 he Fund's Board of Directors undertook a thorough review of the foundation's governance documents and practices during the year, resulting in revised By-Laws and new charters for the Executive and Finance, Governance and Nominating, Audit and Compliance, and Investment Committees, as well as a new Code of Ethics and Conflict of Interest policy. The latter includes a "whistleblower" policy and set of procedures designed to strengthen the institution's capacity for self-regulation. The Board also instituted the practice of undertaking a confidential annual Board Development Survey, aimed at helping ensure the Board's fulfillment of its responsibilities and high performance by the foundation. Recognizing that the performance and job satisfaction of staff are important contributors to institutional performance, the Fund participated, along with five other foundations, in the 2005 Survey of Foundation Staff conducted confidentially by the Center for Effective Philanthropy. The survey provided valuable insights on how the Fund is perceived by its "internal customers," including helpful comparisons with peer foundations.
The survey confirmed that foundations are generally good places to work and uphold high standards of performance. Compared with the staffs of other surveyed foundations, Fund staff rated the foundation more highly on the effectiveness of its program strategies, processes, and operating style—in terms of setting clear objectives, addressing issues in its fields in a timely way, aligning grantee decisions with program objectives, selecting grantees effectively and objectively, collaborating with other organizations, learning from mistakes, understanding its constituencies, being responsive to grantees, and adding value to grantees' work. Fund staff also rated the foundation more highly than did staff of other surveyed foundations on overall performance—making a difference in its fields, disseminating the results of its work, and producing clear outcomes. These staff assessments of the performance of the foundation are themselves a good measure of job satisfaction.
As measured by responses on 44 dimensions of job satisfaction and the work environment, the Fund's performance in this regard was average for the surveyed foundations. Staff rated the Fund comparatively highly on providing the resources to do their jobs well, conveying goals and objectives clearly, recognizing employee potential and contributions, and conducting beneficial annual performance reviews. Most Fund staff said their work gives them a strong sense of personal accomplishment and that they are excited about how their work contributes to the goals of the foundation. To an unusual degree, the Fund provides training and education opportunities to its staff.
Staff turnover at the Fund is approximately the same as turnover at other surveyed foundations.
As at other foundations, Fund staff regards their compensation as somewhat less than what it should be, given their background and experiences. A particular challenge for a foundation like the Fund—employing highly educated and experienced professional staff while pursuing a focused program strategy with strong senior executive oversight—is meeting their needs for autonomy, creativity, and opportunities for growth and advancement. The survey pointed to strategies for promoting job satisfaction at the Fund, and job satisfaction measures will be an important component of the Fund performance scorecard that is under development.
The Center for Effective Philanthropy's annual Survey of Foundation Staff is a significant service to the sector. It is hoped that additional foundations will join the ranks of participants—thereby enhancing the survey's value for benchmarking and tracking performance relative to that of peer institutions.
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