Quixote Foundation Announces “Spending Up” by 2017
NCG member the Quixote Foundation announced at the beginning of this week that it will “spend up” all of its money between now and 2017.
“Several years ago Quixote Foundation began to see pinnacle opportunities in our interest areas. When we asked ourselves how best to respond, we decided spending everything would produce the strongest long-term legacy. We are accelerating our grants through 2016 and will wrap up the paperwork in 2017. Although this process is usually called spending out or down, we think of our path as spending up. Our effect won’t be diminished by putting more money into action. Spending everything now is an expansive way Quixote Foundation’s purpose.” –from the Quixote Foundation’s website
The foundation invites grantmakers to join the conversation on their spending up strategy. Visit their Facebook page or contribute to the conversation on their Twitter account (QuixoteTilts) using #spendup hashtag.
On their website the Quixote Foundation lists the following foundations that inspired them to “spend everything”:
French American Charitable Trust
Resources on spending up/down/out strategy:
Beyond Five Percent: The New Foundation Payout Menu (French American Charitable Trust, Northern California Grantmakers, Philanthropy New York)
Giving While Living: The Beldon Spend-Out Story (The Beldon Fund)
Perpetuity or Limited Lifespan: How Do Family Foundations Decide (Foundation Center)
Closing Shop: When Small Foundations Get Out of the Foundation Business (Association of Small Foundations)
Limited Life Foundations: Motivations, Experiences and Strategies (The Urban Institute)
Where’s the Horizon: Giving While Living, Defining the Endpoint, or Endowing for Perpetuity (Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors newsletter)
Tags: Albert A. List Foundation, Atlantic Philanthropies, Beyond Five Percent, French American Charitable Trust, grantmaker, limited lifespan, perpetuity, philanthropy, Quixote Foundation, research, spending down, spending out, spending up, The Beldon Fund, The Brainerd Foundation
June 15th, 2010 at 10:16 am
[...] Spending more and foregoing perpetuity to fulfill its mission is exactly what NCG member Quixote Foundation has decided to do. Last April they announced they were “spending up.” [...]
July 9th, 2010 at 9:13 am
[...] When Quixote Foundation announced its decision to spend the entire endowment, we used Twitter as one part of our outreach plan. It only took a couple of Tweets about spending up to get people interested in the topic, and Twitter relationships led to several articles, blog posts, and opportunities that ranged from guest blogging to conducting a webinar. Most importantly, it’s a resource for us to hear what the people we “follow” have to say—what has their attention, why we should care, how we might be able to respond quickly. [...]