This post is part of our week-long forum on foundation-funded journalism. Join us this Thursday at 8 p.m. ET to chat live with these writers.

A lot of important questions about foundation-funded journalism are being kicked around these days. Can foundations fill the void? Will they try to skew coverage? Is their support reliable? Or is it a fad?

I've been mulling a more basic question: Do foundations know what the heck they're getting themselves into? I'm not so sure.