7/28/2019 Effect V1 1 Spring2007Dube GoodPracticePrinciples

1/2

EFFECT | spring 2007 European Foundation Centre | www.efc.be

Rien van Gendt, Executive Director of

the Netherlands-based Van Leer Group

Foundation and Chair of the EFCs Code

of Practice Working Group that drafted

the Principles, says that for him it is

above all a matter of wanting to be in

the drivers seat and not being taken by

surprise by governments that want to

regulate. If the foundation sector itself

does not take the lead, ignorance about

the sector will end up stifling it.

Changes in the environment in whichfoundations work prompted the EFC to

review its 1996 Code of Practice.

The issue of terrorism; the liberalisation

of legal/fiscal regimes (and

governments expectations of a quid

pro quo); growing interest within

the European Commission in private

money for public good; and changes

in the sector itself, including a great

increase in its size, role, visibility,

diversity and cross-border activities, all

came together to create an urgency for

revising the Code.

As a result, the new Principles

emphasise transparency, stewardship

(with foundations investments now

considered as important as their

charitable spending), partnership, and

sharing of know-how and experience.

In order to accommodate the sectors

diversity, the Working Group decided

to draw up a separate document on

Illustrative Practice Options to help with

implementation of the Principles.

Implementation was in fact a central

concern for the Working Group. It is

very important that the EFC does not

simply say thank you to the Working

Group and then put the new document

on the shelf and go back to business as

usual, says van Gendt. He believes it is

vital that the EFC take a more proactive

approach to the Principles, getting

Centre members to take them to heartand also setting a level of aspiration for

the European foundation community at

large. But what does this mean in more

concrete terms?

According to van Gendt, the Principles

should become part and parcel of the

work of the various EFC committees

being created in the coming months.

These will be committees dealing

with legal/fiscal affairs; researching,

documenting and communicating the

work of foundations; benchmarking

and capacity-building; and networking

and collaborating. Even within the

current committee structure, how

foundations regulate themselves is an

issue that cuts across all activities. When

he was Chair of the EFC International

Committee, for example, there was a

discussion about the US Patriot Act

and Treasury Guidelines and how these

could affect European foundations thatreceive US money or cooperate with US

foundations.

While stressing that the Centre must not

and cannot be a watchdog organisation

or a police force, van Gendt makes it

clear that the EFC will ask prospective

members to agree to adhere to the

Principles, as it has done in the past

with the Code of Practice agreement

to adhere is mandatory. But the EFC

will now go further: It will also ask

current members to publicly showtheir adherence when they renew their

membership.

If problems do surface, the Working

Group recommends clear, structured

and flexible procedures to examine

alleged abuses, with termination

of membership being the ultimate

sanction. As van Gendt puts it, You

mostly need to use the carrot, but

you need a little bit of the stick as well

because if there are cases of proven

abuse or misconduct, it could damage

the credibility of the EFC and of the

sector as a whole.

In order to help its members comply

with the Principles, the EFC has decided

to take a number of steps. It will:

building Philanthropy Institute

Programme (PIP) with the seven

Principles of Good Practice and

3XWWLQJIRXQGDWLRQVLQWKHGULYHUVVHDW

The EFCs new Principles of Good Practice

It is very important that

the EFC does not simply...

put the new document on

the shelf and go back to

business as usual.

-Rien van Gendt

Van Leer Group Foundation

For the first time in a decade, the European Foundation Centre

(EFC) has overhauled its Code of Practice and produced a new set of

Principles of Good Practice. It is not just a question of a revised text,

but also of an enhanced role for such a document.

Foundations Toolbox

7/28/2019 Effect V1 1 Spring2007Dube GoodPracticePrinciples

2/2

EFFECT | spring 2007

4

European Foundation Centre | www.efc.be

organise practical roundtable sessions

around them

events, develop with membersself-assessment tools to implement

the Principles

existing resources on foundation

practices

adherence to the Principles on their

websites and annual reports; review

compliance with the Principles at their

board meetings on a regular basis

(e.g. every two years); and share the

Principles with their staff

We would like to see foundations

voluntary compliance and thats what

we ask, and we will ask it not only once

but consistently, says van Gendt.

Van Gendt has put the Principles on

the agenda of the Van Leer Group

Foundations board meeting in the

spring so that his foundation can

assess its own practices against the

backdrop of the Principles and the

Illustrative Practices. Besides individual

foundations, he thinks it is also

important for the EFC to work with

national associations of donors (NADs)and see how the new Principles match

what they have been doing. This way

the Principles can have a wider impact.

According to van Gendt, It is important

that we show to the larger foundation

community in Europe what good

standards are.

The Illustrative Practice Options that

supplement the Principles draw on

NADs codes of practice not only in

Europe, but in the Americas, Asia and

Australia as well. They also draw on

codes from other sectors such as health

and public housing. The Illustrative

Practices show that there are many

different ways that the Principles can be

implemented.Developing the new Principles and the

Illustrative Practices was a two-year

process. Inside the Working Group we

were always on the same wavelength,

although there were many discussions

about various points, says van Gendt.

I enjoyed it very much. It was very

rewarding though not always easy, but

then its good to be challenged and to

exchange ideas.

Nyegosh Dube, EFC

To download the Principles of Good

Practice and the Illustrative Practice

Options, go to: www.efc.be/4564

How does one fundamentally

change a major foundation after

18 years of operation? Just ask

John R. Healy, CEO of Atlantic

Philanthropies, an organisation

with an endowment of $3.8billion. Upon taking the helm of

the foundation in 2001, Healy set

Atlantic on a radically new course

that will see it spend its entire

endowment by 2016 and then

shut down. His task completed,

Healy is handing over to a new

CEO, Gara LaMarche, in April

2007.

Weve put a lot of time into developing

a completely new approach, says Healy.

Im particularly proud of the fact that

Atlantic now has a very explicit mission.

Having abandoned its previous rather

scattershot style of grantmaking,Atlantic now focuses on four areas:

Ageing; disadvantaged children

and youth; population health; and

reconciliation and human rights. I think

weve arrived at a very good approach

and I get great satisfaction knowing

that Atlantic staff are enthusiastic about

what weve built together, says Healy.

Related to this narrower, clearer focus,

We would like

to see foundations

voluntary compliance and

thats what we ask, and we

will ask it not only once

but consistently.

-Rien van Gendt

Some parting thoughts of Atlantics John R. Healy

on transforming a foundation

John R. Heal y,Chief Executive Officer,The Atlantic Philanthropies

FOUNDATIONS TOOLBOX