The Chronicle: 7/29/2005: The Risks of Sunshine

The Chronicle: 7/29/2005: The Risks of Sunshine: "The Risks of Sunshine

Some college-related foundations are under the gun to open their books, but many worry about donors' privacy rights



By ERIN STROUT

Early last month Dan Saftig, president of the Iowa State University Foundation, sat in his office reviewing a list of 8,400 donors, who contributed a combined $2.6-million in May. The records contained the names of donors, the dollar range of each donation, and the designated use for each gift.

But Mr. Saftig was not reading his own copy of the records. He was looking at a local newspaper's Web site, where anybody could find the same information.

For Mr. Saftig, the moment marked the end of a three-year battle by the foundation, which raises money for Iowa State University, to keep donor names and other records confidential. The Des Moines Register requested the documents soon after the Iowa Supreme Court decided in February that the foundation performs a government function for a state institution, and so its records must be open to the public. The newspaper plans to continue to run the donor lists on its Web site every month."