Ae

D.

NOTES ON GIVING

Introductory

1. Title deliberately omits the word "money," since it is sometimes more
important to realize that what is given is approval or an opportunity to do
something and not money with which to select one thing or another.

2. The context of giving is no longer that of a traditional society, it is an
adaptive society with numerous needs for change and adaptation.

3. There are going to be very few uses of the words "ought" and mst," for I
think it much more sensible, in commenting on giving, to recall the remark
of an elderly Frenchman to a friend of mine: "Remember, you can have any-
thing you want in this world, only don't forget to pay for it." Each and
every form of giving is likely to have price tags, or disadvantages, along
with the more obvious or readily foreseen advantages.

The motives and purposes for giving

1. Because the giver fully agrees with the receiver in his sense of values and
in what might sensibly be done.

2. The donor's desire for honor, distinction, and esteems grab tute.

3- Good public relations, which in part at least is the anticipation of or the
prevention of hostility and criticism.

4. Repentance.

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6. Avoidance of taxes.

6.’ To obtain control or influence over the recipient.

Purpose in receiving money

1.

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3.

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To get something done in line with institutional objectives or personal
convictions or curiosities.

As a means of advancing the personal career of the recipient or improving
his status among his colleagues.

The advancement of knowledge (related, of course, to curiosity) and the
spread thereof.

Humanitarian service (e.g., increasing the case load of a child guidance clinic.)

Types of donors

l.

Individual
a. Advantages

Easy to start any underteking and to make new experiments and to change.
Individual has the advantage of relatively large measure of freedom and
promptness of maneuver and decision.
20

b. Disadvantages

The disadvantages of the individual as a donor are that he is usually
eceupied with other affairs and cannot give the project his entire time.
He is also under severe temptation to exercise proprietary control, and
only rarely is he well informed about the experience and present
activities of other people in the field under consideration. He is
also limited by the chances of illness and "old mortality."

2- Foundations
a. Advantages

The advantages of foundations derive from combined efforts of several
people with still a relatively large amount of freedom in point of
initiative, experiment, and adaptations. Foundation structure gives
permanence and, if there are full-time officers, gives a focus of
attention that can be only rarely exercised by individuals.

b. Disadvantages

In the limitations experienced by foundations, one encounters limitations
of a financial sort in all tat the largest foundations, and sometimes
there. The foundation may be, like the private donor, impatient for
quick results and more assured of the wisdom of its decisions. In the
selection of programs, foundation trustees may be influenced by vanity
or desire for public approval.

3. Government
a. Advantages

The advantages of governmental giving are the amounts that can be appro-
priated, which may be very large. High probability of continuity if the
service rendered is widely acknowledged to be valuable.

b. Disadvantages

Governmental giving is open to partisan or regional pressures. The giving
is likely to be assured for only one year at a time. Terms of a given
award are too inelastic. Purposes depend upon the level of comprehension
of voters and their representatives and consequently inclines to be
strongly utilitarian rather than the pursuit of so-called “useless know-
ledge." Government service tends to become routineer, with a considerable
loss of the sense of personal accomplishment.

D.- Duran 4, +

Seale of operations on the part of the donor

The amount of money and professional attention that can be given by a donor to

the selection of projects, to negotiation of them, and to the supervision or
contect required after the grant has been made, determines in large measure the
sorts of things that the domor can do. It is usually assumed that administration
costs for the giving of money can be negligible. This is not the experience of
the largest or the best foundations. Administration costs vary between 4% and 16%.
It is doubtful whether any donor of less than $200,000 a year will consider it
wise to spend as much as 10% of this sum in administration. As may be expected,
F.

G.

3.

small-scale donors can best confine their attention to small grants and limited
programs, though the temptation will often be to scatter their efforts in a
large number of probably insignificant "exploratory grants." Certeinly, lerge
gifts are more appropriate and almost limited to large donors, though here also
the temptation is almost overwhelming to develop extremely extensive interests
by making a large number of small grants.

Nature of operations

Operations and activities of a donating organization or individual may be, in
general, of two types:

1. Operating programs, in which the personnel of the fund or foundation takes
a direct administrative responsibility in the expenditure of funds and the
doing of the work to be helped.

<. The other activity is limited to the giving of money to the people who are
doing the work, but not using the foundation's personnel in the activities
aided.

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Organization

Ranging from the private donor to the government bureau that makes appropriations
to other organizations, we can observe a wide variety in the organization of
donors or donating groups. A large foundation illustrates the functions listed
below, frequently by having individuals who are charged with these functions:

1. Charter and by-laws, including the name of the organization and its declared
purpose. Advantage of broad terms in defining the purpose.

2. Trustees. Function is that of consultants, giving or withholding approval
to projects submitted to them. They are advisers, with the further advantage
of providing continuity and legal responsibility for the actions of the donor.

3. Officers. The function of the officers is to give a large measure of, or
exclusively, their time to the work of the organization. Time must be given
to the study of conditions, to proposing programs of activity, and to
negotiation and supervision of projects approved by or to be approved by
the trustees.

4. President. Has the function of centralizing. President is the focal point
between officers and trustees and also the chief administrator and figurehead
of the organization to the public.

5. Treasurer. Responsibilities and function are the financial accounts of the
organization and the major share of responsibility as agent for investment of
the funds. (Finance committee of the trustees theoretically helps the
treasurer but in many instances fails to do a good job in this direction.)

6. Legal counsel. Should act as the adviser regarding the legal aspects of
actions on the part of the foundation before such actions are taken, as well
as acting as its representative in all questions of legality affecting the
organization.
7.

8.

4

Auditor. As a protection against mismanagement, misunderstandings, and
inefficiency. The accounts of the organization should be audited by an
outside firm, and it may be noted that in this point you get just about
what you pay for, and emphasis can well be put upon quality and thorough-
ness of the annual audit.

Meetings. The number per year will vary with the size of operations.
Preparation for the meetings is covered later, under discussion of docket.
The place of meetings is usually influenced by the convenience of the
trustees, who usually abuse this concession and arrange for appointments
that conflict with the time they owe to their work as trustees. To offset
this tendency, meetings can sensibly be set for a place outside of the
larger cities and not too near, so that the trustees will give the maximum
amount of attention to the work at hand. Relationship of annual meeting
to executive committee meetings.

H. Officers

i.

2

Functions
a. To study and evaluate possible projects.
be To initiate, propose, and prepare projects for the trustees.

ce. To negotiate and keep in touch with projects and programs after they
have been approved in principle by the trustees.

ad. Officers often tend to be used as advisers to undertakings that want
money or, in some cases, only advice. This may take a considerable
amount of officers' time. It should be noted that the number ofofficers
in a fund or foundation usually affects the number of projects submitted
to the trustees, i.e., the more officers, the more projects.

In essence, the officers' functions include two quite different activities:
first, that of a judge or buyer; the second, when the officer appears before
the trustees, is the task of an expositor, advocate, and seller. Perhaps a
third function is more important, though less easily definable, namely, an
imagination sensitive to the needs of society and to possible ways of meeting
these needs.

Quelifications

These relate directly to his sense of values and his convictions, the depth
and tenacity of the latter being important, as well as the quality. He needs
to be modest and tactful, capable of teamwork, and with an impersonality that
suggests the midwife rather than the proud parent. He cannot afford to
regard the work of others as his own personal accomplishment. It is wise to
have officers whose technical familiarity with their field contributes rather
than handicaps their discernment and discrimination. Perhaps the officer's
capacity to grow on the job and acquire better values is the most important
consideration among his qualifications. It may be occasionally valuable to
find out as near as possible what the officer's view of the power that he
unconsciously exerts may mean to him and whether it is accompanied by an
appropriate measure of responsibility.
I.

5.

3. Officers! temptations

The enjoyment of power and status. "Nolo episcopara." The temptation to
play favorites, whether among activities or among individual recipients.
This can sometimes be diminished by requiring the recipient to put up a
large enough fraction of the cost of the project to assure that there is
local interest, and not mere receptivity. The officer is also subtly
tempted to what is known as the "Santa Claus complex," and also to begin
to take his own opinions as more important than they usually are and to
pontificate regarding them. It is wise to remember that, relatively
speaking, the largest foundations have more money than brains.

4- Selection of officers

The question of training of officers. Is being an assistant good training?
Danger of nepotism. What do you start with as convictions and values?
Administrators don't necessarily have better values than other people.

5. Salaries and tenure

Relation of salaries to academic salaries. Function of yearly re-appoint—
ment. Retirement arrangements, and age for retirement. Resignations.
Promotion policy.

Trustees
1. Functions

Dispose, not propose. Knowing the work of the organization. Travel.
Reinforcing the conscience of the officers. Brooding. As personal advisers
to the president (note Walter Stewart's theory).

2. Selection

Relation of the founder to the board of trustees. Relation of trustees to
the officers,and theirs to the trustees. Importance of trustees’ represent-
ing different areas of experience and point of view. Newspaper men and
publicists. Educators. Financiers. Artists. Research men. Political
experience. Religious affiliations.

Programs

The advantages of a new foundation. Time to study, investigate, and review.
Selection of programs. Solandt's remark about giving the Greeks not the best
laws, but the best laws they were capable of receiving. "The program of the GEB
is to have no program." Rose's "I can tell you what the RF has done. I cannot
tell you what it will do." Program as a shield for officers. How do you decide
what to do, and how do you pick the projects within any such area? The désira~
bility of programs' having an explicitly defined termination. The burden of
unfinished programs when a new officer is brought in. What balance is reasonable
between gilt-edged projects and speculative "fliers"? The temptation to too
many and too hastily prepared exploratory programs - the need for some. The
value of keeping a list of "leads"; i.e., fields of future interest.
K.

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Procedure

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5.

Officers' conference. Clearing recommendations with the president and
fellow officers. The inherent difficulties of joint programs. The risk
of having to put a proposal through too many sieves.

Docket. Writing the docket. Headings and their contents. The effect of
the clause “or as mich thereof as may be necessary." Effect of a well-
prepared docket on the trustees. “Authority to negotiate." Extensions,
renewals, and amendments.

Meetings. How many? When? Where? Limiting the executive committee in
amounts. Oral presentation to express the officer's assumptions, hopes,
hunches, reservations, forecasts, and answers to questions. The forma
that runs: what it is; what it is not; what it is a part of; and what it
consists of. Getting votes of conviction rather than votes of confidence.
What kinds of questions can trustees ask helpfully? Records of meetings
(minutes of finance committee).

Notifying the recipient. The implications of leaving to the recipient the
release of the news of a grant. The importance of an officer writing a
letter explaining in detail the meaning of the terms of the grant, especially
unexpended balances and the means of authorizing changes and the desire of
the officers to keep out of administrative control of the grant.

Publicity. Annual reports of two kinds: formal annual report as a matter
of record, and the president's review — high-lighted and popularized account.
Value of reporting projects to the trustees. Confidential bulletin. The
value and importance of a financial statement.

Communications within the organization. Frequent absences on travel make
such communications of special importance. The value of the home office
having clear understandings with its representatives abroad. RMP's under-
standing with his representatives. Memoranda. Diaries to present the
evidence. Hard to know what impresses you at the time. Keeping a diary
affects the way you ask questions and the way you listen at an interview.
Also useful as a record of what was said and not said. Value of exchange
of letters after an important interview. Letters - usually too full and too
varied. J. D. Greene's remark about telegrams. Records of projects. Lack
of adequate record of what was expected. Visits to home office and the
effect of air travel.

Officers’ work

l.

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3.

Study. Cumalative nature, especially with regard to his knowledge of persons
and institutions. Officers always complain that they don't have enough time
for reading and thinking. Special assignments to others.

Reports and records. Survey before any program is taken up. Brevity in a
winding sheet. Declinations. Other types of writing. Speaking and public
addresses. Reports from recipients.

Travel. Invitation. Value of comparisons. Purpose: to find men with ideas,
on their home grounds, and men that are better than you are. Choose so well
that you don't want to control them. Wait till the heart leaps up. Working
M.

7.

from the top down. The proprieties of approaching the research worker.
Expense accounts. Hospitality. Hotels versus private hospitality. Courtesy
fund. Dangers of carrying the news.

4. Interviews. Accessibility of officers. Persons. What does he want?
Advice versus money. "Share the thinking." Estimating the man. Character.
A. V. Hill's story. Getting impressions from others (Pasteur). A man's
ability to lead his own colleagues. His past record. Percival Bailey's
remark. The importance of putting an asker at his ease. Not to an individual,
but through him.

5. Attitude of an officer. Buttrick's “extra engine." Officer as an advocate
going before a court regarding somebody else's money. Double role of the
officer as buyer - sensitive, restless, imaginative, critical, discriminating;
and as seller - candid, clear, convincing, responsible. Giving credit for
the work done; especially important abroad. Midwives. Gratitude to recip-
ients; e.g., the Poles in Parana. Attitude to honors, degrees, and the
naming of enterprises.

6. Conduct of negotiations. The importance of having an initial understanding
with the administration of the institution. Asking for information. What
the officer can promise, and warnings of his inability. Negotiations through-
out the year. The importance of winter and early spring.

Te Aayies ~ "As wd weub Doug? dhe orld of oe
The psychopathology of giving. “

My interview with the Hungarian. The effect of the "Jehovah complex" and pontifi-
cating. Giving approval. The dangers of testimonials. The alternative to making
a specific gift is not keeping the money in the bank, but giving it to someone else.
Granting means approval, but not granting does not mean disapproval. Resentment

at proprietary control. The attitude of askers. Ingratiating, argumentative

("why not?"), self-depreciating, and naive. The reactions of the receiver -
gratitude and hard work; dependence and relaxation of effort; suspicion and
irritability; indifference.

Forms of giving
1. Endowment

Outright or contingent. Contingent depends upon general financial situation,
on other foundations, and on the desirability of having an inducement or
leverage for raising further funds. Modifications of contingent, part being
outright and part on a dollar-for-dollar basis. Advantages of endowment in
point of clarity of termination. Investment trusts.

2. Buildings
State universities versus private universities, and their attitude towards
buildings. Private persons as donors of buildings. The Lyons experience.
Preliminary study before planning a building.

3. Fellowships

General advantages. Multiplied by time. Adaptation of the fellow and his
newly-acquired ideas to the local scene. Types of fellowships. Scholarship
4.

5.

8.

at full cost. Pre-doctoral. Note the Cope Fellowships at Harvard. Poat-
doctoral - Cambridge, Beit, Welch, Markle. Selection of the fellow.
Considerations of age, and guarantee of post on return. Choice of his
place of study. Best duration of fellowship. Follow-up. When can the
advantages of a fellowship be best evaluated?

Grants in aid

a. Purposes

Informative; for example, a government that has money to do something
has no money to find out how to do it. Grants in aid can be useful to
explore a potential area of research. Purpose of the grant in aid may
be to encourage a competent worker who is ignored or distrusted. Grant
in aid can provide a trial run for a task that may later deserve larger
support. Grant in aid may be used for salvage purposes.

b. Grants in aid usually stand on four legs:

(1) Feasibility - is it a good lead in the present stage of knowledge?
This requires technical knowledge on the part of the officer pro-
posing the grant.

(2) Is the leadership satisfactory? What about the age, health,
character, competence, and record of the performers?

(3) Are the circumstances favorable? Does the institution know about
and support the enterprise? Is the institution solvent? Is the
material to be studied adequate?

(4) The board of trustees' policy or interest.

ec. Contingent or outright. The question of institutional overhead.

dad. Duration of the grant. The role of tapering. Forward financing.
Curb-sticking. Six years' support for five years! work.

e. Types of work as they affect the form of the grant. Mining versus
snelting.

f. Defects of grants in aid
Soft money. Good askers. Mendicity versus mendacity. Donors’ pride and
impatience for results. Over-conscientlousnees of the recipient who feels
he must not change his interests during the period of a grant. Grants
for approval only and relating mostly to status and promotion of the
recipient.

g.- Application forms? $300 toprepare a better request.

Cooperation with government

Invitation to survey. Expenses of survey shared. Survey and report thereof.
Project including training government personnel. Taper and termination.
0.

P.

9.

Frontiers and foundations

Hunting for men and ideas, Memorandum from Old Man Buttrick. The importance
of travel and comparison. The use of interpreters. The origin of conviction
(rule of the Bank of England). "All criticism is a form of autobiography."

Tendency of officer to identify with a recipient; cf. good marks given by
teachers,

Retrospective / qh fe A

The isolation of the giver from criticism. The importence of the character of
the recipient. The bank at Monte Carlo. Time and tenacity. Mr. Rose's "We are
not in a hurry." Advising as an officer's function. Personal relationships
with the recipient. Impersonality and loneliness. What money won't buy, namely,
discoveries and good morale. What giving money does not assure: success and
character of the recipient. Inherited programs. Emphasis on people, and the

A. V. Hill epitaph.