New Survey Says Most Americans Endorse Foundations but Know Little About Them

Americans generally think well of foundations, according to a survey commissioned by the Council on Foundations.

But the public’s knowledge of institutional grant making is apparently superficial: Many Americans have only a hazy idea of how foundations differ from other non-profit organizations, the study found, and more than a third of those surveyed could not name a single foundation.

“The research findings show that organized philanthropy is not well understood by the public, although most people have a high regard for the values embodied in grant-making foundations,” says Dorothy S. Ridings, the council’s president.

Upon assuming that job two years ago, Ms. Ridings, the former publisher of the Bradenton Herald, in Florida, said that her top priority would be to spread the word about what grant makers do. The council since then has been trying to train its members — which include nearly 1,700 private, corporate, and community foundations — to tell their stories in ways that engage the public’s interest and attention, by emphasizing human stories rather than statistics.

Such efforts so far have had only limited success. The poll of 1,200 Americans, conducted this year by Wirthlin Worldwide, found that although many respondents believe that foundations are valuable institutions, many of them have little idea of how grant makers actually benefit society.

Among other findings:

* Americans generally support using the tax code to provide incentives that encourage charitable giving. Most of them say they would not support changes in the tax code that would harm the ability of foundations to support important social causes.

* Americans also believe that foundations have the right to promote public policies that they support by speaking out to both lawmakers and the general public.

* Americans say that maintaining permanent charitable endowments is critical to the long-term health of local communities, and that foundation assets are part of the nation’s equity.

* Americans support the current law that requires foundations to spend at least 5 per cent of their assets each year on charitable activities.

* Americans place foundations in the middle of the institutions they favor: below churches, charities, and universities, but above the business world, individual philanthropists, and government. But of all those institutions, foundations are second-to-last in terms of the public’s awareness of or familiarity with them. Only individual philanthropists ranked lower.

The council’s effort reflects a perception that legislators may be weighing new restrictions on grant makers. Some critics have suggested in recent years that Congress consider raising the minimum amount that foundations are required to spend on grants each year, for example.

The council’s effort reflects a perception that legislators may be weighing new restrictions on grant makers. Some critics have suggested in recent years that Congress consider raising the minimum amount that foundations are required to spend on grants each year, for example.

The council’s effort reflects a perception that

Some foundations have shunned the spotlight, preferring that attention focus on their grantees. But “by just being quiet, we’ve come across as secretive, elitist, and arrogant, when that’s not the case at all,” Ms. Ridings says. “We’ve been badly misunderstood — and it’s our fault.”