Client Overview

A $15M private family foundation with 5 board members, including several geographically diverse next-generation participants, approached Legacy Impact Group to support their overall strategy and operations.

The Challenge

With a majority of the foundation’s board members working “real jobs” and some raising their own families, the annual operations of the foundation were falling by the wayside. Despite the family’s shifting interests and involvements, the same organizations were receiving grants each year and board members didn’t have the bandwidth to research new opportunities. Additionally, the board met only once annually in Q4 in a scramble to approve annual allocations, with funds sent to partner organizations in the final days of the year.

The Solution

Through an annual engagement model, Rhonda Abrams serves as the foundation’s outsourced executive and oversees strategy and operations in support of the family’s philanthropy. Some of her methods of support are:

1. She developed a grant cycle that is split across two distinct periods of the year, and created an invitation-only grant application to encourage transparency for partner organizations. She communicates directly with partner organizations on the family’s behalf, inviting them to apply for a grant and then synthesizing their applications for the board to review;

2. She conducts quarterly board meetings to discuss overall foundation strategy as well as grant allocations and other pertinent matters;

3. She researches and fields new opportunities for the foundation to support through conversations with board members and an understanding of their interests as well as the overall mission of the family foundation; 

4. She created a logo and website for the foundation, further professionalizing their community presence as their endowment grows and so, too, will their community involvement and impact. 

The Results

We determined 5 distinct giving categories, and we now focus only in those areas. In this calendar year, we have already distributed half of the foundation’s annual allocations by June to 9 partner organizations. The work is being executed and the foundation’s capital is being deployed for greater, more swift community impact.

Client Testimonial

“Working with Rhonda has been a transformative experience for our family foundation. Her guidance helped us move from a more reactive, ad hoc approach to a thoughtful and strategic framework for giving. She brought clarity to our mission, helped formalize internal processes, and ensured we had the tools and structure to make more impactful decisions. Thanks to her expertise, we’re now aligned around a clear vision and are seeing the real-world difference that focused, intentional philanthropy can make. I’m incredibly grateful for Rhonda’s partnership and insight—our foundation is stronger and more effective because of it.” - President of Family Foundation