Lynda Mansson, director general of the MAVA Foundation, discusses the benefits and drawbacks of a limited-life foundation’s philanthropy practice in an article published in the Foundation Review. The strengths, including a sharpened strategic focus and sense of urgency, and the challenges, such as ensuring impact and dealing with grantee dependency, are also relevant when closing a program.

Drawing on Lynda Mansson’s reflections and learnings from foundations that have recently closed, this article also discusses how to prepare for the end date of a limited-life foundation. MAVA, a Swiss-based grantmaking foundation for 25 years, has a planned end date of 2022. The article features key lessons for foundations considering closure, and examines why some grantmakers should consider a limited-life model instead of operating in perpetuity.

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