From values to strategy and portfolio choices for your foundation

Strategic process with board, team, family or company

This is work we can only do in close partnership with you. You cannot develop a social change strategy for a foundation without truly understanding its origins, values, network and day-to-day practice.

For family-linked foundations, this often means examining the relationship between family values, different generations, governance and social ambition. For business-linked foundations, we explore the relationship between the business’s history, social responsibility, reputation, independence and credibility.

We guide a process in which the board, management and team make choices together. Where relevant, we also involve family members, representatives of the business, shareholders, social-purpose organisations, subject experts, people with lived experience and other funders.

The central question is always: how can this foundation’s identity be translated into a social change strategy that is meaningful today?

From mission to social change

Many funds have a strong mission. But a mission does not automatically indicate where your resources will make the most difference.

That is why we translate the mission into a concrete change ambition.

We investigate together:

• which social problem you want to help shift;
• what causes and patterns lie underneath;
• which actors influence change;
• which developments in the field are relevant;
• where movement is possible;
• and where the fund can make a meaningful contribution.

We also take the origins of the fund seriously. A fund that arises from a family business often has a different history than a fund that arose from private capital, entrepreneurship, legacy or corporate social responsibility. That origin does not have to limit the strategy, but it does give meaning to the question: why us, why this theme, why this role?

This creates a change strategy that goes beyond “we support good projects”. She makes it clear what change you as a fund want to make possible.

From values ​​to portfolio choices

A strong fund portfolio is more than the sum of good files.

We help you think about the connections between your choices. For example between:

• structural support and project support;
• established organizations and new initiatives;
• direct aid and system change;
• local practice and national scale-up;
• proven approaches and experiment;
• short-term needs and long-term change;
• financing, knowledge development, networking and agenda setting.

We add an extra layer for family and company-related funds: how does the portfolio reflect the values, history and social position of the fund?

This does not mean that every award must refer directly to the family or company. On the contrary. Sometimes it is important to organize sufficient distance and independence. But the underlying logic must be clear: why does this portfolio fit with who we are and what we want to contribute?

This way your portfolio becomes a conscious combination of choices that reinforce each other.

Focusing on the role of the fund

An endowment fund is not just a lender. A fund can also connect, learn, accelerate, make visible, provide space, take risks or enable new collaboration.

But not every fund has to want to do everything.

We help you determine which role suits your history, assets, reputation, governance, network and ambition.

Sometimes the biggest contribution is that you provide long-term basic support. Sometimes you make innovative initiatives possible. Sometimes you connect organizations around a theme. Sometimes that helps you learn a field. Sometimes you get a social issue higher on the agenda.

With family-related funds, the question often arises as to how actively family members want to be involved. Are they primarily guardians of values? Do they want to think about themes? Do they have a role in decision-making? Or is professional distance important?

With company-linked funds, the question often arises as to how you safeguard social credibility. How does the fund compare to the company? Where does the connection strengthen the story? Where is independence needed? And how do you prevent social efforts from being seen as communication, while the fund actually wants to support real change?

The question is not: what can a fund do? 
The question is: what is the most meaningful and credible role for this fund here?

Decision criteria and portfolio design

A change strategy only becomes valuable when it helps you make better choices.

That is why we translate the strategy into practical portfolio choices and decision criteria.

We sharpen:

• which applications are suitable;
• which are less appropriate, even though they are valuable in themselves;
• what distribution you want in themes, target groups, regions or interventions;
• which term and form of financing are logical;
• which risks you consciously want to take;
• how the values ​​of family or business are taken into account without becoming arbitrary;
• and how the board and team can assess applications more strategically.

This creates more peace, consistency and substantiation in decision-making.

This is important for the team that assesses applications. But also for the board, family, company or supervisory board. Everyone understands better why the fund makes certain choices — and why other valuable applications are not suitable.

Our approach

We start by listening. To the fund, its history, the mission, the current portfolio, the questions of the board and team, and the social context in which the fund operates.

With family and company-related funds, we also listen to the story behind the assets. What values ​​are there? Which sensitivities play a role? What expectations do the family, company, board or next generation have? And what degree of proximity or distance is necessary to work credibly in society?

We then usually build up the process in five steps.

1. Explore 
We map out mission, history, current portfolio, values, assumptions and questions. What are you supporting today? Why? Where is energy? Where is doubt?

2. Understand 
We deepen the social issue. We look at causes, actors, trends, opportunities, blockages and possible leverage points for change.

3. Choose 
Together we formulate a change ambition and determine what the fund will and will not focus on. We connect social analysis with the values ​​and identity of the fund.

4. Translate 
We translate the strategy into portfolio choices, forms of financing, criteria, roles, governance and internal decision-making.

5. Learning 
We are building a learning agenda: which signals do we follow, which questions do we want to continue asking and how do the board, team and possibly family or company learn from practice?

We work strategically, but concretely. Not an abstract model that is separate from practice. However, it does provide a clear framework with which the fund can have better conversations, make better choices and be able to justify its social contribution more clearly.