Foundation Annual Reports

AHMANSON FOUNDATION
9215 Wilshire Boulevard
Beverly Hills, Cal. 90210
(310) 278-0770

Period covered: Year ending October 31, 1998.

Purpose and areas of support:

The foundation was incorporated in 1952 by the financier Howard F. Ahmanson and his wife, Dorothy. Its grant making currently stresses the arts and culture, pre-collegiate and collegiate education, medicine and health-care services, specialized library collections, environmental preservation, programs serving homeless and low-income populations, and other human-services projects. The foundation distributes the vast majority — roughly 90 per cent — of its grant dollars to organizations based in and serving Los Angeles County.

In 1998, the foundation allocated 494 grants totaling $51,083,144. Awards for arts and culture received $22,143,149 or 43 per cent; education, $15,257,430 or 30 per cent; human services, $8,127,726 or 16 per cent; and health, $5,554,839 or 11 per cent. The average grant award was $103,407.

Two multimillion-dollar grants were made in the arts category: $5-million to the Music Center of Los Angeles County to construct the Disney Hall, and $5.5-million to Museum Associates to acquire A Musical Party, an early-17th-century painting by Valentin de Boulogne, a French follower of Caravaggio, for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Education-related grants focused on literacy, after-school programs, arts and recreational activities, scholarships, technology, tutoring and mentorship, conflict resolution, and internships and apprenticeships linked to job preparation. For example, $25,000 went to the Clairbourn School, in San Gabriel, to purchase computers for an Internet-based mathematics program, and $5,000 went to Reading Is Fundamental of Southern California, in Los Angeles, to purchase books for children from low-income families.

Awards in human services focused on at-risk children and youths, minorities, the elderly and disabled, and hunger and homelessness. Grants included $20,000 to the Downtown Women’s Center, in Los Angeles, to repair its facility, which houses various support services for homeless and mentally ill and disabled women.

Health-related grants focused on the same populations. Awards included $200,000 to Planned Parenthood World Population in Los Angeles for its cancer-screening program.

Application procedure: Potential applicants should first review the foundation’s guidelines to determine if its interest areas and giving preferences are compatible with the need of the organization seeking support. A brief letter of inquiry may then be sent, addressed to the managing director. It should include the organization’s mission statement, a brief description of its background, a statement of need, and other potential financial sources under consideration. All letters of inquiry are screened to determine whether the request and mission of the applicant are within the foundation’s current interests. In most instances, written responses will be sent promptly to those who are not likely to qualify. Others who may qualify will be notified so that a full proposal can be submitted for further consideration.

Key officials: Robert H. Ahmanson, president; Leonard E. Walcott, Jr., vice-president and managing director; William H. Ahmanson, vice-president; Karen A. Hoffman, secretary and program officer; Kristen K. O’Connor, treasurer; Sam Dawson, Mindy Jones, and Manya Schaff, program officers; Yvonne de Beixedon, grants administrator.

EDNA McCONNELL CLARK FOUNDATION

250 Park Avenue
New York 10177-0026
(212) 551-9100
http://www.fdncenter.org/grantmaker/emclark

Period covered: Year ending September 30, 1998.

Purpose and areas of support:

This foundation was established in 1950 by Edna McConnell Clark, whose father formed the cosmetics company that came to be known as Avon Products, and her husband, Van Alan Clark.

In fiscal year 1997-98, approximately 180 allocations totaling $27.1-million were made in these program areas: student achievement, which received $7.4-million; tropical-disease research, which also received $7.4-million; New York City neighborhoods, $5.5-million; children, $3.7-million; and the Venture Fund, $3.1-million. The average grant award was $166,491.

The student-achievement program — which was formerly called the program for disadvantaged youth — currently works with four urban school districts to reform middle-school education. Those districts — Corpus Christi, Tex.; Long Beach, Cal.; Louisville, Ky.; and San Diego — have adopted academic standards for what students should know in the language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies by the end of the eighth grade, and have set goals for the number of students who will meet the standards in 2001.

In September 1998, the foundation pledged $3.2-million to formally establish the International Trachoma Initiative, in partnership with Pfizer. Support for tropical-disease research now focuses on improving the control of trachoma at the community level; initiating national trachoma-control programs in Ghana, Mali, Morocco, Tanzania, and Vietnam; and aiding the World Health Organization and other groups that combat blinding trachoma worldwide. The foundation ended its research program to develop a vaccine against onchocerciasis, or “river blindness.”

The primary component of the program for New York City neighborhoods is the Neighborhood Partners Initiative, which finances efforts to improve living conditions in central Harlem and the South Bronx. The fund has designated five community-based groups to lead those efforts: the Abyssinian Development Corporation and the Rheedlen Centers for Children and Families in central Harlem and the Highbridge Community Life Center, the Mid-Bronx Senior Citizens Council, and Bronx ACORN in the South Bronx. The foundation is currently working with those groups to create business plans for their growth over the next five to seven years.

The children’s program works to safeguard youngsters from abuse and neglect by establishing more-effective partnerships between child-protective-services agencies, community-based organizations, families, government agencies, and schools. The centerpiece is the “Community Partnerships for Protecting Children,” program, which operates in Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Jacksonville, Fla.; Louisville, Ky.; and St. Louis.

Through the Venture Fund, the foundation investigates possible new areas for future grant making and assesses and disseminates lessons from its current grant making. In late 1998, the foundation’s trustees approved a new program on youth development; guidelines will be available later this year.

Application procedure: Potential applicants should read the foundation’s “Grant Guidelines” brochure, which is available, along with detailed statements on each program, from the foundation and from its World-Wide Web site. Applicants should then write a brief letter describing the program or project for which they are seeking funds. The letter should include the purpose of the grant, a description of the proposed activity, an identification of the key participants, and an estimate of the budget and time frame. It should be sent in an envelope clearly marked “Proposal Letter Enclosed” and addressed to the appropriate program director. The proposal letter will then be reviewed, usually within one month of receipt. If the proposed activity falls within the foundation’s interests, the appropriate program director may ask for more information and a formal proposal. The foundation primarily supports organizations that are tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. It does not consider proposals for capital purposes, endowments, deficit operations, scholarships, or grants to individuals.

Key officials: Michael A. Bailin, president; David Hunter, director of the office of assessments; Nancy Roob, director of institution and field building; Joanne Edgar, director of communications; Ralph Stefano, director of finance and administration; Edward C. Schmults, chair of the Board of Trustees.

Program directors: Joseph A. Cook (tropical-disease research), M. Hayes Mizell (student achievement), Susan J. Notkin (children), Pamela Stevens (youth development), and Deborah Thompson (New York neighborhoods).

WILLIAM T. GRANT FOUNDATION

570 Lexington Avenue, 18th Floor
New York 10022-6837
(212) 752-0071
info@wtgrantfdn.org

Period covered: Year ending December 31, 1998.

Purpose and areas of support:

The foundation was established in 1936 by William T. Grant, who built a chain of more than 1,100 stores that sold household goods. It awards grants for research relevant to the healthy psychological and social development of children and youths, with an emphasis on interdisciplinary research and medical or social-behavioral scientific disciplines.

In 1998, the foundation received 688 applications; it allocated $9.4-million to 207 active grants, including 83 new allocations.

The foundation has restructured its grants program into three components: youth development, systems affecting youths, and the public’s view of young people.

The first component will finance research on youth development from late childhood through young adulthood (roughly the ages of 8 to 25) in six areas: civic development, diversity and intergroup relations, strengthening ties between young people and adults, marketing to youths and the diffusion of youth creativity, the impact of new technologies on youth development, and the transition to adulthood.

The second component will support the study of factors that influence young people. Emphasis will not be placed on families and schools, but on laws and policies relevant to youth development, social expenditures and allocations for young people, and education, health, juvenile-justice, and other institutions that serve adolescents and young adults.

The third component will emphasize public attitudes toward youths; it will work to counter negative views and stereotypes and to promote the positive contributions young people make to society.

The foundation will continue its Faculty Scholars Program, and will make an effort to solicit applications that are relevant to the new program emphases described above.

A limited number of one-time, discretionary grants of $25,000 or less are provided for research, training, and community-service projects that fall within the foundation’s interests. Preference for community-service grants is given to projects that adopt a comprehensive approach to serving adolescents in the New York metropolitan area.

In September 1998, Beatrix A. Hamburg retired after a six-year term as president. She was succeeded by Karen Hein, the executive officer of the Institute of Medicine at the National Academy of Sciences, in Washington.

Application procedure: The foundation has no printed application form. Initial solicitations should be in the form of a letter that briefly describes the project or program and provides a summary budget that specifies the amount requested. Other grant makers that have received inquiries about supporting the same project, or are currently considering such support, should be identified. Inquiries should be directed to the grants coordinator. If the foundation decides that the project falls within its current program interests and priorities, a full proposal will be requested for further consideration. The Faculty Scholars Program requires a separate application and review process; the brochure on this program should be requested well in advance of the annual July 1 deadline.

Key officials: Karen Hein, president; Lonnie R. Sherrod, executive vice-president; Kenneth S. Rolland, treasurer; Mary E. Goodley, vice-president and director of finance and assistant treasurer; Sharon Brewster, Gloria Crowe, and Nancy Rivera, grants-services coordinators; Rivington R. Winant, chairman of the Board of Trustees.