The debts I owe to the following friends and institutions are huge and many. Without the patient, generous, and never-failing kindnesses of each and every one of them, this book would not have been possible. Despite the inadequacy of the following words of thanks, however heartfelt they are, in conveying the profound gratitude that I feel on the completion of this book, I do salute all of you:
Tom Tierney for his wise counsel and enthusiastic colleagueship of over two decades, as well as the inspiration and great satisfaction of his coauthorship with me of Give Smart
Harvey Dale for his cherished friendship over 60 years and his wise and dependable mentorship in philanthropy, as well as computer tutoring over 30 of those years
The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, and the Ford Foundation for their support of the founding of the Center for Strategic Philanthropy and Civil Society, within the Sanford School of Public Policy, at Duke University, almost 15 years ago
The Kresge Foundation, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, and the Knight Foundation for additional program support of the Center for Strategic Philanthropy and Civil Society
John and Mary Rayis for their generous support of the Center for Strategic Philanthropy and Civil Society, which helped make the time available for me to write this book
Alan and Jette Parker, as well as the other trustees of the Oak Foundation, whose support helps make possible all of the activities of the Center for Strategic Philanthropy and Civil Society
John and Ginger Sall for their unstinting support of Duke University, including the Center for Strategic Philanthropy and Civil Society
Adam Abram, long-time friend and trusted advisor, for his support of the Center for Strategic Philanthropy and Civil Society, as well as his former leadership role as Chairman of the Board of Visitors of the Sanford School of Public Policy
My assistants Pam Ladd and Cassie Lewis, without whose constant, always can-do generosity of time, energy, ideas, and, yes, infinite patience with me, nothing I undertake would be possible
Lisa Buckley, Program Coordinator for the Center for Strategic Philanthropy and Civil Society, who helped greatly to bring the copyedited version of this book to the level of perfection required by the copyeditors
President Richard Brodhead for his generous support of my efforts at Duke from the very beginning of his presidency through, alas, this, his final year of leading Duke in 2017
Kelly Brownell, Dean of the Sanford School of Public Policy, for his friendship and strong support of my initiatives from the beginning of his appointment as Dean
Professor Bruce Kuniholm, the inaugural Dean of the Sanford School of Public Policy, for his colleagueship over 45 years and his visionary intellectual as well as diplomatic leadership of the school throughout, with special thanks for his always strong support of all of my undertakings
Tony Proscio, my colleague, coteacher, coresearcher on foundation spend-down, and editor par excellence, Associate Director of the Center for Strategic Philanthropy and Civil Society, whose editorial assistance on this book has been indispensable because of his deep knowledge of philanthropy and his incomparable writing and editing talents
Arthur Fried, Trustee and former Chair of the AVI CHAI Foundation, who first drew my attention to the need for scholarly research on the subject of foundations spending down and whose talents for presiding over a foundation have made him a veritable model of visionary foundation leadership
Gara LaMarche, formerly President and CEO of The Atlantic Philanthropies, whose willingness to allow Tony Proscio and me to document the spend-down of Atlantic Philanthropies contributed substantially to the knowledge presented in this book
Peter Osnos, whose vision and willingness to make a bet on me led him to accept my first book on philanthropy for publication almost sight unseen and whose support for my work has continued throughout the discussions of this book’s publication
Susan Weinberg, who succeeded Peter Osnos and now heads PublicAffairs’ parent Perseus Group, as well as Clive Priddle, now publisher of PublicAffairs, with whom it has been a special joy to work from first discussion to the final publication of all three of the books published by PublicAffairs on which my name appears as author or coauthor
Mindy Werner, a gifted editor whose clear mind and deep reservoir of patience helped tremendously in tightening and focusing this book