The Chronicle of Philanthropy carried an article on the Beldon Fund – which had the great idea to create a foundation with the purpose of spending $100 Million in 10 years instead of growing an endowment.

This is at a time when other foundations are, almost without exception, choosing to protect their diminished endowment rather than spend it down a bit in the current crisis. Hundreds of thousands of nonprofits are in dire straits (a recent United Way of the Bay Area survey revealed that a third of respondents were unsure they would make it to the end of 2009), and the communities that depend on them are left with both fewer tax-supported services and less private charity.

Yet some foundations are more interested in preserving themselves at a reduced endowment level of say $50M instead of keeping their spending levels up through the crisis and emerging with, say, $45M. Priorities?

What are your thoughts on the Beldon Fund? Post a comment about what you think should be most important to foundations during an economic downturn.

Tags: nonprofit

This entry was posted on Monday, June 22nd, 2009 at 1:54 pm and is filed under Assorted Musings, Foundation effectiveness, Nonprofit Sector, Trends. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.