Evergreen

Evergreen is a word we borrow from the law and legal drafting, where it is sometimes used as a term of art to refer to a contract or clause in a contract that provides for the automatic renewal of the contract unless and until one party or the other affirmatively decides to go another way, and takes action in accordance with the terms of that contract to terminate the contract. This is most commonly done by giving advance notice of termination in writing delivered to the other party.  We use it more generally to refer to any social construct, whether it has legal formality or not, that is automatically self-renewing or otherwise ongoing until some action is taken to end it.

• Enterprises are evergreen in that they just keep going, as long as their social contract with popular choice continues, until the organizers of the enterprise, or their financiers or other creditors choose or compel a liquidation and winding up.
• Pensions & Endowments, as financial institutions of intergenerational fiduciary loyalty and prudence, are evergreen, in that they just keep going, across the generations into an indefinite future, until they are wound down though appropriate legal process.
• Evergreen Equity Payback financing agreements are evergreen in that they just keep going as long as the enterprise continues, unless the financier and the enterprising visionaries agree to a lump-sum settlement in cancellation of the arrangement.