Power of Now: Spend Out Trusts and Foundations (2010)

In recent years, charitable trust and foundation trustees have engaged in an increasing number of conversations and debates on the phenomenon of ‘spend out'. Spend out, known in the USA as ‘spend down' or ‘limited lifespan', refers to a trust's decision to spend all or part of its capital assets within a specified timeframe.

While most trusts and foundations in the UK and the USA are still established in perpetuity and maintain endowments, the limited life option is beginning to attract more attention, though research in this area - particularly in the UK - is sparse.

This report, which includes case studies with some of the UK's leading seeks to broaden our wider understanding of spending out in the UK by examining trusts and foundations that are currently in the process of depleting their endowment and examining those factors leading to their decision to terminate.