A New Portal for Philanthropic Transparency?
posted on: Tuesday, February 09, 2010
By Aaron Dorfman
I’ve been trapped in my house since Friday night due to the recent blizzard here in the national capital region. And even with all the time spent shoveling and playing in the snow, I managed to make time to catch up on some philanthropy-related items.
Ten days ago, the Foundation Center launched an important new initiative meant to encourage greater transparency among foundations, and one thing I did while snowed in was play around on the site. In a blog post announcing the project, Foundation Center President Brad Smith wrote:
“With the launch of a new public Web portal, www.glasspockets.org, the Foundation Center reaches back to its founding values. We believe strongly in philanthropic freedom, the kind of independence that allows foundations to be innovative, take risks, and work on long-term solutions to some of the world’s most vexing problems. But the best way to preserve philanthropic freedom is not to hide behind it; rather, foundations increasingly need to tell the story of what they do, why they do it, and what difference it makes.
“Why transparency? Foundations use private wealth to serve the public good for which they receive a tax exemption in return. While some have argued that the tax exemption does not legally compel foundations to behave in any particular way, foundations' challenges are more perceptual than legal. No sector -- government, church, business, or charitable -- gets a free pass in the world of 24/7 media, blogs, YouTube, Twitter, crowdsourcing, and digital everything. Why should foundations? Collectively, America's foundations control more than $500 billion in assets, spend some $46 billion a year in grants and on programs, and, in some localities and on some issues, are the major players. And as foundations strive to become more strategic and effective, their impact and influence will grow -- as will the curiosity, praise, criticism, and scrutiny they attract.”
The site provides a clear assessment of whether or not individual foundations make certain information available to the public. For example: does the foundation make available on its website its 990PF return? Does the foundation provide information about its diversity practices? Does the foundation have a mechanism in place to get feedback from grantees? In all, the site tracks 22 difference practices and provides direct links to the information on the foundation’s website.
I found the site fascinating, and I am hopeful that it will create additional pressure for foundations to adopt some of these practices and become more transparent. In perusing the site, I found myself wondering about a few notable philanthropic giants:
Why doesn’t the Hewlett foundation provide information about its diversity practices? Surely they must be sensitive to how they are regarded on issues of race, considering the often contentious debate over AB 624 in California. Why not proactively communicate about these issues with the community?
Why doesn’t the Ford Foundation have any way to get feedback from grantees? Considering the major overhaul they gave to their grantmaking programs recently, one would think the foundation would want to have a way to systematically get feedback from its nonprofit partners.
Why doesn’t the Gates Foundation share information about its executive compensation process? Their new CEO earns nearly one million dollars per year, yet he was already extremely wealthy before taking the job as head of the foundation. The former Gates Foundation CEO took only $1 in annual compensation. Wouldn’t it be a good idea for the foundation to explain publicly the process it uses to set executive compensation?
In writing this blog post, I wanted to spread the word and encourage others to explore the GLASSPOCKETS site. And I also wanted to find out what readers of NCRP’s blog think. Will the site put additional pressure on foundations to adopt some of these practices? If so, why – and is that a good thing? If not, why not?
Aaron Dorfman is executive director of the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP). Photo credit: Suat Eman / FreeDigitalPhotos.netLabels: accountability, Foundation Center, Philanthropy at Its Best, transparency
By Aaron Dorfman
I’ve been trapped in my house since Friday night due to the recent blizzard here in the national capital region. And even with all the time spent shoveling and playing in the snow, I managed to make time to catch up on some philanthropy-related items.
Ten days ago, the Foundation Center launched an important new initiative meant to encourage greater transparency among foundations, and one thing I did while snowed in was play around on the site. In a blog post announcing the project, Foundation Center President Brad Smith wrote:
“With the launch of a new public Web portal, www.glasspockets.org, the Foundation Center reaches back to its founding values. We believe strongly in philanthropic freedom, the kind of independence that allows foundations to be innovative, take risks, and work on long-term solutions to some of the world’s most vexing problems. But the best way to preserve philanthropic freedom is not to hide behind it; rather, foundations increasingly need to tell the story of what they do, why they do it, and what difference it makes.
“Why transparency? Foundations use private wealth to serve the public good for which they receive a tax exemption in return. While some have argued that the tax exemption does not legally compel foundations to behave in any particular way, foundations' challenges are more perceptual than legal. No sector -- government, church, business, or charitable -- gets a free pass in the world of 24/7 media, blogs, YouTube, Twitter, crowdsourcing, and digital everything. Why should foundations? Collectively, America's foundations control more than $500 billion in assets, spend some $46 billion a year in grants and on programs, and, in some localities and on some issues, are the major players. And as foundations strive to become more strategic and effective, their impact and influence will grow -- as will the curiosity, praise, criticism, and scrutiny they attract.”
The site provides a clear assessment of whether or not individual foundations make certain information available to the public. For example: does the foundation make available on its website its 990PF return? Does the foundation provide information about its diversity practices? Does the foundation have a mechanism in place to get feedback from grantees? In all, the site tracks 22 difference practices and provides direct links to the information on the foundation’s website.
I found the site fascinating, and I am hopeful that it will create additional pressure for foundations to adopt some of these practices and become more transparent. In perusing the site, I found myself wondering about a few notable philanthropic giants:
Why doesn’t the Hewlett foundation provide information about its diversity practices? Surely they must be sensitive to how they are regarded on issues of race, considering the often contentious debate over AB 624 in California. Why not proactively communicate about these issues with the community?
Why doesn’t the Ford Foundation have any way to get feedback from grantees? Considering the major overhaul they gave to their grantmaking programs recently, one would think the foundation would want to have a way to systematically get feedback from its nonprofit partners.
Why doesn’t the Gates Foundation share information about its executive compensation process? Their new CEO earns nearly one million dollars per year, yet he was already extremely wealthy before taking the job as head of the foundation. The former Gates Foundation CEO took only $1 in annual compensation. Wouldn’t it be a good idea for the foundation to explain publicly the process it uses to set executive compensation?
In writing this blog post, I wanted to spread the word and encourage others to explore the GLASSPOCKETS site. And I also wanted to find out what readers of NCRP’s blog think. Will the site put additional pressure on foundations to adopt some of these practices? If so, why – and is that a good thing? If not, why not?
Aaron Dorfman is executive director of the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP).
I’ve been trapped in my house since Friday night due to the recent blizzard here in the national capital region. And even with all the time spent shoveling and playing in the snow, I managed to make time to catch up on some philanthropy-related items.
Ten days ago, the Foundation Center launched an important new initiative meant to encourage greater transparency among foundations, and one thing I did while snowed in was play around on the site. In a blog post announcing the project, Foundation Center President Brad Smith wrote:
“With the launch of a new public Web portal, www.glasspockets.org, the Foundation Center reaches back to its founding values. We believe strongly in philanthropic freedom, the kind of independence that allows foundations to be innovative, take risks, and work on long-term solutions to some of the world’s most vexing problems. But the best way to preserve philanthropic freedom is not to hide behind it; rather, foundations increasingly need to tell the story of what they do, why they do it, and what difference it makes.
“Why transparency? Foundations use private wealth to serve the public good for which they receive a tax exemption in return. While some have argued that the tax exemption does not legally compel foundations to behave in any particular way, foundations' challenges are more perceptual than legal. No sector -- government, church, business, or charitable -- gets a free pass in the world of 24/7 media, blogs, YouTube, Twitter, crowdsourcing, and digital everything. Why should foundations? Collectively, America's foundations control more than $500 billion in assets, spend some $46 billion a year in grants and on programs, and, in some localities and on some issues, are the major players. And as foundations strive to become more strategic and effective, their impact and influence will grow -- as will the curiosity, praise, criticism, and scrutiny they attract.”
The site provides a clear assessment of whether or not individual foundations make certain information available to the public. For example: does the foundation make available on its website its 990PF return? Does the foundation provide information about its diversity practices? Does the foundation have a mechanism in place to get feedback from grantees? In all, the site tracks 22 difference practices and provides direct links to the information on the foundation’s website.
I found the site fascinating, and I am hopeful that it will create additional pressure for foundations to adopt some of these practices and become more transparent. In perusing the site, I found myself wondering about a few notable philanthropic giants:
Why doesn’t the Hewlett foundation provide information about its diversity practices? Surely they must be sensitive to how they are regarded on issues of race, considering the often contentious debate over AB 624 in California. Why not proactively communicate about these issues with the community?
Why doesn’t the Ford Foundation have any way to get feedback from grantees? Considering the major overhaul they gave to their grantmaking programs recently, one would think the foundation would want to have a way to systematically get feedback from its nonprofit partners.
Why doesn’t the Gates Foundation share information about its executive compensation process? Their new CEO earns nearly one million dollars per year, yet he was already extremely wealthy before taking the job as head of the foundation. The former Gates Foundation CEO took only $1 in annual compensation. Wouldn’t it be a good idea for the foundation to explain publicly the process it uses to set executive compensation?
In writing this blog post, I wanted to spread the word and encourage others to explore the GLASSPOCKETS site. And I also wanted to find out what readers of NCRP’s blog think. Will the site put additional pressure on foundations to adopt some of these practices? If so, why – and is that a good thing? If not, why not?
Aaron Dorfman is executive director of the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP).
Photo credit: Suat Eman / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Labels: accountability, Foundation Center, Philanthropy at Its Best, transparency
posted by NCRP at
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