Dine-Arounds
There are a number of dine-around options at the National Forum. Participation must be booked in advance. You’ll find the options and links to sign-up forms below. Please make sure to only book one dine around for each night. If you have any questions, please reach out to our team.
Select a day: Wednesday | Thursday
Wednesday, November 4
Changing Currents: Adapting to Where Philanthropy Is Headed Next
Hosted by The Bridgespan Group & Fast Forward | 7–9 p.m.
Wealth, technology, and public sentiment are shifting faster than the institutions built to steward giving. A new wave of AI- and tech-driven wealth is becoming liquid alongside the largest generational wealth transfer in history, just as trust in philanthropy’s old playbook is eroding—and rising scrutiny of wealth is pushing donors toward more discreet ways of giving. What are the forces that are quietly redefining giving? And how can we as donors and advisors adapt—in structure, capital, and mindset—to keep pace?
Join us for a conversation on where these forces are headed, drawing on each host’s complementary lens—design choices about giving, scalable operating models, and grantee-side capacity—then stay for dinner to trade notes on how you’re navigating them yourself.
Audience: Open to all forum attendees
Location: Spice Finch, 220 South 17th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103
Beyond Public Markets: Using Private Markets to Activate Your Philanthropy and Investing in Impact
Hosted by ImpactAssets Capital Partners | 7–9:30 p.m.
Private markets offer some of the most powerful opportunities to align capital with purpose. They can provide investors with greater flexibility to deploy capital in ways that complement philanthropy, support innovation, and address critical funding gaps across social and environmental issues. Join ImpactAssets Capital Partners for dinner and an interactive discussion with fellow impact investors exploring the intersection of private market investing and philanthropy. We’ll discuss how families use a range of approaches, including direct investments, private funds, program-related investments, and catalytic capital to manage risk and build more integrated capital strategies.
Audience: Open to senior staff members, principals, and board members at foundations and family offices.
Location: The Back Room, 101 South 9th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107
Amplified Impact: Pairing Mission-Aligned Investing with Your Philanthropy
Hosted by J.P. Morgan | 7–9 p.m.
Join J.P. Morgan for an intimate dinner to explore how philanthropic families are amplifying their impact by aligning investment portfolios with their mission. Together, we will discuss practical pathways for mission-aligned investing—how families identify shared objectives, integrate values into their portfolios, and evaluate outcomes. Whether you have an established mission-aligned portfolio or are simply exploring these topics for the first time, join your peers as we discuss approaches, governance considerations, and challenges.
Audience: Open to board members
Location: The Dandelion, 124 South 18th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103
Community in the Room: A Dinner on Sharing Decision-Making Power
Hosted by Magic Cabinet | 7–9 p.m.
Magic Cabinet is a foundation that puts community members on its grant-decision bodies and makes five-year, unrestricted commitments to cohorts of nonprofits who decide together how the money moves. Over dinner, we’ll talk plainly about what that looks like in practice: what it asks of trustees, what it changes for nonprofits, and what we’ve learned across eight years and dozens of cohorts. Come if you’re a trustee or advisor who wants to shift more decision-making toward community and wants to compare notes with people trying the same thing.
Audience: Open to all forum attendees
Location: Wilder, 2009 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103
Blocking Authoritarianism and Building a Just Future, Together
Hosted by Solidaire Network | 7–9 p.m.
NCFP’s forum theme is Courageous Philanthropy—a call to move beyond business as usual and make ambitious leaps, backed by smart decision-making. Join Solidaire Network and Block & Build Funder Coalition members and staff for a drink and a connected, energizing conversation about what courageous philanthropy demands of us in these times. Together, we’ll share stories, strategies, and practices for blocking the rise of authoritarianism and building the equitable future we want to see—one that includes all of us. Come connect with fellow family members, trustees, and foundation staff; learn from each other; and strengthen the relationships and collective power we need for the road ahead.
Audience: Open to board members and philanthropy staff members
Location: Amada, 217–219 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106
Addressing Climate Change: The Impact of Oil and Gas on American Life
Hosted by Funder Collaborative on Oil and Gas | 7:30–9:30 p.m.
Today, the U.S. produces more oil and gas than any other country—even more than Saudi Arabia and Russia combined. But clean energy is the future: healthier for people and the planet, cheap, reliable, and quick to build. Yet the fossil fuel industry is determined to strengthen its grip on our energy system. Join The Funder Collaborative on Oil and Gas, a team of strategists hosted by the Rockefeller Family Fund, working to accelerate the energy transition. The Funder Collaborative helps funders understand where their resources can have the biggest impact, streamlines grantmaking, and builds strong and strategic partnerships with community groups and advocacy organizations to make climate action faster, sharper, and stronger.
Audience: Open to all attendees curious about and/or with an existing interest in addressing climate change
Location: Positano Coast, 212 Walnut Street, 2nd Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19106
Thursday, November 5
The Architecture of Legacy with Borealis Philanthropy
Hosted by Borealis Philanthropy | 7–9 p.m.
Family philanthropy thinks in generations. Movements do too. Join Borealis Philanthropy for an intimate dinner conversation exploring what families can learn from movements about building lasting change. Together, we’ll reflect on stewardship, legacy, democratic resilience, and how philanthropy can strengthen the relationships and infrastructure that allow communities to thrive across generations.
Audience: Open to all forum attendees
Location: Amada, 217–219 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106
Where Place Meets Purpose
Hosted by GlobalGiving | 7–9 p.m.
Join GlobalGiving for an intimate evening of great food, meaningful conversation, and connection. Together, we’ll explore a simple but powerful question: what places matter most to you? From hometowns and family roots to communities around the world, the places we feel connected to can shape how we see the world and how we choose to give. Through a facilitated conversation over a delicious meal, share the places and stories that have influenced your philanthropic journey, hear new perspectives from others, and explore the connections between place, purpose, and philanthropy. Come ready for thoughtful conversation, global perspectives, and meaningful connections.
Audience: Open to family members and foundation leaders whose philanthropy includes international giving, or who are interested in exploring more community-led approaches to global philanthropy
Location: Spice Finch, 220 South 17th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103
Philanthropy Finding Common Ground for Catalytic Change
Hosted by The Pew Charitable Trusts & NCFP | 7–9 p.m.
For generations, family philanthropies have strengthened America’s civic life by tackling urgent challenges and investing in durable solutions. Yet many families now find themselves balancing two competing realities: growing external pressure to deploy capital more boldly and quickly, and internal dynamics, generational differences, and diverging views that can complicate decisions about how to respond. These tensions often echo the wider divides shaping public life today, where finding common ground has become harder yet more essential.
Join The Pew Charitable Trusts and NCFP for an intimate dinner conversation exploring how wealth holders can bridge these divides, both within their own families and in the society around them, to build the trust and alignment needed to mobilize capital more confidently and collaboratively for systems change. Marianne Viray, executive director of Disagree Better, will share insights and tools from her experience helping leaders transcend barriers and divides to achieve more together.
Audience: Open to board members and CEOs
Location: Royal Boucherie, 52 S. 2nd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106
The Future of Food System Resilience
Hosted by Senterra Funders | 7:30–9:30 p.m.
Are you curious how philanthropic capital and social impact investing can move faster than governments and markets to safeguard the future of our food systems? Join us for a networking dinner with peers and Dr. Liz Specht, a scientist and strategist who has advised nonprofits, startups, and the U.S. government on food system resilience. As VP of science and strategic initiatives at Food System Innovations and a former DARPA fellow, Dr. Specht will share insights into how catalytic philanthropy and impact investing in sustainable proteins can strengthen biosecurity, economic security, and global technological competitiveness.
Vedge is helmed by James Beard–nominated chefs Rich Landau and Kate Jacoby. Food & Wine named it one of the most important restaurants of the past decade, and it has been recommended by the Michelin Guide.
Audience: Open to all forum attendees
Location: Vedge—inside The Club Room, 1221 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA