Why Glasspockets?

Writing for PhilanTopic blog, Foundation Center president Bradford K. Smith asks: Where do those of us who care about philanthropic freedom and diversity fit in an increasingly polarized debate that tries to impose a false choice between the two?

• Diversity vs. Philanthropic Freedom?
  6/25/10
• Philanthropy's Digital Divide
  5/3/10
• Transparency: One Size Does Not Fit All
  2/9/10
• Foundations Need to Be More Transparent
  1/29/10

Writing for PhilanTopic blog, Janet Camarena, director of the Foundation Center's San Francisco office and project lead for the Glasspockets initiative, discusses the importance of working with partners in the development and continuing evolution of Glasspockets.

• Transparency, Partnership, and Glasspockets
  3/2/10

With Glasspockets, the Foundation Center and its partners are working to:

• Inspire private foundations to greater openness in their communications.
• Increase understanding of best practices in foundation transparency and accountability in an online world.
• Illustrate how institutional philanthropy is relevant to the critical issues of our time.
• Highlight the many stories of philanthropy that show how private wealth is serving the public good.
• Illuminate successes, failures, and ongoing experimentation so foundations can build on each other's ideas to increase impact.

About our partners:

Center for Effective Philanthropy: The mission of the Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP) is to provide data and create insight so philanthropic funders can better define, assess, and improve their effectiveness and impact.

Communications Network: Formed nearly 20 years ago as a volunteer group, the Network today operates as a stand-alone 501(c)(3), dedicated to helping advance, promote, and encourage the adoption of effective communications practices in philanthropy.

Global Philanthropy Forum: The Global Philanthropy Forum aims to build a community of donors and social investors committed to international causes, and to inform, enable and enhance the strategic nature of their giving and social investing.

Grantmakers for Effective Organizations: Understanding that grantmakers are successful only to the extent that their grantees achieve meaningful results, GEO promotes strategies and practices that contribute to grantee success.

One World Trust: The One World Trust is an independent think tank that conducts research, develops recommendations and advocates for reform to make policy and decision-making processes in global governance more accountable to the people they affect now and in the future, and to ensure that international laws are strengthened and applied equally to all.

About the Foundation Center:

Established in 1956 and today supported by close to 550 foundations, the Foundation Center is a national nonprofit service organization recognized as the nation’s leading authority on organized philanthropy, connecting nonprofits and the grantmakers supporting them to tools they can use and information they can trust. Its audiences include grantseekers, grantmakers, researchers, policymakers, the media, and the general public. The Center maintains the most comprehensive database on U.S. grantmakers and their grants; issues a wide variety of print, electronic, and online information resources; conducts and publishes research on trends in foundation growth, giving, and practice; and offers an array of free and affordable educational programs.

Contact us:

For information on Glasspockets, please contact:

Janet Camarena
Director, San Francisco Office
The Foundation Center
jfc@foundationcenter.org

Glasspockets in the News

Look Inside Our Glass Pockets
News Blog
7/29/10
Meyer Memorial Trust blogs about their new Glasspockets profile: "Go ahead. Take a look in our pockets. They're made of glass, so you can see all the way through them."

Data and the Future of Philanthropy:
An Interview with Lucy Bernholz
Social Velocity Blog 8/3/10
Lucy Bernholz addresses the forces driving "new expectations of transparency [in philanthropy, including] efforts such as The Foundation Center's Glasspockets.org..."

20 Social Media Resources for Nonprofits
Philanthropy411 Blog
7/30/10
The Foundation Center has created a website that lists social media channels used by foundations, including Twitter, Facebook, Blogs, YouTube. It is continuously updated by foundations that want to be transparent about their grantmaking.

How Can Foundations Demystify Their Work?
Newsroom
Ford Foundation
[Orignally published in The Chronicle of Philanthropy]
6/15/10
Marta L. Tellado, Ford Foundation vice president for communications, argues that "... openness about strategy is currency and credibility. All of us in philanthropy need to embrace that truth and communicate clearly about our foundations' strategies and ambitions. That sentiment was echoed in the unveiling in February of the Foundation Center's Glasspockets Web site, which seeks to inspire foundations to achieve a new level of openness and thereby a better understanding of what they do..."

New Florida Law Makes It Harder for
Foundations to Live Up To Values
Opinion
Chronicle of Philanthropy
6/11/10
Emmett Carson, CEO of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, warns against laws that discourage transparency: "If we do not forcefully respond to this challenge, we should not be surprised when there are Congressional hearings and our claims of 'glass pockets' fall on deaf ears."

Additional Transparency and
Accountability Resources

• The Association of Small Foundations
  The Association publishes the Primer Series to help foundations establish best practices and efficient operations.
• BoardSource The organization's web site includes resources on nonprofit boards, such as Ten Essential Responsibilities of Foundation Board Chairs and Conflicts of Interest at Foundations.
• The Center for Effective Philanthropy The organization has developed the Grantee Perception Report to help foundations compare their performance.
• Council on Foundations The Council has developed resources related to accountability and governance issues as part of its Building Strong and Ethical Foundations program.
• Forum of Regional Association
  of Grantmakers The Forum’s Web site provides accountability education resources and lists regional associations that have adopted guiding principles for grantmakers.
• One World Trust The organization has developed a database of more than 300 civil society self-regulatory initiatives across the globe.