Money To Burn?

Questions to Ask to Keep Your Organization’s Investments from Going up in Smoke

The reaction to Don Haisman’s presentation before the Planned Giving Council of Lee County was curious. One of the attendees, the director of a local nonprofit, said, “this topic is never discussed in our organization.”

Usually the topics presented at general membership meetings are subject matter discussed frequently like organizational challenges, donor motivation, planned giving strategies, etc.

Presented in a unique format of “questions,” those attending were very interested and peppered Don with questions throughout the presentation.

Don proposed a series of probing questions that a director, board member or professional adviser should be asking when working with any organization that has a pool of money like a foundation, endowment or retirement plan. The questions centered on such topics as:

• A properly composed investment policy statement
• Delegating investment management responsibility
• Fiduciary liability
• When to consider an investment advisory firm
• A check list of considerations before hiring an outside money management firm
• Questions to ask about an existing portfolio
• Elements to be included in a request for proposal (RFP)for investment services