It can help lay a strong foundation for the launch of a new fund or set the right course for investing an immature fund.

FORBES: Top Private Equity Funds Mine Past Wins For Lessons

Mr. Lynch embraced transcendental meditation around the time he made the 1977 curiosity "Eraserhead, " and since 2005 has headed the David Lynch Foundation, a charity he created to fund the teaching of T.

WSJ: 20 Odd Questions: David Lynch

Mr. Fulda says WikiLeaks asked the Wau Holland foundation to determine whether it could contribute to a legal-defense fund created for the benefit of U.S. Army intelligence analyst Pfc.

WSJ: WikiLeaks Has Sharply Raised Spending

Anti-retrovirals are supplied to poor children jointly with the Children's Investment Fund Foundation of Chris Hohn, a hedge-fund boss.

ECONOMIST: Face value

Mr Gates was in China to talk to its government about a project of the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation that would try to identify and fund research that could alleviate poverty.

BBC: China and Bill Gates discuss nuclear reactor plan

One prominent London-based hedge fund, the Children's Investment Fund, channels a large chunk of its profits into a charitable foundation.

ECONOMIST: Can private equity polish its public image?

Brownfield's goal is to find a philanthropic foundation run by Iraqi expats to fund and eventually take over the online marketing of the art.

FORBES: Smart Collecting

The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a non-profit legal foundation, has filed lawsuits on behalf of two Christian colleges.

ECONOMIST: Lexington

Unlike a family foundation, the fund pays no excise tax and does not have to distribute 5% of its assets annually.

FORBES: Foundation Alternatives