Answers to Common Questions on Generational Succession

Most families and foundation leaders are uncertain about what is involved in continuity planning. You may have some of these common questions; here are some answers and explanations.

Why worry about continuity? We’ve got plenty of work to do just managing our grantmaking.

Why worry about the future at all? Because focusing only on present tasks will inevitably mean your efforts will become less and less meaningful. If you only stare at your feet as you walk along, taking one step at a time, you will never know if you are headed over a cliff or walking around in circles.

Spending time talking about long-term continuity has benefits beyond identifying new leaders for the foundation:

• It increases enthusiasm for the philanthropic work. It reminds all of the participants of the big picture – the ultimate reason for the immediate tasks.
• It reduces anxiety. The future is unknown, but planning is reassuring. It reduces the feeling of vulnerability that all the work you are doing may be undone.
• It helps you make better decisions. Continuity planning often makes grantmaking easier and more productive. Having a clearer picture of long-term goals helps you set priorities and make choices among present-day opportunities.

Why make it so complicated? Let’s just decide who the next president will be.

It is complicated, like it or not. Real continuity planning is not about substituting one person for another. No new leader can fit exactly into the same slot as the current one. An anticipated change in leadership is an opportunity to reflect on how your foundation and its environment are changing. At its most useful, continuity planning requires an examination of the whole course of the foundation’s life – starting when it was founded and extending as far as you can see into the future. The result of such an effort is greater confidence that you have chosen the best leadership for the future and that you have strengthened the foundation as a whole.

I care about the foundation, but it is certainly not the most important thing in my life. This sounds like a lot of effort. How will we ever get it done?

With realism and perseverance. It is important to get started, and just as important to be patient and reasonable in your demands on one another. Don’t expect to solve all the dilemmas of continuity in one meeting or in one year. Continuity planning is a process that you will have to manage continuously. The initial decisions are the most time-consuming, so prepare yourself to be satisfied with small steps at each meeting.

We have always let a few leaders take care of the important decisions. Can’t they just handle this for us?

In most cases, that doesn’t work. Some of the hardest tasks of continuity planning are breaking old habits and dependence on the routines of leadership that may have worked will in the past. Future success will depend on the commitment, talent, experience, and empowerment of a new set of leaders. If the planning is left up to the current decision makers alone, no matter how competent they are or how much confidence the rest of the family has in them, the readiness of the new generation to fill their shoes will be undermined.

There are some conflicts in our family. Sometimes our discussions get emotional. What if this planning process begins to hurt feelings?

If you currently have emotional disagreements at your board meetings, you will probably also have arguments during continuity planning. Some families openly express their conflicts, competition, intergenerational tension, and personality clashes, whereas others do not. Even if the conflict is uncomfortable, avoiding it completely can have consequences – buried resentments will re-emerge in the future in a more destructive form. The solution is to manage your disagreements so that they do not get out of hand.

We are ready to plunge in. What do we do now? Is there a recipe for success – a step-by-step “no fail” process for continuity planning?

Not exactly. There really is no checklist of tasks to complete. You have to design your own process: how often you will meet, what the topic will be for each discussion, and who will organize the meeting. Keep in mind that the discussion itself is the most important thing. The very act of talking about what to do is actually planning for the future of your family foundation.

This sounds like a big project. Can the foundation pay for involving the whole family?

If the family can afford it, consider paying the expenses of attendees. This gesture helps prevent branches or family members from feeling slighted if they would like to attend but cannot afford to. This issue of what expenses the foundation can cover is a complicated one. In some cases, family members can be reimbursed but in other cases, it is not permitted. Check with your legal advisor before promising to have the foundation pay the expenses of any attendees who do not currently have an official role.