Hewlett grants open to review

By John Boudreau

It's like putting your report card - C's and all - on the Web.

The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation recently offered up its version of academic grades for the world to see by posting a sometimes critical - but often positive - review of its operations on its Web site here. The survey asked recipients of Hewlett grants to rate the foundation in comparison to others - a move as unexpected as, say, Macy's asking customers about its service in relationship to that of Nordstrom.

The report card comes at a time when new calls for accountability in the corporate world are spilling over into the non-profit sector. Unlike companies, non-profits don't have the oversight of shareholders or strict government regulation. So they are struggling to come up with ways to prove their openness and efficiency to a public newly skeptical of anything to do with money.

Open reviews are one way of doing that, and Hewlett's example might nudge other big national foundations to do likewise.

"I think it takes guts," said Phil Buchanan, executive director of the Center for Effective Philanthropy, the Cambridge, Mass., organization that did the survey.

Hewlett is the first of about 60 foundations his organization has reviewed to put the results online.

The survey notes, for instance, that the foundation "is not perceived by grantees to have as significant an impact on its community as other foundations."

It is rated "slightly above average" in the category of satisfaction compared with other large and national foundations. Some grantees complained about Hewlett's lean staff - a deliberate strategy to keep administrative costs low - and the application process was considered significantly more arduous than that of other organizations.

Hewlett, though, was also rated above average for its influence on its fields of interest. "When Hewlett talks, everyone listens," one grantee said.

Its grantees reported being "very satisfied" on an absolute basis. "Their support is that of an eager partner rather than a meddling master," another grantee said.

Hoping others follow

Hewlett was also rated "above average" for its positive effects by the non-profits the foundation works with.

Paul Brest, president of the Hewlett Foundation, said he hopes other foundations will publish their results, as well.

"One way of trying to create accountability is transparency," he said. "I would never try to tell somebody else what they should do . . . but if a month from now, a year from now we are still standing after having done this, other people might not think it's so scary."

It is not unheard of for foundations to hire outside consultants to review their relationships with grantees - the California Wellness Foundation in Woodland Hills posts its surveys. The Lucile Packard Foundation for Children's Health in Palo Alto plans to do so Monday.

It's like asking a top student "about how effective was the teacher," said Jan Masaoka, executive director of San Francisco's CompassPoint Nonprofit Services, a consultant to agencies. "I think the effort is a good one, but my heart isn't racing faster."

In fact, she'd like the reviews to go further. Masaoka would like to see foundations evaluate the effectiveness of reaching their stated goals, such as improving the reading skills of children. However, such an effort could lead foundations to set more attainable missions in order to score high ratings, she said.

Even the negative

The California Wellness Foundation, though, includes the (often negative) comments of non-profits that don't get funded.

"We don't edit anything out," said Gary Yates, president and chief executive officer of the Wellness Foundation. (Past report cards have even included snarky remarks about other foundations.)

"It's called transparency," he said. "It's a way for us to demonstrate our accountability and let the folks who want to get money from us know what people think about the process we have."

The Hewlett report card, however, has the force of comparison against peers - and the foundation is taking its grades seriously. Hewlett is reviewing its application process and hopes to make it easier.

"That was the most important lesson that we learned from the report," Brest said.

Copyright © 2004 San Jose Mercury News. Reprinted with Permission.