Perpetual Impact Trust
Institutionalizing Your Impact.
A Perpetual Impact Trust turns a family's philanthropy into a permanent institution. Rather than repeating annual gifts from personal accounts, the family establishes a dedicated capital base, professionally administered under a formal charter, designed to fund grants, community initiatives, and mission-aligned investments across generations.
Structure
The Financial Architecture
Six interlocking components convert family capital into perpetual, mission-directed impact.
The Financial Architecture
A dedicated capital base is settled into a foreign non-grantor trust. Principal is preserved in perpetuity, while a disciplined income engine funds the family's philanthropic mission generation after generation.
The Income Engine
Trust capital is deployed into government-secured, income-producing instruments. The engine converts principal into a predictable annual yield: the fuel for all grantmaking and impact activity.
The Spending Rule
A written policy defines how much of the annual yield may be spent, how much must be reinvested, and how surpluses accumulate. The spending rule protects the corpus from erosion in weaker years and prevents overreach in stronger ones.
Grant Capital
The portion of annual yield designated for outright grants, awarded to nonprofits, community initiatives, scholarships, and mission-aligned projects selected under the family's grantmaking policy.
Impact Investment Capital
A recyclable pool designed to be deployed as concessionary loans, program-related investments, or equity in mission-aligned enterprises. Returns cycle back into the trust and are redeployed.
Mission-Aligned Strategic Investment
A portion of the corpus itself is invested in instruments and enterprises consistent with the family's declared mission, so the underlying capital, not only its yield, reflects the family's values.
Governance
Charter, Policy, and Voice
A trust endures only when governance endures. The Perpetual Impact Trust is administered against a written charter, formal policies, and a family voice that carries across generations.
The Family Impact Charter
A founding document that names the family's mission, values, and permitted areas of impact. The charter binds the trustee, the advisory council, and future generations to a shared purpose.
Investment and Grantmaking Policies
Written policies govern how capital is invested, how grants are evaluated and awarded, conflicts of interest, and the standards each recipient must meet. Every decision is measured against the policies, not personalities.
The Family Advisory Council
A structured body, drawn from the family and, where appropriate, external advisors, that recommends grants, reviews impact investment opportunities, and preserves the family voice inside the trust across generations.
Annual Accountability
Each year the trustee publishes an accounting: capital position, income earned, grants awarded, impact investments outstanding, and adherence to the charter and policies. Continuity is demonstrated, not assumed.
Begin
Design your family's permanent institution for impact.
Perpetual Impact Trusts are established by consultation, not by application form. We begin with a private conversation about mission, capital, and the family voice that will guide the trust across generations.