for their operations. More foundations are also funding time-limited strategic initiatives. While foundations use a variety of strategies to manage their exits, little has been known about…

The limited-life foundation–where big donors pledge to spend all their money in a certain short period of time–offers the potential for a bigger immediate impact at the expense of longevity.

The foundation will have given away more than $8 billion when it shutters in 2020. Now as it spends its last millions, Atlantic is innovating better ways to leave a lasting impact. [caption id="attachment_79059" align="alignnone" width="650"] [Illustration: Sylverarts/iStock][/caption]By Ben Paynter When it was founded in…

[caption id="attachment_76637" align="aligncenter" width="450"] Grantmakers in Health Conference, 2016. Photo: Paul Rieckhoff / Twitter[/caption] By Maryann Jacob Macias, Associate Programme Executive Change is always hard, especially when it involves bringing something one has invested in to an end. It is difficult for us as grantmakers adjusting to…

Are foundations with set periods for spending down their assets more effective as grantmakers than their peers who are established to exist in perpetuity?

By Tony Proscio Leadership changes, strategic reviews, the closing of some programs and a fresh emphasis on others — all these are part of the normal cycle at just about any foundation. They may feel momentous at the time, but at most foundations, where endowments…

Perhaps “deliberate deployment” should replace “spending down” in the philanthropic glossary.

Five U.S. foundations that spent all of their assets offer lessons for modern donors who might also consider a limited lifespan for their foundations, according to this report by the Aspen Institute’s Program on Philanthropy and Social Innovation. Time is of the Essence: Foundations and…

As Atlantic winds up its work, we’re also laying the foundation for post-life communications. The big question: How will we have influence after the last check is written? By David Morse and Elizabeth Cahill At The Atlantic Philanthropies, our communications goals are simple and straightforward.…

The decision by The Atlantic Philanthropies to spend down its endowment offers strategic, operational and organisational lessons for any foundation or comparable institution that is considering transformative change, according to this case study by McKinsey & Company. The organisational challenges stemming from the decision by…

By Christopher G. Oechsli & David La Piana We usually think of large private foundations (those with assets of more than $1 billion) as permanent endowments. Names like Ford, Carnegie, Rockefeller, and Packard summon the image of a donor whose vision—and wealth—lasts well beyond his…