Foundations need to find better ways to explain to government officials, citizens, and others why they deserve their tax-exempt status and freedom to operate independently, Lance Lindblom, president of the Nathan Cummings Foundation, told a meeting of foundation chief executives and trustees Sunday.

Grant makers need to realize that “we are fat cows in a resource-scarce environment,” he said, and that, as a result, government officials will be tempted to offer more suggestions about how foundations use their money.

He noted, for example, that Michigan’s attorney general, had “raised questions”: about whether the Ford Foundation should spend more money in that state, since the philanthropy was incorporated there.

“We need to justify the freedom we have — and explain why we deserving that freedom by saying more than we are good intentioned people doing good things,” he said.

Alan J. Abramson, a professor of nonprofit studies at George Mason University, said that foundations also need to press government officials to do more to enforce the laws that govern foundations.

“If government doesn’t get the proper financing, some foundations will play fast and loose with the rules and there will be a general crackdown on all foundations,” he said. While some grant makers have shown support for greater enforcement, Mr. Abramson said “when push comes to shove, better enforcement gets lip service from foundations.”