Foundations

Mather Leigh provides counsel to founders of new foundations and to trustees of existing foundations.

New Foundations: Working with the founder and his/her vision, Mather Leigh helps establish the foundation's overall strategic mission and determine funding priorities that achieve social impact while reflecting the founder's vision. We design and implement administrative structure and granting processes, including the set-up of charitable foundations according to government guidelines.

Established Foundations: With our knowledge of effective program creation and implementation, combined with investigative and evaluation skills to provide impartial reporting on grant program results, Mather Leigh enables foundations to evaluate their philanthropic impact. We can provide an objective assessment as to whether a project met its goals and served the intended community. If you need answers about funding decisions regarding the efficient use of funds to meet defined and measurable goals, Mather Leigh can help you create maximum impact.

The range of services we offer to philanthropic organizations includes:

• Vision, mission and long-term strategic planning
• Peer foundation situational analysis & niche identification
• Sector research studies including identification of innovative solutions
• Community and issue-specific research studies to define needs and grant making strategies
• Design and implementation of grant making programs
• Organizational administrative design & implementation
• Facilitating Foundation start-up, transitions and changes
• Grantee evaluation and grants administration
• Assessment of grant making effectiveness and foundation operations
• Board and staff development
• Executive coaching and search
• We specialize in strategic planning for Foundations of all sizes and types