Karen H. Putnam

It can be a thorny issue, whether to compensate the directors of a family foundation1 who are family members and, if so, how much to pay them. Certainly, it's legal to compensate such directors to the extent that...

If there's a constant in the individualistic world of personal philanthropy, it's the search to define what makes a not-for-profit But is that really the core question we should be asking? What if philanthropists took...

Last year, Warren Buffett threw down the gauntlet: Here's what philanthropy looks like on the grandest scale. Together, he and Bill Gates have set out to change the world using a private foundation through which $60...

After a year of scandals, the not-for-profit community might find inspiration in Shakespeare's aphorism: Sweet are the uses of adversity. Charities and private foundations recently vowed to turn public scandals and...

There is nothing like an economic downturn to concentrate the mind wonderfully. That turn of phrase was coined by the 18th century English pundit Samuel Johnson. Although speaking about a man who knew he was to be...