Elliot Ponchick never thought that he would run a charitable foundation. After all, he didn’t have any experience with one while working in business and consulting.

But as president of the West Hollywood-based William C. Bannerman Foundation for the past seven years, he heads a family foundation that has $11 million in assets and makes 40 annual local grants focusing on K-12 education, women and children, and the environment, such as opening charter schools and reducing diesel pollution at the ports.

“It’s been very interesting and challenging in its own way,” said Ponchick, who is a descendant of the founder and began serving on the board 15 years ago at the urging of family members. “The objectives are not necessarily profit maximization, but trying to provide a service to the people in the community.”

While the Business Journal’s list highlights the largest private and community foundations based in L.A. County often funded by a mega wealthy philanthropic family a study of family foundations nationwide by the Washington D.C.-based Foundation Center shows the vast majority of family foundations, like the Bannerman Foundation, are small. More than 60 percent have assets totaling less than $1 million and more than half made grants totaling less than $50,000 in 2004.

Nevertheless, family foundations keep multiplying, up 28 percent between 2000 and 2004, largely driven by the wealth accumulated by baby boomers during the stock market run-up over the past two decades, and more recently in the tech and Internet boom.

“In the coming years, there are billions of dollars that are expected to transition from generation to generation that will result in foundations,” said Judy Spiegel, interim president of Southern California Grantmakers. “Family foundations are the fastest-growing sector in philanthropy.”

The growing numbers of family foundations are a result of numerous motivations. People may feel a charitable impulse based on personal financial success; they may want to promote family values to future generations, or they simply may want to establish a lasting legacy.

Of course, foundations also serve as a way for individuals to reduce income tax obligations while reducing future estate-tax liabilities. Moreover, they may serve as a buffer for solicitations, requiring those seeking funds to follow an established procedure.

Setting up a foundation is a relatively simple, six-month task, requiring paperwork filed with both the state and federal governments. Once established, the foundation can then serve as an organized, systematic way for individuals to direct charitable giving.

But as assets grow, so does government scrutiny on both state and federal levels. Legal requirements are abundant, especially for small foundations that rely on volunteers. “We have strict policies to comply with legal requirements,” said Ponchick. “We are aware of what’s right and not right. Whenever there is a doubt, we go in favor of paying for it out of our own pocket rather than the foundation. The foundation is for the community, not for ourselves.”

So for the past 15 years, Ponchick has bought computers and donated them to the foundation. Then there are seven board members who live in different areas of the country and meet throughout the year to review grants. “Board members serve for no compensation. They just started being reimbursed for travel to board meetings,” he said.

That kind of shoestring operation is not unusual. The Foundation Center found that just 13 percent of foundations with at least $1 million in assets reported a full-time administrative staff.

That means in most cases, boards and family members create internal processes to give money, as opposed to hiring administrative staff. And many do not accept unsolicited grant proposals, nor do they have a formal application process.

But establishing a family foundation is only one way that people tend to make donations. People also choose other vehicles, such as donor-advised funds or direct contributions of money and time to their preferred organization.

Like many foundations, the Bannerman Foundation has guidelines established by its founder specifying areas in which to make grants. Although not legally binding, the board is empowered with the responsibility to follow the guidelines.

“If I bring something to the board and they say no, then my wife and I may personally make a contribution. If it’s outside our guidelines, I don’t bring it to the board,” Ponchick said.