Annual Report 2004 - Charles Stewart Mott Foundation

ANNUAL MESSAGE
Consistency, Continuity and the Future
There are times in the life of an organization that are marked by
monumental changes: new directions, new initiatives or new
personnel. Yet, there are other periods where an organization proverbially
puts one foot in front of the other, steadily moving down a path of
continuity and advancing toward meaningful goals.
2004 was the latter kind of year for the
Mott Foundation. We honed the details of
our operation, with a special focus on
governance, grantmaking, technology and
investments.
My past three annual messages have
reflected on the need for the nonprofit sector
— including the foundation community —
to embrace good governance, accountability
and ethical practices while operating in a
milieu that can be described as challenging at
best, and threatening at worst.
Both charities and foundations have
continued to examine their practices in these
arenas. In October 2004, at the invitation of
the chairman and ranking member of the
U.S. Senate Finance Committee, Sens.
Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) and Max Baucus
(D-Montana), Independent Sector convened
the Panel on the Nonprofit Sector.
I was honored to serve on this national
panel of 24 leaders from public charities and
private foundations. The panel’s charge was
to consider and recommend actions to
strengthen governance, ethical conduct and
accountability within public charities and
private foundations.
Our work was augmented by more than
100 experts, who served on five work
groups, and a Citizens Advisory Group that
provided a broad perspective on how these
issues affect the public at large. We met
frequently, held 15 field hearings and
numerous conference calls, and received
feedback on the panel’s Web site.
In nine busy months, we met deadlines
by crafting an interim report in the spring
and a final report in the early summer.
The panel’s final report, Strengthening
Transparency, Governance and Accountability
of Charitable Organizations: a Final Report to
Congress and the Nonprofit Sector, was
completed in June. Further comments will
be forthcoming in the fall. The report and
related material are available on the panel’s
Web site, NonProfitPanel.org.
While these and other efforts at the
national and state levels are absolutely
essential, fostering good governance,
promoting accountability and maintaining
ethical practices begin at home. These issues
remain at the top of our trustee and
management agendas at Mott. Two years ago
our Board of Trustees approved the
Foundation’s first formal Code of Ethics,
which you will find inside the front cover of
this book as well as on our Web site
(Mott.org). But we did not stop there,
2 CHARLES STEWART MOTT FOUNDATION