The philanthropic sector is facing both external and internal pressure to increase our effectiveness and improve our accountability as stewards of the public trust. This pressure is largely the result of media exposure of foundation legal and ethical violations over the last few years that prompted much more intense government scrutiny of our sector.
In our leadership role to strengthen philanthropy across Maine, the Maine Philanthropy Center is committed to demonstrating that foundations in Maine are responding appropriately to this national trend.
To launch this work, we convened an advisory committee of grantmaking colleagues along with others who brought legal and accounting expertise to the discussion to develop a core set of principles and practices to guide Maine's grantmaking community.
Accountability Resources We're pleased to share these principles with you, invite you to share them with your Trustees and Board members and hope they will provide an important foundation to frame your work to advance accountability, responsiveness and transparency.
We are also committed to providing current information on the topic, learning opportunities and links to other resources to assist foundations in your efforts to implement these principles and become increasingly accountable and transparent.
