In 2016 the Transparify rankings, which rated the financial transparency of 200 think tanks in 47 countries, gave Chatham House four stars out of five for the quality of the public information about our sources of funding.
The creation of the Our Funding section of the website is one of the steps Chatham House has taken to be more accessible about information on its funding and the institute is fully committed to improving how we record and report our sources of income.
Think tanks can have an important role to play in providing objective analysis in the current political climate of change general instability, the rise of populist movements and a backlash against mainstream politics.
At the same time, they have rightfully been subject to increasing public scrutiny. Indeed, it would be disingenuous and wrong of think tanks to promote their ideas without being open about the sources of the funding that supported their development and dissemination in the first place.
Transparify’s aim of encouraging greater financial transparency in the think tank sector is helping think tanks to put this goal into practice proactively.
Chatham House recognises that a positive and constructive response to Transparify’s efforts can help think tanks improve public understanding of their working processes.
Chatham House will continue to improve these methods, as well as think about and be open to new ways to be as transparent as possible.
