News

Newsletters & articles penned by the GPA Team
September 2024 Newsletter Honoring Your Why | September 2024

Earlier this month, members of the GPA team had the privilege of attending the National Center For Family Philanthropy Forum in Atlanta. The event, centered around the theme Make Bold Choices to Achieve Bold Change, was an inspiring reminder of our role as stewards in philanthropy and the power of thoughtful, community-driven impact. We left with new tools and strategies to enhance our work, along with the encouragement to continually ask, "What if?" as we pursue bold goals to help solve big issues.

August 2024 Newsletter Honoring Your Why | August 2024

My family has been in the midst of back to school activities over the last few weeks. I feel a mix of excitement, a little sadness and nostalgia as my kids head into a new year of school. It has also sparked a renewed commitment of learning for me this fall. Next month, we are looking forward to sponsoring and attending the National Center for Family Philanthropy Forum. This year’s theme is focused on making bold choices and implementing them to drive lasting change, a topic we’re particularly excited to learn more about. We look to NCFP as a top notch resource for our continuing education and a leader in the world of family giving. If you’re planning to attend the forum, we’d love to connect—please let us know so we can make sure not to miss you!

July 2024 Newsletter Honoring Your Why | July 2024

With the slower pace of summer, our team is taking time to reflect on our work thus far in 2024, to pursue continuing education and to reconnect with nonprofit partners through site visits and conversations. Our meetings have focused on the environment, education, health and wellness, women's rights and the psychology behind effective philanthropy.

July 2024 Press Release Porter Durham joins Grant Philanthropic Advisors

Porter Durham joins Grant Philanthropic Advisors bringing decades of philanthropic leadership. In his role as Of Counsel with GPA, Porter will make strategic connections to potential clients and thought leaders in the philanthropic field. He will also leverage his experience and that of the GPA team to best serve the needs of our diverse client portfolio.

June 2024 Newsletter Honoring Your Why | June 2024

With summer underway, it is the perfect time to celebrate impact and dive into some good reads. We hope you find the articles below helpful and inspiring as you embark on your summer adventures.

June 2024 Client Feature The Guffey Family Foundation

We celebrate the Guffey Family Foundation's generosity to the College of Charleston supporting scholarships for Charleston Fellows. This program is the Honors College's top scholars program and supports students who aim to make a significant impact on their communities and in their chosen fields.

May 2024 Newsletter Honoring Your Why | May 2024

We have been referring to this month as "Maycember" as it is chock-full. From end-of-school celebrations to nonprofit events to summer vacation planning and preparation, schedules are overflowing! As you and your family prepare for summer, we wish you time to relax and reflect on your intentions for 2024. The midpoint of the year is an excellent time to celebrate accomplishments and look forward to what's next. We hope you find the resources below helpful as you prepare for the remainder of the year!

April 2024 Newsletter The Power of Place Based Giving

Why do philanthropists choose to shape their giving with a specific geographic focus? What are the advantages of an effective place based funding strategy?

March 2024 Press Release Johanna Anderson Joins Grant Philanthropic Advisors

Johanna Anderson joins Grant Philanthropic Advisors bringing two decades of philanthropic leadership. Johanna will work directly with clients to support their strategic philanthropic investments.

March 2024 Blog Appearance To Spend Down or Remain in Perpetuity: Considerations of Family Foundation Time Horizons

We often hear philanthropists wrestle with strategy around their philanthropic purpose, their pace of giving and their budget.

February 2024 Newsletter Agreement vs. Alignment

When was the last time you made a group decision and all were in complete agreement?

December 2023 Newsletter Eliminate the Unnecessary

One of my favorite artists, Hans Hoffman, once said, “The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak.”

November 2023 Client Feature Meeting Street Scholarship Fund

GPA partnered with the Aaron family in their philanthropic goal of a "life-changing scholarship" for Allendale County.

October 2023 Client Feature Center of Literacy Excellence

GPA partnered with the Fuller family to bring their ideas to fruition. The Citadel’s Zucker Family School of Education will launch a new Center of Literacy Excellence focused on supportive measures to ensure all children receive high quality literacy instruction.

September 2023 Client Feature Jane's Fund

GPA partnered with the Harrell family to help bring Jane’s Fund to life. Jane and Mike Harrell, along with their children Piper, Max and Sam, launched Jane’s Fund to honor their daughter and sister, Jane, who passed away in 2019 at age 17, just five months after being diagnosed with DIPG (Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma) a rare, inoperable pediatric brain tumor with a zero-survival rate. Jane left her friends and family with a charge to change the world, saying, “that job belongs to each of you.”

September 2023 Newsletter To Spend Down or Not?

We often hear philanthropists wrestle with strategy around their philanthropic purpose, their pace of giving and their budget.

September 2023 Feature 21/64 Learning Community Spotlight

This month we shine the spotlight on our friend, colleague, and Learning Community member Kaky McGinness Grant. A 20-year veteran in the field of philanthropy, Kaky’s ethic of giving back was instilled in her at an early age by way of her parents and grandparents living on Lookout Mountain, TN.

Press Release July 2023 Grant Philanthropic Advisors Introduces the Social Good Map

Grant Philanthropic Advisors launched this month a user-friendly digital tool called the Social Good Map. The online dashboard allows philanthropists to see the impact of their charitable giving through dynamic charts and illustrations.

May 2023 Newsletter Women Reimagine Philanthropy

Did you know that less than 2% of US philanthropy today flows to women and girls' causes? It is reported that 93% of affluent women give to charity, 56% volunteer, and 23% serve on the board of a nonprofit according to US Trust.

March 2023 Newsletter Grace + Philanthropy

In January of this year, I had the opportunity to visit the Equal Justice Initiative’s Legacy Museum and National Memorial to Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama with a group of friends from Charleston.

Position Announcement Sartain Lanier Family Foundation: Program Director Announcement

The Program Director position is a new addition to the Foundation team and will serve in a critical role supporting the Foundation’s operations and grantmaking. The ideal candidate is deeply committed to children and youth in Atlanta, and to addressing systemic issues and solutions in our education ecosystem.

December 2022 Newsletter Purpose Leads to Legacy Building

My husband and I recently took a road trip and listened to the book Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman.

October 2022 Article Commentary: Philanthropy is a linchpin for social innovation and addressing big problems

Over the past 20 years, there has been a growing critique of philanthropy, which is leading to distrust in the nonprofit sector.

September 2022 Newsletter Making the Case for Philanthropy

Over the last 20 years, there has been a growing critique of philanthropy which is leading to distrust in the nonprofit sector. Critics allege that philanthropists have an outsized influence on civil society by making large gifts; some high profile donors use their generosity to “wash” their reputation; and major donations are made to benefit the philanthropist and their families.

July 2022 Announcement Meet our Growing Team

As our client work has grown since our founding in 2019, I have listened to what clients need and want to be effective philanthropists. I am proud to announce the talented team of experts that we have been building to best serve current and future clients.

May 2022 Newsletter How do you empower the next generation?

Often I take time to reflect upon the themes and patterns in my work. It helps me better understand commonalities among clients, trends in the philanthropic field and helps to point me towards more research and writing projects.

February 2022 Newsletter Are Humans Generous By Nature?

I started a new class in my master's program in philanthropic studies in January. One of the first assignments was to answer the question: "Are humans inclined to behave generously by nature?" To be honest, I wasn't sure how to answer.

December 2021 Newsletter How We Gather

This is my favorite time of year. People are in the spirit of celebration, generosity and giving thanks.

March 2021 Article What are Philanthropists Looking for in 2021?

As we set our sights and pin our hopes on 2021, philanthropists are looking to the social sector to express their closely held values and solutions to the world’s most urgent problems.

October 2020 Newsletter Family Narratives + Traditions

Many of us are beginning to think about the holidays and how we will celebrate this year. Whether we’re with family or celebrating distantly, what will we choose to focus on as we close out 2020? What traditions hold up and what new ones will be created? What stories will be shared from this year and decades past? Family values are translated implicitly and explicitly through shared traditions, rituals, and stories.

August 2020 Newsletter Adaptability & Compassion

As we turn the corner into fall, I want to share some reflections on trends I am seeing in philanthropy right now. Over the summer months, I’ve had the opportunity to visit with philanthropists, nonprofit leaders, civic leaders, social impact investors, financial planners, and academics in the field. Two words stand out to me: adaptability and compassion.

June 2020 Newsletter Catalytic Action

2020 has been a year none of us anticipated. As we chart our path forward, I am hearing inspiring stories of how families, friends and colleagues are engaging in compelling conversations centered on what our world should and could look like. It is no coincidence that the nonprofit community is at the center of many of these conversations. I believe that philanthropy is a critical building block in our figurative and literal healing.

Resources

Blog

Connect with Purpose
September 26, 2024 Philanthropic Learning Journeys | How to Design for Impact?

What is a Learning Journey? A learning journey is a series of intentionally planned experiences with thought leaders in the field of philanthropy. It is more than just going on site visits. You may want to go deeper in understanding your role as an effective funder in a specific area. How can you work smarter […]

August 22, 2024 The Power of Family Legacy + Philanthropy

In a world that often prioritizes individual success, the concept of family legacy and philanthropy stands as a beacon of inspiration. By embracing philanthropy as a core element of their legacy, families can create a ripple effect of positive change that spans generations. Spending time to define what your legacy is and means to you […]

July 24, 2024 Making Time to Connect | The Value of Nonprofit Site Visits

Regular connection with the nonprofit community is critical to being an effective philanthropist. One of the most immersive ways to be effective is to conduct site visits at nonprofit organizations. These visits provide a firsthand look at how nonprofits operate, the communities they serve, and the tangible outcomes of their programs.  Site visits can broaden […]

June 27, 2024 Navigating Philanthropy: Let Data be Your Compass

Aristotle once said, “To give money away is an easy matter and in any man’s power. But to decide to whom to give it, and how much, and when, and for what purpose and how, is neither in every man’s power nor an easy matter.” This question has been posed since the dawn of time. […]

June 18, 2024 10 Ways to Volunteer as a Family

It sounds good in theory: “We’re going to volunteer as a family this summer with all of our free time!” Then reality sets in: When are you supposed to fit this into the schedule? Or we hear a lot, “I want my children to use their summer to get better connected to our community. But […]

May 13, 2024 Choosing the Right Charitable Giving Vehicle

Philanthropists and their advisors often wrestle with their options for charitable giving vehicles. You’ve mostly heard of a donor advised fund (DAF) and a private foundation, which are the two most common. Families can choose alternatives in the form of LLCs or Trusts. More sophisticated philanthropists may utilize a variety of giving vehicles to accomplish […]

April 10, 2024 Timing is everything | When to engage a philanthropic advisor?

When is the right time to engage a philanthropic advisor to achieve effective and lasting results? You and your family may be exploring estate and tax planning strategies with your advisors. Philanthropy and social impact are likely a part of the conversation. You are asking big questions about legacy planning and how to take care […]

March 21, 2024 Five reasons why you want to engage an independent philanthropic advisor

Why do you want to invest your time working with an independent philanthropic advisor? As the great wealth transfer is taking place, working with an independent philanthropic advisor can help accelerate an effective philanthropic process as assets are changing hands.  Advisors work collaboratively with you and your advising team to reach your collective financial goals. […]

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