Failing Forward: The Importance of Course Correction in Philanthropy

Accountability Needed In Education Philanthropy

Giving Compass' Take: • Citing the example of Mark Zuckerberg and Corey Booker's efforts to revitalize the Newark school system with mixed results, Education Next's Frederick Hess discusses the importance of reformers putting funders' feet to the fire, making sure actions match words. • The accountability discussed in this piece goes both ways, so it's worth looking at how nonprofits use metrics to back up investments in the education sector. Are we looking closely at our own impact? • Here's more about how bringing philanthropy to education can often be a struggle. Ultimately, donors and foundation staff don’t have to answer to anybody besides themselves. They’re free to interpret their experiences however they like. This is why they can come across as unaccountable and smitten with their own wisdom. But it’s also good to keep things in perspective. If you’re bitterly angry at someone who’s voluntarily giving away large sums of money, you probably need to take a deep breath. Most foundation staff spend a lot of time talking to people they fund, people they might fund, or people trying to woo them. They spend every day talking about their mission, how to refine it, and how to execute it, and they do this mostly with people who want their money. Given all that, it’s easy to wind up in a self-assured, mission-driven bubble. It takes money to do things. Programs, staff, research, advocacy, and pretty much everything else that happens in school reform requires funding. This gives funders oceans of influence. Yet this influence is accompanied by a sea of quirks that rarely get examined or discussed. Reformers should change that. They should talk openly about the influence of funders and expect that foundations be at least as answerable for their actions as they’d like educators to be. Read the full article about accountability in education philanthropy by Frederick Hess at Education Next.