August 13, 2007 | Read Time: 1 minute
Recent admissions by private foundations about difficult experiences with the grants they’ve made represent a refreshing burst of candor — and a chance for all grant makers to learn from each other, writes Diana R. Sieger, president of the Grand Rapids Community Foundation, in Mich., on her blog.
“I have been a big proponent of the fact that when a program does not produce the results that were planned from the beginning, that isn’t necessarily failure,” writes Ms. Sieger. “It is information that we can use to revise plans — start over — or just make sure that in the future when armed with better information, we can chart a course that has a chance of working.”
Ms. Sieger directs readers to an opinion article in the current issue of The Chronicle, written by Paul Brest, president of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and James E. Canales, president of the James Irvine Foundation, to learn more about the issue of increased openness among grant makers.
What do you think of foundation efforts to be more candid about their mistakes? Are grant makers going far enough? Do grantees do enough to admit when they have erred?
