Definitely agree that my expectations are higher for a funder that solicits support from the general public.
However, I don’t think meeting the objectives in Holden’s blog post ordinarily require this level of secrecy. There are a number of possible intermediate points between “full public disclosure” and “not providing for any meaningful external assessment at all.” For example, if OP wanted to, it could presumably gather a panel of respected (and trusted) community members, have them sign an NDA (with two exceptions), and give them the justification for a sufficiently challenged grant. The two exceptions to the NDA would allow panelists to rate on a 1-to-7 scale “Is the amount of transparency appropriate under the circumstances?” and “In light of all the information, how reasonable was the grantmaking decision?”, and disclose the trimmed mean.
Of course, it is OP’s prerogative not to take an intermediate approach, and it would incur some costs. But how many six-figure-plus grants are they making that look this iffy from the external perspective?
Definitely agree that my expectations are higher for a funder that solicits support from the general public.
However, I don’t think meeting the objectives in Holden’s blog post ordinarily require this level of secrecy. There are a number of possible intermediate points between “full public disclosure” and “not providing for any meaningful external assessment at all.” For example, if OP wanted to, it could presumably gather a panel of respected (and trusted) community members, have them sign an NDA (with two exceptions), and give them the justification for a sufficiently challenged grant. The two exceptions to the NDA would allow panelists to rate on a 1-to-7 scale “Is the amount of transparency appropriate under the circumstances?” and “In light of all the information, how reasonable was the grantmaking decision?”, and disclose the trimmed mean.
Of course, it is OP’s prerogative not to take an intermediate approach, and it would incur some costs. But how many six-figure-plus grants are they making that look this iffy from the external perspective?