A proposal before Congress would force foundations to cover their administrative costs outside the five percent of their assets they’re required to give away each year. “Foundation execs are in a flutter. They see the bill as a threat to the immortality of their institution, and perhaps of their founders’ names. In their view, the bill demands that they either cut costs to the bone (at the expense of more difficult or adventurous projects) or go extinct. Susan Berresford, president of the Ford Foundation, has said the bill will force foundations “to eat into capital and the country will lose these… public assets for the common good’.”