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| Best Practices |
Fortifying Foundations
Darlene Siska
08/02/2004
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Cybersourcing
Finding the right firm is crucial. Local grant-makers’
associations can provide recommendations and references. There is a list of
regional associations on the Web at www.givingforum.org/ralocator.html. The
Council on Foundations (www.cof.org) also has
excellent resources.
One of the more recent developments in the outsourcing
field is the emergence of companies that use Internet technology to service
foundations. Douglas K. Mellinger is a former technology entrepreneur and vice
chairman of Enherent, a software development company. After he set up his own
family foundation, he wondered if there was a way to establish one without
mountains of paperwork, endless meetings with lawyers and months of waiting.
With a group of cofounders, Mellinger created Foundation Source, a Norwalk,
Conn., company that he claims can get a foundation up and running in three days.
He says Foundation Source can also handle day-to-day administration and
management, as well as federal and state regulatory compliance
requirements.
Boston-based Fidelity Investments runs another Web
service. In 2002, the asset management giant launched Fidelity Private
Foundation Services. This offers donors their own secure websites with access to
make grants, view foundation records and obtain legal and accounting information
relating to regulatory compliance. Fidelity will also file the paperwork
necessary to establish a foundation.
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