Event

EVENT: Center for Public & Nonprofit Leadership at Georgetown University Issues Forum: "The Cost of Caution: Advocacy, Public Policy, and America's Foundations"

WHEN: April 21, 2005

WHERE: Washington, DC

This spirited discussion was moderated by Teresa J. Odendahl, Waldemar A. Nielsen Chair of Philanthropy, Center for Public & Nonprofit Leadership. Panelists included Emmett D. Carson, president and CEO of The Minneapolis Foundation and Council on Foundations board chair; Cecilia Muñoz, vice president of the Office of Research, Advocacy and Legislation at the National Council of La Raza; and William A. Schambra, director of the Bradley Center for Philanthropy and Civic Renewal, Hudson Institute.

Pablo Eisenberg, senior fellow at the Center for Public & Nonprofit Leadership, and Gara LaMarche, director of U.S. Programs at the Open Society Institute, responded to the panelists' comments.

Carson opened the discussion, describing the nonprofit, foundation and volunteer infrastructure as a critical component of democracy, both supplementing and opposing government. He pointed out that no foundation's mission statement seeks to preserve the status quo, but "every foundation—at some level—is a change agent."

Surprisingly, considering the wide range of speakers, there was more agreement than dissent. One idea that did meet resistance, however, was Carson's suggestion to eliminate foundations under $1 million in order to reduce infrastructure expenditures and lessen the regulatory burden borne by the Internal Revenue Service, since studies have shown that foundations of that size are not effective. Instead, those small funders could create donor-advised funds at existing community foundations and still be able to participate in philanthropy.

Schambra, who considers smaller foundations the future, thought elimination of small foundations was "a terrible idea." He believes that large foundations represent "the last piece of progressivism's empire." Eisenberg noted that grantees and donors rarely discuss donors' missions and objectives. He encouraged raising the payout requirement in order to make more foundation funds available for advocacy.

Muñoz said that as a "consumer of philanthropy," she found it hard to prepare for the event without it devolving into a list of gripes. She stressed that since impact is rarely achieved without controversy and difficulty, those effects of grantmaking should be embraced, rather than avoided, by foundations.

In a similar vein, LaMarche commented that the overemphasis on evaluation is negative, as sometimes losing for a long time is the way to ultimately win. He suggested that foundation dollars have often slowed movements, rather than accelerated them.

The event transcript will be available online in May at http://cpnl.georgetown.edu/pages/issues_forums.cfm.

—Paula J. Kelly