Inside a Whole Endowment Engagement.

How the engagement runs

From mission to implementation across the endowment.

1. 01

   Mission Discovery

   We start with your foundation’s goals. We learn your history, grantmaking priorities, board values, and the communities and issues you serve before recommending a single change to the endowment. A foundation’s approach to endowment management varies from institution to institution. We ask focused questions and listen for the language your trustees use to help inform our understanding that helps guide every investment and governance decision that follows.

   The Portfolio Mirror Process The next step turns to the endowment, where we show the board how what you own aligns with your mission. This tends to be an eye-opening exercise, but not in a negative light. Rather, this exercise encourages open debate and begins to illuminate possibilities.

2. 02

   Shared Understanding

   Mission-aligned investing (and the level the foundation is comfortable with) is a governance decision, and (in most cases) every trustee needs to understand and weigh in on it. This is not just a decision for the investment committee. To help with this exercise, we facilitate education for the board, investment committee, staff, and next-generation family, plus peer conversations with foundations that have already engaged in a mission-alignment exercise. Shared language and board-level conviction come before strategy. It’s how lasting change gets made.

   Built for the realities of foundation finance The 5% distribution minimum, the 1.39% excise tax on net investment income, multi-year grant commitments, and perpetual vs. spend-down horizons all shape the strategy we design.

3. 03

   Investment Strategy Design

   This is where mission gets translated into an investable strategy. The bridge to cross between your mission statement and your Investment Policy Statement (IPS) is where foundations often get stuck. The education, common language and iterative feedback loop help drive toward a solution the board can own and be proud of.

4. 04

   Portfolio & Governance Infrastructure

   A great strategy needs governance that can sustain it. This governance is the cornerstone of your Investment Policy Statement and is co-created with your board and investment committee. Decisions are worked through together as policy language is written. This includes roles and responsibilities, manager-selection criteria, and a framework that codifies desired financial performance and impact.

5. 05

   Rigorous Diligence — Financial and Impact

   Every investment clears two bars. For public markets, we evaluate performance, risk, fit, cost, quality, and the depth of values/impact integration. For private and alternative investments, we take a similar approach, reviewing strategy, track record, team, sourcing, and exit. If we recommend it for your portfolio, you’ll clearly know why, where it fits and what it is intended to do.

6. 06

   Ongoing Partnership

   We stay involved through quarterly performance reports and impact reviews, board meetings, and ongoing trustee education. Throughout the relationship we’ll continue to source investments matched specifically to your foundation’s mission.

Built for the realities of foundation finance: the 5% distribution minimum, the 1.39% excise tax on net investment income, multi-year grant commitments, and perpetual vs. spend-down horizons all shape the strategy we design.