Giving Compass' Take:

• Frederick M. Hess shares an experience he had conducting research for a foundation that never hired him again after he returned unfavorable results. He argues that because of the power foundations have, they may accidentally squash opposing ideas. 

• How can foundations actively avoid this problem? 

• Find out how philanthropists can help correct power imbalances. 

One thing I found myself thinking about is the role philanthropy plays in the work we do, especially in the aftermath of RAND’s harsh evaluation of Gates’ Effective Teacher Initiative. This brought back memories from a couple decades ago, when I was at the University of Virginia studying how school systems in Milwaukee, Cleveland, and Edgewood, Texas, responded to school vouchers.

This research was possible because a foundation generously provided funds to cover air travel, rental cars, motel rooms, loads of fast food, transcription, and research assistants. Given my generally positive view of school choice, the foundation’s staff hoped and expected that I’d find that choice was driving systemic improvement.

After two years of analysis and hundreds of interviews, I wrote a book concluding that the story was much more complicated than that. Because this take was at odds with the funder’s vision, it was a real loser for me. Don’t get me wrong: They never threatened me or tried to tell me what to find, and I’d hoped they might find my take to be instructive. But they judged the work a disappointment, with the less said about it the better.

I eventually learned that foundations operate a lot like Santa Claus, with goodies to give away and an attentive eye as to who’s been naughty and who’s been nice. I wound up on the naughty list, I fear, and never heard from that foundation again. On one level, that’s no big deal. It’s their money and they have every right to fund whomever and whatever they like. On another level, though, it illustrates how well-meaning philanthropy can encourage groupthink and faddish bandwagonism — even when nobody intends it to.

Read the full article about acciedentilly promoting groupthink by Frederick M. Hess at Medium.