June 28, 2007 | Read Time: 2 minutes
NEW BOOKS
The Great Philanthropists and the Problem of “Donor Intent,” Third Edition
by Martin Morse Wooster
“The debate over donor intent is largely ideological,” writes Martin Morse Wooster, a senior fellow at the Capital Research Center. “Usually, capitalists who create great fortunes tend to be conservative or libertarian. Those who inherit their wealth, including most foundation executives and heirs to estates, tend to be liberal or socialist.”
After a donor has died — and sometime even before — those left in charge of administering a foundation can move away from its original mission and governing principles, as defined by its founder. Mr. Wooster analyzes how foundations endowed by Carnegie, Rockefeller, Ford, and several other philanthropists have either drifted from or clung to their creators’ intent.
Mr. Wooster discusses conflicts between descendants of donors and others, including famous disputes over the directions of the Ford Foundation, in New York, and the Barnes Foundation, a museum in Philadelphia.
He also describes early objections to foundations’ operating in perpetuity — including the “dead hand” argument — and the legal history of donor intent, as well as what donors can do to preserve their legacy.
A new section in this edition discusses a lawsuit over money left to Princeton University by Charles and Marie Robertson. The children of the donors are suing Princeton because they say the money is not being used as their parents wanted, while Princeton says it has followed the donors’ instructions and denies any wrongdoing.
“Donors should give as much money as possible during their lifetimes,” concludes Mr. Wooster. “If they wish to leave their wealth to foundations, they should limit their lives. They should leave explicit instructions for using bequests, and act on the premise that their wills will be challenged in court by heirs or other parties.”
Publisher: Capital Research Center, 1513 16th St., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036; (202) 483-6900; fax (202) 483-6990; http://www.capitalresearch.org; 275 pages; $14.95; ISBN 1-892934-12-4.
