After a scandal uncovered questionable practices and a recent Iowa Supreme Court ruling pushed for more openness and accountability, ISU Foundation officials said Tuesday they are working to comply with open-records law.

They said they have improved and created new documents intended to clearly define donors’ intentions for gifts and leave a trail that should satisfy advocates for government oversight. However, the ruling of the Iowa Supreme Court has raised more questions about which documents the Foundation should release.

“We encourage people whom we have discussions with to let us know about … their expectations,” said Lisa Eslinger, the Foundation’s vice president for finance. “We want to have a good discussion and document that discussion.”

Eslinger said that the alleged misuse of a gift made by Marie Powers in 1996 contributed to the Foundation’s efforts to make records available. Powers left the estate to the College of Agriculture for it to use for teaching purposes. However, after three years, the Foundation sold the land against her wishes and used the proceeds for purposes not specified in her will.

The controversy arose when Mark Gannon, a former ISU employee and owner of Gannon Real Estate in Ames, and Des Moines businessman Arlen Nichols requested to see the Foundation’s records after the Powers scandal became public. The Foundation and ISU officials denied them access to a majority of the documents requested. The pair then sued to open the records.

“The publicity that came from the Marie Powers incident moved it up on our list of priorities,” Eslinger said.

“To say that [the policies] weren’t a result of the incident is not fair.”

She said the Foundation has implemented two procedures that help to clarify donor intent. The first process is the donor agreement.

Donors and Foundation officials fill out a form that establishes an account that the donor’s gift will be transferred to. In the agreement, the donor states his or her intent, how the funds should be used and the source of the funds.

Although the agreement has a clause stating it is a public document, Eslinger said the Foundation’s board and Iowa Attorney General’s Office will discuss whether to make the donor agreements available to the public.

The Marie Powers controversy has also influenced Foundation gift policy. Eslinger said that the Foundation’s Gift Acceptance Committee, which is composed of four Foundation employees and an ISU faculty member, evaluates gifts based on risk.

Gifts like real estate with donor restrictions, like the Powers estate, have recently been classified as a “significant risk.” These gifts must have a donor agreement and be approved by the committee before the Foundation accepts the gift.

Jason Menke, assistant director of communications for the ISU Foundation, said 97 percent of donations to the Foundation are given for specific purposes. Three percent of donations given, however, do not have a designated purpose.

These “unrestricted” gifts that have no designation are analyzed within the Foundation and then sent to ISU President Gregory Geoffroy, who has final say in how the funds will be used for the university.

“The less designation there is, the more ability Geoffroy has to use the money where it needs to be used,” Eslinger said.

After the Foundation gives the money to Iowa State and it is spent, it become public record, according to open records provisions in the Iowa Code.

“I think this openness can be used to increase donations,” Gannon said.

“The Foundation can promote [its openness] as a selling point — quelling donors’ concerns and using their money for specific purposes.”

He said the Foundation has had a good attitude about the court decision.