Among the reports on a coffee table in the Carnegie Corporation's reception area is one on the foundation's efforts to help Zimbabwe overhaul its Constitution and government.

It gets straight to the point: "This is the anatomy of a grant that failed."

Just a few years ago, it would have been astonishing for a foundation, particularly one as traditional as Carnegie, to publicize a failure. Today, though, many of the nation's largest foundations regard disclosing and analyzing their failures as bordering on a moral obligation.

"There's an increasing recognition among foundation leaders that not to be public about failures is essentially indefensible," said Phil Buchanan, the executive director of the Center for Effective Philanthropy, which advises foundations. "If something didn't work, it is incumbent upon you to make sure others don't make the same mistake."