Minutes of the September 20, 2017

Pre-Foundation-Director-Search Task Force

Of The

Patrick and Aimee Butler Family Foundation

The Pre-Foundation-Director-Search Task Force met via conference call September 20, 2017 at 6:15 ET with members Brigid Butler, Bridget McElroy and Kate Butler present. Suzanne LeFevour joined the call at 6:20.

Brigid Butler was elected Chair of the Task Force.

Brigid Butler sent reading material for discussion to task force members prior to the meeting. She sent two articles and a draft timeline to help frame the discussion as well as an explanation of how that exercise informed her thoughts about the process for hiring a foundation director.

The task force began the meeting by reviewing its Charter as a checklist of what has been completed so far.

Discussion moved onto the benefits of hiring someone with transition expertise to help BFF identify challenges and opportunities as they typically occur in family foundations going through transition at this foundation lifecycle stage. These challenges/opportunities include engaging the 4th generation (do/how do they want to be involved? what kind of skills and availability do they have? do they have strategic direction ideas?), effects of the geographic dispersion of trustees, recent growth in foundation assets, and review of the foundation’s giving focus and strategies. Kate Butler noted, as an example of intentional process using expertise and support from outside the organization, that her workplace had a valuable and highly successful experience working with a short term Director.

The task force liked the following questions, from an NCFP article, that family foundation boards work through at times of transition:

How will we work together moving forward?

How can we integrate the next generation?

What should we focus on, given our generational and geographic diversity?

How can we honor the family legacy?

The task force members agreed that it would be beneficial to hire a person with expertise in foundation transitions to guide the Board through hiring a Foundation Director, provide a framework and ongoing support in the process in order to get a good outcome.

This person would:

  • Bring knowledge and experience to the foundation.
  • Provide information and an objective viewpoint.
  • Help frame the process, including a timeline, and provide ongoing structure and support in the process (informed by their experiences with other foundations).
  • Help to clarify organizational needs, pull the generations together and help with technology.
  • Advise the Board if anything needs to be addressed before hiring a new FD.
  • Potentially facilitate the hiring process for a new Foundation Director.

Profile:

  • Experience with established foundations like BFF, multigenerational transition, geographic dispersion of family members
  • Governance expertise
  • Local or national-- local knows the community and less travel; national means more choices and possibly broader experiences
  • Objective, facilitator
  • Late career

The Task Force will:

  • Clarify the qualities and the scope of work for this person as part of the hiring process going forward.
  • Identify prospects through networking and collect resumes.
  • Present resumes to the board or a small subset of interested board members on a conference call.
  • Interview, select and hire.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:20 ET.

Approved 31 January 2018