Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Models for Private Foundations
By Eric Hillman, CPA, Senior Manager and Elizabeth Gousse Ballotte, Principal
With the ever-increasing focus on an organization’s impact and overall performance – be it within a commercial or philanthropic environment ‒ Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) models have become one of the foremost ways to assess an organization beyond the existing traditional reporting frameworks.
As leaders of change and impact in the philanthropic environment, private foundations have an acute interest in understanding and establishing ESG models. In this article we aim to provide some of the more relevant considerations for private foundations with respect to ESG models, as well as some of the driving factors of ESG adoption.
Risk Assessment
Foundations are facing a growing demand from numerous stakeholders for transparency and introspection on their overall impact. These stakeholders can be both internal and external. Measurement of the foundation’s ESG performance can seem daunting and unclear; however, it’s important to remember that not all foundations are the same. Considering ESG model adoption should start from a practical perspective, the most practical way would be to perform a risk assessment of the foundation’s stakeholders.
To start, a risk assessment of an ESG model might include an analysis or survey of the following major stakeholders of the foundation:
- Investments and Investment Managers
- Grantmaking
- Human Capital and Personnel
- Vendors and Contractors
- Regulators and Third-party Users
- Board of Directors
The objective of the risk assessment is to ascertain any major threats or impediments to the foundation’s goal of maximizing its impact with each stakeholder.
Operational Practices and Execution
Following the completion of the foundation’s ESG risk assessment, and subsequently assessing the results, the foundation should consider formalizing its ESG model to ensure the stated objectives are codified and operational in the form of policies and procedures.
Using the examples of major stakeholders defined in the foundation’s risk assessment, a summarized version of some policies and procedures adopted might look like the following:
Reporting
While there is no generally accepted reporting framework for ESG, the importance of presenting financial and qualitative information in the foundation’s annual financial statements has been increasingly more important to foundations, their grantees, and external parties. The primary considerations for foundations that wish to include financial and qualitative information in their external financial reporting should be to ensure the financial statements are presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). While GAAP defines the minimum standard for presenting financial statements externally, below you’ll find a number of considerations the foundation might incorporate to expand and enhance its disclosures on ESG reporting within its financial statements and note disclosures:
- Notes to Financial Statements regarding the foundation and its tax status – typically, Note 1 to the financial statements – consider describing the foundation and its ESG model. However, when including the description of the ESG model, the most important factor is determining how this information is verifiable and supported in annually audited financial statements.
- An opportunity may exist in the foundation’s reporting of net assets classifications – i.e., net assets without donor restrictions could include multiple sub-grouped classes, including Board-designated and/or ESG-designated funds.
- An opportunity for reporting ESG-related impact may exist in the Statement of Functional Expenses – particularly under the program services function – as the majority of grantmaking is classified within the program services function. In addition, consider the reasonableness of classifying internal and/or indirect management and general related expenses within the foundation’s ESG model.
- Endowment disclosures regarding investable financial assets – an opportunity exists to describe more specifically the designations of invested endowment assets and the purpose and strategy of the foundation’s various endowment funds.
- Supplementary Information provides the most leeway for reporting of underlying financial information the foundation wishes to disclose.
On the Horizon
Adoption of ESG models, including the reporting of ESG performance, is largely an unclear and undefined space at this point in time. Without a framework established by an entity governing ESG reporting requirements, there is no reference for foundation Board members and managers to seek guidance in their efforts to adopt a model suitable – and practical – for their foundation. However, the consensus is clear that uniformity in ESG models will likely be coming into the fold sooner than later, and the importance of adoption should not be overlooked.
Contact Us
We welcome the opportunity to answer any questions you may have related to this topic or any other accounting, audit, tax or advisory matters relative to private foundations. Please call 212.286.2600 or email any of the Private Foundation Services team members below:
- Thomas F. Blaney, CPA, CFE
Partner, Co-Director of Foundation Services
tblaney@pkfod.com - Joseph Ali, CPA
Partner
jali@pkfod.com
Scott Brown, CPA
Partner
sbrown@pkfod.com - Anan Samara, EA
Principal
asmara@pkfod.com - Christopher D. Petermann, CPA
Partner, Co-Director of Foundation Services
cpetermann@pkfod.com
Raymond Jones, Sr., CPA
Elizabeth Gousse Ballotte
Principal
eballotte@pkfod.com
Partner
rjones@pkfod.com