John Hunting started the Beldon Fund 10 years ago with the intention of giving it all away by this year. He said, “I felt as an environmentalist that it was imperative to spend the money now, because it would be silly to wait for the future if there wasn’t going to be a future.” As planned, the Fund closed to meet its deadline.

This spend-down strategy is called a sunset provision. Foundations use sunset provisions when they want to assert a sense of urgency for a cause. The Beldon Fund spent approximately $120 million over its decade lifespan building a groundswell of support for its environmental cause. About 12% of family foundations adopt sunset provision like the Beldon Fund.

Tags: foundations, sunset clause, sunset provision