Foundation Annual Reports

LYNDE AND HARRY BRADLEY FOUNDATION
P.O. Box 92848
Milwaukee 53202
(414) 291-9915

Period covered: Year ending December 31, 1997.

Purpose and areas of support: The foundation was established in 1985 with proceeds from Rockwell International Corporation’s acquisition of the Allen-Bradley Company, which was founded in 1903 by the brothers Lynde and Harry Bradley.

Grant making stresses projects that “treat free men and women as genuinely self-governing, personally responsible citizens,” not as victims or clients; that “aim to restore the intellectual and cultural legitimacy of citizenly common sense;” that “seek to reinvigorate and re-empower” churches, families, schools, and neighborhoods; and that “encourage decentralization of power and accountability away from centralized, bureaucratic, national institutions.”

The foundation supports projects in economics, politics, culture, and civil society as they relate to citizenship. It does not, however, emphasize projects on civics education, voter awareness or turn-out, or similar activities that are narrowly focused on voting and elections.

The foundation also makes some grants for culture, education, grassroots economic development, and social and health services in Wisconsin, with an emphasis on Milwaukee.

Many grants made in 1997 went for programs at colleges, universities, and public-policy institutions. For example, $250,000 went to the Hudson Institute, in Indianapolis, for its Welfare Policy Center, and $90,000 went to George Mason University, in Fairfax, Va., for graduate and postgraduate fellowships in economics and political science.

The foundation supports programs that study “the needs of gifted children and techniques of providing education for students with superior skills and/or intelligence,” as well as programs that provide scholarships or “vouchers” to enable poor public-school students to attend private or parochial schools. Grants included $2,000,000 to the Milwaukee-based organization Partners Advancing Values in Education, for continued support of a student-scholarship program.

Other appropriations included $102,200 to Brandeis University, in Waltham, Mass., for a book project on the Holocaust, and $35,000 to Evangelicals for Social Action, in Wynnewood, Pa., for a project on education reform.

Milwaukee-area grants included $150,000 to Family Service of Milwaukee for a program that provides child-care services and vocational training.

Application procedure: Before submitting proposals, applicants should prepare a brief letter of inquiry describing the applicant organization and intended project. If the foundation determines the project to be within its current program interests, the applicant will be invited to submit a formal proposal.

Key officials: Michael S. Joyce, president and chief executive officer; Daniel P. Schmidt, executive vice-president and chief operating officer; William A. Schambra, senior vice-president for program; Hillel G. Fradkin, vice-president for academic, cultural, and international programs; Robert N. Berkopec, chief financial officer; Dianne J. Sehler, program officer; I. Andrew Rader, chairman of the Board of Directors.

COMMUNITIES FOUNDATION OF TEXAS

4605 Live Oak Street
Dallas 75204
(214) 826-5231
http://www.cftexas.org

Period covered: Year ending June 30, 1998.

Purpose and areas of support: The foundation’s predecessor, the Dallas Community Chest Trust Fund, was established in 1953 by a group of Dallas businessmen. Its name was changed in 1981 to reflect the foundation’s commitment to projects throughout Texas; however, its grant making continues to emphasize the Dallas-Fort Worth region.

The foundation encompasses approximately 650 constituent funds. In fiscal year 1997-98, grants totaling $32,803,521 were distributed in the following program areas: education, which received 29 per cent of grant dollars; health, 29 per cent; cultural and historical projects, 10 per cent; social services, 10 per cent; youths, 10 per cent; religion, 9 per cent; inner-city and community projects, 2 per cent; and other, 1 per cent.

Organizations receiving grants related to health and education included the Presbyterian Healthcare Foundation, which received support for a digital mammography program, and Southern Methodist University, which received support for a lecture series examining news-media ethics.

Other recipient organizations included Buckner Baptist Benevolences, the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, the North Texas Food Bank, the S.P.C.A. of Texas, and the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children.

The foundation oversees the W.W. Caruth, Jr., Foundation, which was established in 1974 by the Dallas real-estate developer W.W. (Will) Caruth, Jr.

The foundation also maintains various area funds that concentrate on grant making in specific Texas communities, including the Palacios Area Fund and the Millard’s Crossing Historic Village.

Application procedure: The foundation welcomes grant requests year-round from non-profit groups that are tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Grant-request guidelines that provide details on grant-making policies and deadlines for submission are available from the foundation’s grant department, and potential applicants are encouraged to discuss the feasibility of requests with the department prior to submission. Requests for general operating support are usually not considered, and support for capital improvements is generally given priority over program-related requests.

Key officials: Edward M. Fjordbak, president; Gerald G. Carlton, executive vice-president and chief operating officer; J. Michael Redfearn, vice-president for finance and chief financial officer; Jeverley R. Cook, vice-president for programs; Marcia Williams Godwin, vice-president for administration; Cheryl Unis Mansour, director of donor relations; Ruth Sharp Altshuler, chairman of the Board of Trustees.

SKILLMAN FOUNDATION

600 Renaissance Center, Suite 1700
Detroit 48243
(313) 568-6360
http://www.skillman.org

Period covered: Year ending December 31, 1997.

Purpose and areas of support: The foundation was endowed in 1960 by Rose Skillman with funds from the estate of her husband, Robert, a vice-president and director of the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company who had died in 1945.

The fund makes grants for programs that improve the well-being of residents of southeastern Michigan, with an emphasis on the metropolitan Detroit area, which comprises Macomb, Oakland, and Wayne Counties. The children, youths, and families program also supports projects that have broad application throughout Michigan.

In 1997, grants totaling $15,928,948 were allocated as follows: the children, youths, and families program received $11,629,848, or 73 per cent; strengthening community and civic organizations, $1,975,000, or 12 per cent; culture and the arts, $1,249,000, or 8 per cent; basic human needs, $890,000, or 6 per cent; and other, $185,100, or 1 per cent.>

The children, youths, and families program encompasses five areas: education, child and family welfare, child and family health, youth development, and juvenile justice.

The foundation has budgeted approximately $70-million over 10 years for three related major programs for children: the Parenting Matters Initiative, which provides grants for child-rearing programs; the Comer Schools and Families Initiative, which helps Detroit public elementary schools adopt comprehensive education-reform programs; and the Youth Sports and Recreation Initiative, which supports positive after-school, summer, and weekend programs for disadvantaged children and adolescents.

A second component of the foundation’s school-reform efforts is the Schools of the 21st Century Corporation. In 1997, the organization established a permanent office, hired staff members, and secured more than $16-million in foundation and corporate support toward meeting a $20-million challenge grant from the Annenberg Foundation of St. Davids, Pa.

Other grants included $475,000 to the Michigan AIDS Fund, in Grand Rapids, to provide technical assistance to AIDS groups in southeastern Michigan, and $84,000 to the Mosaic Youth Theatre of Detroit to strengthen its fund-raising ability.

The foundation recently completed a year-long planning process, and revised grant-making guidelines are being made available.

In December 1998, Leonard Smith announced his intent to retire at the end of 1999; he has served as president of the foundation since 1983.

Application procedure: Applicants are encouraged to obtain the latest edition of two foundation publications: Grantmaking Policies and Procedures and A Guide to Evaluation for Skillman Foundation Grantees. They describe the foundation’s grant-making and application procedures and can be requested through the foundation’s program office.

Key officials: Leonard W. Smith, president and secretary; Kari Schlachtenhaufen, vice-president for program and assistant secretary; Richard O. Connell, vice-president and treasurer; Carol Goss and John Ziraldo, senior program officers; David D. Fukuzawa, Claudette Y. Smith, and Jodee Fishman Raines, program officers; Jane R. Thomas, chair of the Board of Trustees.