At the same time, Healy feels that the foundation should take risks, and even have some failures. He cites Atlantic's $7 million investment in immigration reform in the US. "Political winds can shift. It failed in the last Congress. We didn't get reform, but I'm fairly sure that without that investment, things would be worse. For example, immigration was not the political touchstone it was expected to be in the last election; extreme positions did not fare well. We think we had something to do with that. We're investing heavily in Northern Ireland to create a web-based system that will enable older people and their advisors to figure out what health and other benefits they should be getting. It's very risky - a lot of money has gone down the drain in large internet projects."

Since Atlantic has almost another decade of grantmaking before it leaves the scene (it plans to cease grantmaking in 2016), the foundation has not yet formulated specific exit strategies from its current programs. It did, however, exit many of its long-term programs when it changed focus, and that experience should be helpful when the time comes. Healy says, "I tell the staff, as you contemplate entering relationships with grantees, contemplate exiting as well. The key is to be candid, to have a lot of communication, and be generous in the provision you make. We put a lot of money into grantees to whom we were waving goodbye, so they were not damaged." The lesson from that prior experience, Healy says, is that the foundation must continually remind people "that we are not going to be around forever, and ask them to secure other sources of money. We take a much broader view of grantees than we did in the past: we discuss not just their interest in undertaking programs, but their capacity to successfully undertake them. That leads us to put money in core costs, like back office operations and succession planning, things that wouldn't attract money otherwise."

Another Atlantic goal is to document and analyze its process of spend down and communicate what it learns. The McKinsey study was one such project; others are underway, both through Atlantic's evaluation team and outside entities. Healy feels that the scrutiny can help, even when it reveals uncomfortable things. "We've all got to publicize failures," he says. "I hope we don't have too many, but uncomfortable lessons can help others." If the foundation has a legacy other than being remembered through the work of its grantees, he says, it is "an appreciation of the merits of limited life philanthropy."

[ << THE LEARNING CURVE | 1 | 2 | GIVING WHILE LIVING >>]

  Resources

• Executive Summary
• Full Report
• Order Print Copies

  Report Contents

• Introduction
• Focus: The Whitaker Foundation and the Helen F. Whitaker Fund
• The Learning Curve: The Beldon Fund
• Retooling for Spend Down: The Atlantic Philanthropies
• Giving While Living: The Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund and the Lewis B. and Dorothy Cullman Foundation
• Quick Spend Down: The Haigh-Scatena Foundation
• Raising the Payout: Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund
• Giving 5.5%: The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation
• More than Investment Returns: The Needmor Fund
• Ramping Up: The HKH Foundation
• Using All the Models: Endswell Foundation / Renewal Partners
• A Different Strategy: Omidyar Network
• Conclusion
• Selected Bibliography
• Resources
• List of Profiled Foundations
• Acknowledgements

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