Message from the Membership
Principles of Good Governance and Accountability for Grantmakers
Why Care?*
By, Kathleen Cornett
The Oregon Community Foundation, Vice President for Programs
Grantmakers of Oregon and Southwest Washington, Board President
Two trends struck me about our field in 2005. First, the tangible increase in organized philanthropy: more foundations being endowed, more donors creating permanent advised funds at community foundations and individual charitable giving keeps going up. And the growing participation in GRANTMAKERS tells me that there is a great interest in our field in “doing philanthropy right”.
A second trend may be a result of the first: the unprecedented attention Congress is paying to our sector. New regulations have passed the Senate and House of Representatives and a conference committee will soon be appointed to iron out the final details. If you are not up to speed on the latest developments, I recommend visiting the Independent Sector website http://www.independentsector.org . It’s not too late to weigh in on some of the proposed changes.
Unfortunately, some of the Congressional reforms have been made in response to highly publicized abuses and ethical lapses in the charitable sector. But, to quote Hugh Price, former vice president of the Rockefeller Foundation, “…legislators and regulators cannot ensure the viability and integrity of nonprofit organizations. That’s the time honored job description of trustees, chief executives and senior managers”. Only those of us who govern and work in philanthropy can regulate ourselves to ensure that our practices are equal to the privilege conferred on philanthropic donors and the special work we do on their behalf.
This year GRANTMAKERS will be starting a conversation with you, our members, to discover ways we can all be more effective and accountable in our work. The Good Governance Initiative will be led by board member Kandis Nunn and will take place around the state. Rather than have a proscriptive set of rules imposed on us, we will talk about the face of philanthropy in Oregon and Southwest Washington and what “best practices” we all agree fit us and our region. We will explore the differences in practice for different types of giving programs—private and community foundations, family foundations and advised funds, corporate giving. By year’s end we hope to have crafted a set of guiding practices and principles that can be discussed by the board of directors of each GRANTMAKERS’ member organization. By creating our own standards of operation we can continue the flexible, entrepreneurial spirit that stands behind much of philanthropy. We look forward to talking together in 2006!
* As presented in the January/February 2006 Newsletter