Private Charity and Public Inquiry: A history of the Filer and Peterson Commissions by Eleanor L Brilliant

Across the globe, non-profit leaders consistently note the importance of the legal and fiscal environment in which a sector exists. Eleanor Brilliant’s new book will be of interest to any country that is drafting or revising its foundation and association laws. It focuses on a roughly ten-year period when the legal and fiscal environment for the US foundation community was in serious jeopardy. These years begin with the Peterson Commission and end with the dissolution of the ensuing Filer Commission and the creation of its stepchild, Independent Sector.
 
In America, commissions are like temporary think-tanks that focus on a single issue, hold hearings and perform research, and result in public policy recommendations. The Peterson and Filer Commissions had certain similarities. Both were private, initiated by John D Rockefeller 3rd;  both focused on tax laws and related philanthropic issues; both commanded the attention and scrutiny of the US Congress. But the Filer Commission had a far greater public presence, and it still resonates in the American non-profit sector today.

Brilliant begins by setting the two commissions in the context of Congressional scrutiny of the foundation field. The point of this scrutiny was clearly to examine the independence and impact of large foundations and to make relevant tax laws.

The Filer Commission, formally called the Commission on Private Philanthropy and Public Needs, met in the mid-1970s and aimed to assist in this examination. It was named after its chairman, John Filer, head of one of the country’s leading insurance companies. Its story makes for the most engaging reading in the volume. Twenty-six individuals from a variety of professions and backgrounds sat on the commission, and it had an advisory committee of 120.

With so many participants, consensus was hard to achieve. It became harder to achieve when an external group, the 'Donee Group', began to criticize the commission’s lack of concern for poverty, social justice and pluralism. This group would evolve into the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, which exists today and strives to make philanthropy more just and democratic.

This is a scholarly book, but Brilliant constantly illustrates the personalities behind the stories and this keeps the text engrossing. Spanning the entire volume are the concerns and personality of John D Rockefeller 3rd. Brilliant also manages to include a sense of humour. When the call was made to Filer’s office to ask him to head up the commission, his secretary said to him, 'There’s a John Rockefeller on the phone for you. Do you know him?'

Elan Garonzik is a Program Officer at the C S Mott Foundation. He can be contacted by email at EGaronzik@mott.org

Private Charity and Public Inquiry: A history of the Filer and Peterson Commissions 
Eleanor L Brilliant Indiana University Press $39.95
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