Philanthropy Focus: Page Snow on Private Foundation Fundraising

December 22, 2011 at 07:19 AM

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Private foundations that actively raise funds are usually thought to need extra money.

Now, this notion is being turned on its head, according to Page Eberstadt Snow, chief philanthropic officer of Foundation Source, the private foundation outsourcing firm, and president of Foundation Source Advisors.

"Many foundations that are fundraising are those that don't necessarily need the extra funds," Snow (left) said during a recent telephone interview with AdvisorOne, "but realize they can get a lot more leverage if they use the foundation as a platform to raise funds."

Foundation Source manages private foundations for high-net-worth individuals, often working with their advisors. A substantial number of the firm's clients are first-generation wealth holders, entrepreneurs who outsource the administrative and compliance aspects of their foundations.

"A lot of our clients are the smaller family foundations or donor-run foundations," Snow said. "A trend I'm seeing is that a number of these high-net-worth individuals are beginning to use their foundations as a platform to fundraise from other high-net-worth individuals."

This is especially evident among those who are immersed in some issue around their philanthropy, she said. "They see that friends who might be interested in funding their cause, particularly if they've been highly successful business people, will get behind their charitable ideas," Snow said.

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