Strengthening Foundation Boards: Building the Board you Need to Grow Philanthropy (Double Session)
Tracks
Philanthropy
| Tuesday, January 13, 2026 |
| 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM |
| 208 |
Overview
208
Details
Foundation boards play a critical role as fiduciaries, stewarding private resources in support of their affiliated institution, but fulfilling the duties of care, loyalty, and obedience is a threshold obligation. but getting the right people in the right roles and focused on the right work can elevate foundation boards as force multipliers, strategic partners, and philanthropic leaders. Strong governance is key to building the board you need to take your foundation to the next level. This two-part session will explore governance practices and tools that can help boards build and strengthen foundation volunteer leadership capacity.
Part 1: The Right People: Building the Board You Need
• The institution-foundation partnership and philanthropic mandate
• Board self-assessment
• Establishing board expectations and job descriptions
• Board composition strategy and matrix
Part 2: The Right Roles and the Right Focus
• The Governance Committee
• The Role of the Chair
• Individual Assessments and Board Engagement Plans
• Succession Planning
Speaker
David Bass
Vice President Program Strategy
No Auxiliary Affiliation
Strengthening Foundation Boards: Building the Board you Need to Grow Philanthropy
Abstract
Foundation boards play a critical role as fiduciaries, stewarding private resources in support of their affiliated institution, but fulfilling the duties of care, loyalty, and obedience is a threshold obligation. but getting the right people in the right roles and focused on the right work can elevate foundation boards as force multipliers, strategic partners, and philanthropic leaders. Strong governance is key to building the board you need to take your foundation to the next level. This two-part session will explore governance practices and tools that can help boards build and strengthen foundation volunteer leadership capacity.
Part 1: The Right People: Building the Board You Need
• The institution-foundation partnership and philanthropic mandate
• Board self-assessment
• Establishing board expectations and job descriptions
• Board composition strategy and matrix
Part 2: The Right Roles and the Right Focus
• The Governance Committee
• The Role of the Chair
• Individual Assessments and Board Engagement Plans
• Succession Planning
Part 1: The Right People: Building the Board You Need
• The institution-foundation partnership and philanthropic mandate
• Board self-assessment
• Establishing board expectations and job descriptions
• Board composition strategy and matrix
Part 2: The Right Roles and the Right Focus
• The Governance Committee
• The Role of the Chair
• Individual Assessments and Board Engagement Plans
• Succession Planning
Biography
David Bass serves as AGB’s Vice President for Program Strategy, providing thought leadership on board governance and leadership best practices and overseeing AGB’s Foundation Leadership Forum, National Conference on Trusteeship, Institutes, and online programs for governing boards, presidents, and other senior staff of colleges, universities, and affiliated foundations. David served as AGB’s Executive Director for Philanthropic Governance, authoring several key resources including the AGB Board of Directors’ Statement on Institution-Foundation Partnerships and the Illustrative Memorandum of Understanding between a Public Institution or System and an Affiliated Foundation. He also spent 12 years at the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), where he led the National Center for Institutionally Related Foundations and government relations.
