The Risks of Sunshine

Some college-related foundations are under the gun to open their books, but many worry about donors' privacy rights

By ERIN STROUT

Early last month Dan Saftig, president of the Iowa State University Foundation, sat in his office reviewing a list of 8,400 donors, who contributed a combined $2.6-million in May. The records contained the names of donors, the dollar range of each donation, and the designated use for each gift.

But Mr. Saftig was not reading his own copy of the records. He was looking at a local newspaper's Web site, where anybody could find the same information.

For Mr. Saftig, the moment