Philanthropy Needs to Elevate Donor Voices

"Our constituents don't peer into the eyes of our donors, they read our annual reports." This according to Steve Gunderson, president of the Council on Foundations, at today's opening plenary of its' Community Foundations Conference in Boston. In a plea to bring donor voices to the forefront of foundation communications, Gunderson quoted Senator Grassley (R-Iowa) who last year said something to the effect of, "during the Senate Finance Committee hearings (on potential regulation of charities), we never heard frustration from people about not being able to use their donor-advised funds, we only heard from self-interested institutions." Gunderson continued, "We have to equip our donors to be our spokespersons. Theirs is the voice to be trusted." (Check out the plenary video webcast.) PhilanthroMedia is built on this instinct. But when I met with Kirk Oberfeld, head of communications for the Philanthropy Roundtable last week in D.C., he told me that the donors associated with his organization are reticent to speak publicly about their work. Can philanthropy find donors willing to speak out about their charitable strategies? I agree with Steve that the future of a vibrant philanthropic sector depends on it.

Susan Herr