logo
    • Magazine
    • Membership
    • Donate
  • Racial Justice
  • Economic Justice
    • Collections
  • Climate Justice
  • Health Justice
  • Leadership
  • CONTENT TYPES
  • Subscribe
  • Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
    • Complimentary Webinars
    • Premium On-Demand Webinars
  • Membership
  • Submissions

Atlantic Philanthropies’ Spend-down May Be a Bit Misnamed

Michelle Lemming
November 16, 2016
Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print
Yield spiral: Philanthropies
150112-yield-sign-spin-snow.jpg / r. nial bradshaw

November 4, 2016; Fast Company, “Co.Exist”

As Atlantic Philanthropies grows closer to its day of reckoning, it’s not quite ready to pass without anointing a successor or two. As we reported earlier this year, the massive fund was due to give its last grant this year while maintaining some monitoring operations until 2020. We wrote then:

Feeney is not a hands-off type of philanthropist. He’s reputed to have played a role in the Irish peace process and the IRA ceasefire, and more recently in the marriage equality struggle there. Elsewhere, he has given to causes as diverse as pursuing human rights, fighting child poverty, and studying dementia and neuroscience in general. But neither does he fit the mold of the new philanthropic peacock; instead, he lives modestly and stays under the press’s radar. In fact, until 16 years ago, grantees of Atlantic Philanthropies were obliged to list any grant as being anonymous. The corpus of the foundation was kept offshore to avoid reporting requirements—so it may not be a model of transparency. But Bill Gates and Warren Buffett of the giving pledge credit him as their “hero” and a major champion of giving while living.

According to its website, Atlantic Philanthropies has always made “big bets to make lasting results for a better world.” They search for “trigger points” for social change. The philosophy is that if you can find just the right project and implementation strategy, you can fund it to the point of creating a tipping point. Atlantic Philanthropies holds that “Big” dollars, when expended correctly and strategically today, often referred to as “giving while living,” can have a far greater impact than dispersing smaller grants to many causes over time.

Atlantic’s final exit plan has been designed to address lessons through a sunset protocol that sets aside a separate fund titled “Global Opportunity and Leverage”—or GOAL—work. Last year, Atlantic President and CEO Chris Oechsli shared that the group wants to give grants that will “continue the work of Atlantic after they are gone.”

Sign up for our free newsletters

Subscribe to NPQ's newsletters to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

This past year, Atlantic Philanthropies invested $15 million to establish the Social Change Initiative, an international nonprofit organization with a mission to improve the effectiveness of activism for progressive social change, particularly in divided societies, and to influence the way this work is funded and continues to be supported. They also granted $50 million to “help bankroll the Civic Participation Action Fund in Washington, D.C., whose stated mission is to promote racial equality, economic opportunity, and democratic participation among low-income people of color through advocacy and civil engagement.”

The similarities of traditional and limited-life foundations were observed in Nonprofit Quarterly’s “Perpetuity or Spend Down: Does the Notion of Lifespan Matter in Organized Philanthropy?” by Francie Ostrower. When 850 foundations were surveyed, it was difficult to distinguish limited-life foundations from traditional foundations. Smart investments that produce the greatest positive impact resulting in lasting change can be found in the best foundations, regardless of their designated time horizon.

The work of social change is complex and interconnected, and the results are prone to revert to form even as advances are made. So, as they near their lifespan’s end, Atlantic’s focus is on continuing their work after their doors close. Atlantic Philanthropies is working hard in its final years to sustain underfunded projects and continue its work by distributing assets to other charities. Regardless of foundation type, the depth and intensity of the foundation’s research, as well as effectiveness of strategy and project investment, are more likely the true drivers behind long-term systemic change.—Michelle Lemming

Note: Atlantic Philanthropies funds Fast Company’s coverage of philanthropy.

Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Michelle Lemming

For the past fifteen years Michelle has served in Executive Director/CEO positons in the healthcare field. She is currently the founding CEO of the Texoma Health Foundation in North Texas and Southern Oklahoma, responsible for overseeing over $55M in public assets. Over her career, her core areas of focus have included access to uninsured services, healthcare disparity, integration of care, the built-environment, health information technology, lobbying, disaster recovery, foundation conversions, grantmaking, place-based philanthropy, family endowments and donor-advised funds. Over the last three years she has had the ability to gain experience in grantmaking tied to the arts and education. She has also had the privilege to serve as a national consultant, as well as a federal and state grant reviewer.

More about: Board GovernanceManagement and LeadershipNonprofit News

Become a member

Support independent journalism and knowledge creation for civil society. Become a member of Nonprofit Quarterly.

Members receive unlimited access to our archived and upcoming digital content. NPQ is the leading journal in the nonprofit sector written by social change experts. Gain access to our exclusive library of online courses led by thought leaders and educators providing contextualized information to help nonprofit practitioners make sense of changing conditions and improve infra-structure in their organizations.

Join Today
logo logo logo logo logo
See comments

NPQ_Winter_2022Subscribe Today
You might also like
Hierarchy and Justice
Cyndi Suarez
Salvadoran Foreign Agent Law Threatens Human Rights Movements
Devon Kearney
Charitable Tax Reform: Why Half Measures Won’t Curb Plutocracy
Alan Davis
Healing-Centered Leadership: A Path to Transformation
Shawn A. Ginwright
Into the Fire: Lessons from Movement Conflicts
Ingrid Benedict, Weyam Ghadbian and Jovida Ross
How Nonprofits Can Truly Advance Change
Hildy Gottlieb

Popular Webinars

Remaking the Economy

Black Food Sovereignty, Community Stories

Register Now

Combating Disinformation and Misinformation in 21st-Century Social Movements

Register Now

Remaking the Economy

Closing the Racial Wealth Gap

Register Now
You might also like
Hierarchy and Justice
Cyndi Suarez
Salvadoran Foreign Agent Law Threatens Human Rights...
Devon Kearney
Charitable Tax Reform: Why Half Measures Won’t Curb...
Alan Davis

Like what you see?

Subscribe to the NPQ newsletter to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

See our newsletters

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

Independent & in your mailbox.

Subscribe today and get a full year of NPQ for just $59.

subscribe
  • About
  • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Copyright
  • Careers

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

 

Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.