As courts prepare to resolve the ongoing dispute between open-records advocates and the ISU Foundation, questions remain about which records about donors are private.

Foundation officials said its existing structure for handling gifts is adequate; however, the plaintiffs of the lawsuit are waiting for information that they say will be used for oversight of gift management.

According to the Foundation’s Web site, charitable donations designated for a particular purpose have accounts created at the Foundation and at Iowa State. If there is already an account with a similar purpose, the money is deposited in the existing account. Account administrators then handle the use of funds.

Jason Menke, assistant director of communications for the ISU Foundation, said 150 people at Iowa State have been trained in managing the accounts, in addition to the nine people working in the accounts management department.

Ruth Ratliff, vice president for advancement services at the UNI Foundation, said the University of Northern Iowa’s foundation is also concerned with gift management.

“We work with donors to be sure we understand how they want their gifts to be used,” she said. “When we accept a gift that has been designated for a particular purpose, we are committed to honoring the donor’s wishes.”

Ratliff said she was not sure whether more donors would request anonymity after the Iowa Supreme Court’s decision.

“When we know more about this [ruling], we will inform our donors and potential donors of the consequences and respond to their requests for anonymity,” she said.

Mark Gannon, a plaintiff in the Foundation case, said he believes the result of continued court proceedings will satisfy open-records advocates and still guard sensitive information.

“There are certain things that are going to be private — Social Security numbers, certain financial information … but [with records open, people] will be able to track their donations and make sure they’re used for the right purpose,” he said.

Menke said he is not sure the ruling would impact the Foundation’s fund-raising priorities, which are determined by the university.

Roger and Connie Underwood recently contributed $1.5 million to the College of Agriculture.

Roger is the chief executive officer and chairman of Becker Underwood, an Ames company that makes bio-agronomic products.

Underwood said he believes anonymous giving is the result of a desire to avoid requests for donations by other groups.

“People that give large amounts of money are contacted by other people saying, ‘Give to me,'” he said.