Conclusion

Alan Pifer was right: in foundation work, the human element is all-important. No one type of personality, no one sort of profession, produces the kind of people who become good program officers. The best grantmakers have the strength of character to resist philanthropy's manifold temptations; they have a strong respect for the rights of their opposite numbers among grantseekers; they possess innate integrity and the ability to listen carefully and communicate well; they are able to be at the same time creative and critical; they are imbued with a spirituality that informs and renews them; and they have an internal gyroscope that keeps all these elements in an effective balance. If a foundation hires people like these and treats them well, it will succeed. As Russell G. Mawby, the retired CEO of the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, is wont to say: “Only people are important, because only people make things happen.”