TPI and the Boston Foundation to Merge

Dear clients, colleagues and friends,

During our own strategic planning process in early 2011, we took a serious look into ways that TPI could accelerate our decades-long effort to help donors achieve lasting social impact. We were intrigued by the idea of joining forces with an organization that had complementary offerings, and more importantly, shared our passion for anticipating and meeting the needs of philanthropy in the years ahead.

We found that partner in the Boston Foundation.

With nearly 100 years of experience, the Boston Foundation is not new to innovative thinking. Yet in the past decade, under the leadership of Paul Grogan, the Boston Foundation has pioneered an exciting new model for how a philanthropic institution – and a community foundation in particular –  can play a more active role in civic leadership. We believe that bringing the entrepreneurial spirit and energy of both organizations together will help us better support  ambitious donors and increase the impact philanthropy can have on the world around us.

TPI will continue to be TPI: our brand, our national and global presence, and our people will stay as you know them –but now we will have 70 plus new colleagues to tap into for specific expertise and instant capacity.  Likewise, the Boston Foundation will draw upon TPI for the in-depth work we do advising families, foundations and corporations, and helping clients to design and implement innovative philanthropic strategies.

With change often comes questions and we hope we’ve addressed them in the following press statement that was released earlier today. With that said, we encourage you to share your thoughts, feedback, questions and concerns about the merger. While there are still details to work out in the days ahead, we are invigorated by the idea of the new, combined entity – and we hope you are too.

- Ellen Remmer

The Boston Foundation, the Philanthropic Initiative announce merger  

Two leaders join forces to better serve donors and deepen philanthropy’s impact; TPI to operate as distinct unit

Boston – In a first of its kind union involving a community foundation, two respected philanthropic leaders, the Boston Foundation and The Philanthropic Initiative, Inc. (TPI), announce they are merging effective January 1, 2012. TPI will become a distinct unit of the Boston Foundation, maintaining its current brand and current offering of philanthropic client services.

“This agreement brings together two strong and complementary organizations with a history of exemplary service to donors, clients and the larger field of philanthropy,” said Paul Grogan, President and CEO of the Boston Foundation. “Together, we will be better positioned to partner with donors on creative strategies with potential for lasting impact. TPI’s expertise designing, executing and evaluating philanthropic programs for donors, families, foundations and corporations on a global level is a tremendous add-on to the Foundation’s service portfolio for our current donors.”

“This merger joins two innovators in philanthropy that share a critical commitment to work that achieves a deep, sustained impact,” said TPI President and CEO Ellen Remmer. “Our current clients will continue to receive the exceptional advice and service they expect from TPI, and we look forward to tapping into the knowledge and resources of the Foundation further our clients’ work and our decades-long effort to advance the field of philanthropy.”

The Boston Foundation, with assets of $850 million, is made up of some 850 separate charitable funds established by donors either for the general benefit of the community or for special purposes. The Foundation works with donors to identify the values and issues most critical to the donor, connects donors to outstanding nonprofit organizations and helps them evaluate the effectiveness of their giving. The Foundation also offers a wide range of resources for professional advisers to help them tailor charitable giving solutions to their clients’ needs. Donors also benefit from access to the Foundation’s work as a major civic leader, provider of information, convener, and sponsor of special initiatives designed to address the community’s and region’s most pressing challenges. 

TPI pioneered the field of strategic philanthropy advising over twenty years ago when it was launched as a nonprofit social business with a mission to help donors increase the impact of their philanthropy.  Today, TPI continues to advise major corporations, individuals and families, and foundations – including many community foundations – around the world. From strategic planning and governance to issues research, program design, execution and evaluation, TPI helps clients, regardless of their experience level, move up the philanthropic curve to achieve greater impact on the issues they care most about.

TPI’s work to advance the field of strategic philanthropy includes the first ever conference on the intergenerational transfer of wealth, the Excellence in Family Philanthropy training curriculum for community foundations, and the Center for Global Philanthropy at TPI which, in part, supports the development of indigenous philanthropy in countries around the globe.

Examples of TPI’s advising work include 22 years with a Fortune 50 retailer designing and implementing programs that make powerful grants, engage employees, and strengthen their role in the community; the creation and management of a high-impact collage access and success program for a prominent Boston-based foundation; and a foundation governance and next generation integration for a Hong Kong-based family foundation who ultimately turned to TPI to design a first-ever forum in Hong Kong to encourage strategic family philanthropy.

Under the terms of the merger, TPI will maintain its current staffing and offices in Boston, and will operate as a distinct unit within the Boston Foundation. TPI President and CEO Ellen Remmer will join the Boston Foundation’s Senior Management Team as Managing Director, TPI. Remmer has been with TPI since 1993 and developed many of TPI’s signature donor learning programs. She speaks internationally on the subjects of strategic giving, family philanthropy, and women as donors.

A national advisory board will be developed as well to inform TPI’s work.

In addition, Peter Nessen, Chair of the Board of Directors for TPI, will join the Boston Foundation Board of Directors. The Boston Foundation Board of Directors voted on December 14, 2011 to bring Nessen on to the Board, effective immediately. Nessen, the founder and president of Nessen Associates, was Secretary of the Executive Office for Administration and Finance for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts from 1991 to 1993. In that capacity, he was the senior cabinet member and the chief financial officer in Governor Weld’s cabinet. Nessen has chaired the Massachusetts Cultural Council and served on the Governor’s Commission evaluating school reform, and serves on the boards of numerous for-profit and non-profit organizations.

“The merger of the Boston Foundation, one of the major high-impact community foundations in the country, and TPI, the pioneer leader in philanthropic consulting, creates a unique platform for the next-generation of philanthropic engagement in community, civic, and global issues,” said Peter Karoff, who founded TPI in 1989.

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The Boston Foundation, Greater Boston’s community foundation, is one of the oldest and largest community foundations in the nation, with assets of $850 million. In 2011, the Foundation and its donors made almost $78 million in grants to nonprofit organizations and received gifts of $81 million. The Foundation is made up of some 850 separate charitable funds established by donors either for the general benefit of the community or for special purposes. The Boston Foundation also serves as a major civic leader, provider of information, convener, and sponsor of special initiatives designed to address the community’s and region’s most pressing challenges. For more information about the Boston Foundation, visit www.tbf.org or call 617-338-1700.

The Philanthropic Initiative (TPI) is an ally and consultant to ambitious donors looking to advance the art and science of their philanthropy in pursuit of deep social impact. Hired by corporations, foundations and individuals to develop and execute custom strategies to increase the impact of their giving, TPI has invested in the advancement of strategic philanthropy across the globe since 1989.