PHILANTHROPY AT ITS SOMEWHAT MYOPIC: MISTAKING MEANS AND ENDS

Paul Brest on Huffington Post.

“In the last post, I described NCRP’s prescriptions for foundation governance in Criteria for Philanthropy at its Best®. Here I’ll discuss its prescriptions for grantmaking practices themselves. I will also discuss NCRP’s literally unbelievable response to critics of its Criteria.

But first the nitty-gritty. The most significant of NCRP’s grantmaking requirements is that 50 percent of a foundation’s grants be for general operating support (GOS)–unrestricted support for an organization.

Just so you know where we stand, the Hewlett Foundation and I personally are long-standing practitioners and strong proponents of GOS. I was the chief author of Independent Sector’s 2004 Guidelines for the Funding of Nonprofit Organizations, which make the case for GOS. In fact, NCRP included the Foundation as meeting its Criteria in this respect.” Read More