Some of the country’s leading philanthropic institutions have strayed far from their founders’ missions, the head of a leading donors’ organization writes in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece.
Adam Meyerson, president of the Philanthropy Roundtable, cites the Ford and MacArthur foundations, which in the decades after their establishment by business tycoons took up liberal causes, and the controversial transfer of the Barnes Foundation’s art collection as examples of such “donor neglect.”
“When a foundation is set up to dribble out its funds in perpetuity, there is a high risk it will eventually drift into projects the donor did not believe in,” Mr. Meyerson writes.
He suggests donors take “concrete action to safeguard their philanthropic principles,” such as setting out a written charitable mission, choosing foundation trustees with a similar worldview, and “giving while living.”
This article is taken from "The Chronicle of Philanthropy"
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