Council on Foundations Loses President, Leaving Organized Philanthropy with Questions

Vikki Spruill is leaving as the president of the National Council on Foundations after an almost six-year tenure to go to the New England Aquarium. Alex Daniels of the Chronicle of Philanthropy has captured the preliminary response to this transition with some accuracy, reflecting the impression some have that the organization has grown “too low key” on important policy issues and lacks the intellectual vibrancy and energy present in the sector.
On top of that, CoF’s coffers are greatly reduced even from when Spruill took over, in part to correct a trend of deficit spending. Over her tenure, the organization’s net assets have been reduced by half, as it has continued in many of those years to run deficits over $1 million-sometimes close to $3 million, according to the group’s 990 reports.
We are not, by the way, laying this at Spruill’s feet. In fact, the exact opposite is true.