Foundation Annual Reports

CLAUDE WORTHINGTON BENEDUM FOUNDATION

1400 Benedum-Trees Building
223 Fourth Avenue
Pittsburgh, Pa. 15222
(412) 288-0360 or (800) 223-5948
http://fdncenter.org/grantmaker/benedum

Period covered: Year ending December 31, 2000.

Purpose and areas of support: The foundation was established in 1944 by Michael and Sarah Benedum, who were natives respectively of Bridgeport and Blacksville, W.Va. Mr. Benedum accumulated a fortune in oil and gas, operating from corporate headquarters in Pittsburgh, where the couple established residence in 1907. They named the foundation after their only child, who died in 1918 at age 20.

Geographically, the foundation focuses on West Virginia, which generally receives approximately two-thirds of total grant dollars, and southwestern Pennsylvania, which generally receives the remaining one-third.

Awards to benefit poor, rural, and other West Virginia residents emphasize six program areas: education, health, human services, community development, economic development, and the arts.

Education-related grants stress higher education, partnerships for educational improvement, teacher education, and work-force development. Allocations included $83,000 to West Virginia Laubach Literacy, in Dunbar, for regional technical assistance and for 29 local literacy programs.

The health program works to help make high-quality, affordable health-care services available to all West Virginians, particularly children, elderly and poor people, and residents of rural communities. Within that context, grants focus on rural health policy, rural health-care delivery, professional education, and encouraging organizations to undertake health-promotion programs.

Human-services grants favor comprehensive efforts that integrate health, education, and social services. Support is given for research, to statewide groups that provide technical assistance, and to innovative programs to meet the social-service needs of poor families and other high-risk populations.

Community-development grants emphasize low-cost housing, rural leadership development, and developing recreation centers, libraries, and other community facilities. Economic-development grants emphasize business development, environmentally sustainable development, and alternative economic opportunities. For example, a three-year, $300,000 award went to Wheeling Jesuit University for a marketing tool designed to increase online sales of products made by West Virginia artisans.

The foundation recently redesigned its grant making in Pennsylvania, taking into account social-investment strategies, its traditional support for Pittsburgh, and successful West Virginia experiences that can be applied to rural and other areas of southwestern Pennsylvania. This new framework supports regional economic development, performing-arts institutions in Pittsburgh’s downtown cultural district, the United Way, and groups in Fayette, Greene, and Washington Counties, which link the Pittsburgh area to West Virginia.

New allocations included $250,000 to the Community Foundation of Fayette County, in Uniontown, Pa., for start-up support, and $125,000 to YouthWorks, in Pittsburgh, for a summer and year-round employment program for young people.

The foundation also made several grants that provided one-time capital support in West Virginia rural counties generally categorized as “distressed.” For example, $10,432 went to the Monroe County Coalition for Children and Families, in Union, to convert a former senior citizens’ center for broader community use.

Application procedure: Before applying for a grant, prospective applicants should carefully review the foundation’s principles, strategies, and philanthropic programs. Applicants should then make initial contact with the foundation by sending a preliminary proposal no longer than three pages that includes the following: a brief description of the organization; its address and contact information; a one-sentence summary of the project; a clear, concise description of the project for which funds are sought and its expected outcome; total project costs, other sources of funds, and the specific amount requested from the foundation; a plan for the project’s continuance or self-sufficiency at the conclusion of the proposed grant; the project’s anticipated start date and duration; and a copy of the organization’s tax-exempt letter from the Internal Revenue Service. The foundation also accepts the Common Grant Application form used by some regional associations of grant makers. Preliminary proposals may be sent year-round and should not be sent via fax or e-mail. One copy should be sent to William P. Getty, President, at the address above.

Key officials: William P. Getty, president; Beverly Railey Walter, vice president for programs; Dwight M. Keating, vice president and treasurer; Rose A. McKee, director of administration and foundation secretary; James V. Denova, senior program officer; Mary M. Hunt, program officer; Margaret M. Martin, grants administrator; Paul G. Benedum Jr., chairman of the Board of Trustees.

COMMUNITY FOUNDATION FOR PALM BEACH AND MARTIN COUNTIES

700 South Dixie Highway,
Suite 200
West Palm Beach, Fla. 33401
(561) 659-6800 or (888) 853-4438
http://www.yourcommunityfoundation.org

Period covered: Year ending June 30, 2001.

Purpose and areas of support: Incorporated in 1972, this community foundation makes unrestricted, donor-advised, field-of-interest, and other types of grants to benefit residents of Florida’s Palm Beach and Martin Counties.

The foundation makes grants in eight program areas: arts and culture, community development, education, the environment, health, human services, human and race relations, and the conservation and preservation of historical and cultural resources.

During its 2000-01 fiscal year, the foundation and its combined funds allocated grants totaling more than $4.9-million. Those distributions included more than $1.8-million from unrestricted grants programs, the human and race-relations program, and the Stratmann Intergenerational Fund, and more than $1.2-million from the Mary and Robert Pew Public Education Fund.

Although the foundation considers requests for grants of up to $25,000 from its unrestricted fund, such grants are generally smaller in size. Awards included $12,141 to Tykes & Teens, in Stuart, for an alternative program for students who have been suspended from school, and $10,000 to the Center for Technology, Enterprise, and Development, in Delray Beach, for an apprenticeship program that provides training in skilled trades.

Established in 1998, the Mary and Robert Pew Public Education Fund is a supporting organization that seeks to improve public-school education for needy youngsters in Martin and Palm Beach Counties. New allocations included $6,910 to For the Children, in Lake Worth, for an extracurricular tutorial reading program.

In August 2000, the Toward a More Perfect Union (TAMPU) Initiative was inaugurated with an initial grant from the foundation. The program’s mission is to spur civic participation and open dialogue among residents of the two counties, leading to constructive action related to race and ethnic relations. TAMPU is administered by the foundation and is jointly financed by the foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and the Children’s Services Council of Palm Beach County.

Donors established 16 new endowed funds, including seven new scholarship funds. The foundation now administers approximately 75 such scholarship funds, which awarded $389,900 to 97 graduating high-school seniors and college students in south Florida.

The foundation’s Nonprofit Resource Institute provided technical assistance to more than 300 regional nonprofit groups. Through the institute’s board-development programs, 170 board members from 16 organizations participated in workshops and 10 individuals or groups received guidance on establishing new nonprofit entities.

Application procedure: For information, guidelines, and application materials, contact the Programs Department at (561) 659-6800 or toll-free in Florida at (888) 853-4438. Guidelines and forms can also be downloaded at the foundation’s Web site. The deadlines for proposals for new grants are February 1 and October 1 of each year.

Key officials: Shannon Sadler, president; Beverly Pope Sears, executive vice president and chief operating officer; Danielle M. Cameron, vice president for donor services; Elivio Serrano, vice president for programs; Michele G. Veil, vice president for finance; Gibbie Nauman, communications and special-events coordinator; Douglas R. Pugh, program officer; John B. Dodge, chair of the Board of Directors.

GILL FOUNDATION

2215 Market Street, Suite 205
Denver, Colo. 80205
(303) 292-4455
http://www.gillfoundation.org

Period covered: Year ending December 31, 2000.

Purpose and areas of support: The foundation was created in 1994 by Tim Gill, the founder and former chairman and chief technology officer of Quark Inc., a computer-software company in Denver.

Its core grant-making program provides support to Colorado, national, and non-urban nonprofit groups that serve lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people, that provide services to people with HIV/AIDS, and that advocate human rights and pluralism. To qualify, organizations must be located in communities with 1.5 million or fewer residents.

In 2000, the fund awarded approximately $6-million to 472 organizations. Grants to Colorado groups included $12,500 to the Denver chapter of Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays for general operating support, and $20,000 to Public Communicators, in Boulder, for program and distribution expenses related to Free Speech TV.

Grants made elsewhere included $10,000 to the Mautner Project for Lesbians with Cancer, in Washington, for the Healing Works Conference, and $75,000 to the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, in Los Angeles, for a media research and analysis program.

HIV-related awards included $10,000 to Mothers’ Voices United to End AIDS, in New York, for national education and advocacy efforts, and $7,500 to AIDS Alabama, in Birmingham, for the Prison Prevention and Education Program.

In 1999, the foundation created the 21st Century Initiatives to augment its existing grant making. They include the Urban LGBT People of Color Organizations Initiative, the Statewide Advocacy Organizations Initiative, and the Community Centers in Non-Urban Areas Initiative.

Initiated in 1996, the Gay and Lesbian Fund for Colorado supports local groups while highlighting the philanthropic contributions of gay men and lesbians. It allocates grants in five areas: arts and culture; children, youths, and families; leadership development; public broadcasting; and social justice. Since its creation, the fund has distributed grants totaling more than $4.2-million to Colorado groups. Allocations made in 2000 included $32,500 to the Center for Prevention of Domestic Violence, in Colorado Springs, to sponsor the organization’s 2000 and 2001 Stop Family Violence Campaigns.

The OutGiving Project is the foundation’s training and technical-assistance arm. In 2000 this department held four conferences for donors and worked with some 400 charities to strengthen their fund-raising prowess.

Application procedure: For additional information on Gill Foundation grants and technical assistance, visit the group’s Web site at http://www.gillfoundation.org. For additional information on the Gay and Lesbian Fund for Colorado, visit its Web site at http://www.gayandlesbianfund.org.

Key officials: Claudia French, executive director; Gideon Fetterolf, director of training and technical assistance; Mary Lynn Korch, director of finance and administration; Donna Red Wing, director of policy and special initiatives; James David Ross, director of communications; Anthony C. Tapia, director of grant making; Rick Jung, senior program officer; Kevin L. Shea, program coordinator; Gay and Lesbian Fund for Colorado; Jan Brennan, senior program officer, Gay and Lesbian Fund for Colorado; Cristina Arnal, grants manager; Tim Gill, founder and chairman.