The Chronicle of Philanthropy recently hosted a mock trial on whether foundations are really fulfilling their mission of "advancing the common good".  As described by Caroline Preston, the foundations essentially lost (officially it was a hung jury), with 10 audience members voting that "philanthropy was guilty of falling short of its mission" and two dissenting. 

"We just met with a foundation the other day, and that's what piqued their interest — the outcomes. A lot of donors are saying, 'If you can't show me the difference my dollar makes, I'm probably not going to give you that next year.' " - Joshua Hale, Big Shoulders Fund Executive Director "...over the years there's been an increase in requests to understand the tangible outcomes. Now [donors] say, 'Give me a specific story, give me a quantitative result.' " - Lorrie Lynn, United Way Director of Research, Planning and Education