Publicness and the Identity of Public Foundations

Abstract

Responsibility to the public is often understood through the limited frame of transparency, highlighting the idea of “the public view.” In this context, accountability is considered to be visibility regarding a foundation’s operations and processes. The research discussed in this article questions in what ways Australia’s public ancillary funds (PubAFs) understand their identity as public foundations, and examines how perceptions of publicness inform and influence the practice, conduct, and identity of grantmaking foundations. PubAFs, a diverse group of foundations with little homogeneity in their operating models, include community and corporate foundations, fundraising foundations for single organizations such as hospitals or schools,and those established by wealth advisory firms.PubAFs must encourage public donations and may offer subfunds or donor-advised funds to larger donors.