Foundation Annual Reports

BOSTON FOUNDATION
75 Arlington Street, 10th Floor
Boston, Mass. 02116
(617) 338-1700
http://www.tbf.org

Period covered: Year ending June 30, 2006.

Purpose and areas of support: Established in 1915, this community foundation administers 850 constituent funds and primarily supports projects that benefit residents of metropolitan Boston.

During its 2006 fiscal year the foundation awarded grants totaling nearly $64-million through advised funds, which accounted for 63 percent of grants paid; discretionary funds, 21 percent; and designated funds, 16 percent. Donors contributed a record $73.6-million to the foundation and established 47 new funds.

In June 2006 the Board of Directors decided to emphasize three priorities — education, housing and community development, and work-force development — that will guide its discretionary grant making and public-policy activities. To a lesser extent, it will continue to award grants in the areas of arts and culture, civic engagement, community safety, economic development, extracurricular education, health and human services, and the urban environment. Each year it also administers or participates in special initiatives around issues such as homelessness prevention, “pilot” public schools, and voter participation.

Geographically, 44 percent of discretionary grant dollars went to projects that serve residents of the City of Boston, with an emphasis on the East Boston, North Dorchester, and Roxbury neighborhoods. An additional 42 percent of grant dollars went to benefit the metropolitan Boston area; 13 percent to projects elsewhere in Massachusetts; and 1 percent to New England or national projects.

Allocations from discretionary funds included $25,000 to Rosie’s Place, in Boston, to expand access to substance-abuse treatment for poor and homeless women, and $50,000 to the Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance, in Dorchester, to duplicate its HomeBuyers Union program in outlying Boston neighborhoods and suburban towns.

Education-related awards included $100,000 to English for New Bostonians to expand English-as-a-second-language services, and $40,000 to Bottom Line, in Jamaica Plain, to assist students from Boston public schools as they make the transition to college.

The foundation made final grants totaling $225,000 through the New Economy Initiative, a five-year effort designed to expand technology access and training for disadvantaged people and nonprofit groups that serve such populations.

Also in its 2006 fiscal year, the foundation continued to collaborate with the City of Boston, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and other grant makers on the SkillWorks program, which seeks to change the way employers hire and retain entry-level workers from Boston neighborhoods by promoting partnerships with community-based groups.

Through its “Understanding Boston” series, the foundation commissioned research by universities, think tanks, and other organizations and shared the resulting information with the public through 13 reports and 15 forums.

Application procedure: The foundation welcomes submissions of pre-application forms from organizations in the metropolitan Boston area that are tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. A new organization that is not yet tax-exempt may submit an application through a nonprofit group that has agreed to serve as fiscal agent. Potential applicants should visit the foundation’s Web site to obtain detailed information on grant-making priorities, periodic requests for proposals, and other application guidelines and deadlines.

Key officials: Paul S. Grogan, president and chief executive officer; Kate R. Guedj, vice president for philanthropic and donor services; Mary Jo Meisner, vice president for communications, community relations, and public affairs; Ruben D. Orduña, vice president for development; Angel H. Bermudez, acting vice president for program and senior director of grant making and special projects; Gail Snowden, vice president for administrative services; Hope C. Groves, chief financial officer; Richard E. Ward, director of grant making; Geeta Pradhan and Robert R. Wadsworth, program directors; Allison F. Bauer, Ann McQueen, and Elizabeth A. Pauley, senior program officers; George C. Wilson, chief investment officer; Corey L. Davis, grants manager; the Rev. Ray Hammond, chair of the Board of Directors.

GLOBAL FUND FOR WOMEN
1375 Sutter Street, Suite 400
San Francisco, Calif. 94109
(415) 202-7640
http://www.globalfundforwomen.org

Period covered: Year ending June 30, 2006.

Purpose and areas of support: Established in 1987, the fund makes grants ranging approximately from $500 to $20,000 each to women’s organizations based outside the United States that work to advance the human rights of women and girls.

During its 2006 fiscal year, the fund awarded 644 grants totaling $7,709,046 to groups working in 119 countries. In general, grants are flexible and provide for operating and program expenses, allowing the grantees to use the money as needed.

The fund currently stresses six program areas: advocating peace and ending gender-based violence, advancing health and sexual and reproductive rights, expanding civic and political participation, ensuring economic and environmental justice, increasing access to education, and fostering philanthropy that can bring about lasting social change.

For example, the fund allocated grants totaling $3.1-million to 292 women’s groups in 95 countries for wide-ranging projects to improve the health status of women.

Awards included $11,600 to the South Lebanese Society for the Blind, in Nabatiyye, for its work to assist blind women and children, including operating a health clinic, organizing income-generating activities, and carrying out public education.

The Global Fund for Women also allocated more than $1.7-million in grants to 120 organizations in 62 countries that seek to help women influence and participate in the news and entertainment media. Awards included $20,000 to the Filmmor Women’s Cooperative, in Istanbul, which trains women in cinematic skills, organizes a film festival, and has produced two innovative films that explore Turkish women’s relationships and sexuality.

Also that year, the fund awarded grants totaling $589,875 to 50 women-led groups in 29 countries working to stem human trafficking, and held a forum that brought together activists from the fields of health, labor, law enforcement, and women’s rights to discuss ways to tackle the issue. Grantees included La Strada, in Prague, which educates vulnerable girls and women about the dangers of trafficking, seeks to increase public awareness about the issue, and provides affected women with clothing, food, housing, and psychological help.

The fund also published a report entitled “Caught in the Storm,” which examines various ways in which women suffer disproportionately in the aftermath of both man-made conflict and natural disasters.

Application procedure: The fund accepts grant requests in any language or format. Detailed information about grant-making guidelines and the review process is available on the group’s Web site.

Key officials: Kavita N. Ramdas, president and chief executive officer; Shalini Nataraj, vice president, programs; Nicky McIntyre, vice president, development and communications; Dale Needles, vice president, finance and administration; Sarah Chester, grants administrator; Amina Mama, chair of the Board of Directors.

RICHARD AND RHODA GOLDMAN CHARITABLE FUNDS
The Presidio, 211 Lincoln Boulevard
P.O. Box 29924
San Francisco, Calif. 94129
(415) 345-6300
http://www.goldmanfund.org

Period covered: Year ending December 31, 2006.

Purpose and areas of support: The funds comprise two charitable entities. The Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund was created in 1951 by Richard N. Goldman and his wife, Rhoda Haas Goldman, both San Francisco natives. Its assets totaled $403.1-million at the end of 2006.

The Richard and Rhoda Goldman Foundation was endowed in 1996 by Mr. Goldman. A supporting organization of the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties, its assets totaled $51.3-million.

Mr. Goldman founded Goldman Insurance Services, an insurance-brokerage firm in San Francisco. Mrs. Goldman, who died in 1996, was a descendant of Levi Strauss and served on the boards of both the eponymous apparel company and its charitable foundation.

In general, domestic grant making stresses four program areas: the environment, Jewish affairs, population, and the quality of life in the San Francisco Bay Area. The funds also make grants to organizations in Israel, with an emphasis on civil society, the environment, higher education, peace, religious pluralism, and the status of Ethiopian Israelis.

Of the total dollar amount paid in 2006, $20,471,025 stemmed from the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund, while $22,847,500 came from the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Foundation. The funds paid out approximately 10 percent of their assets, a goal that Mr. Goldman emphasized in his introduction to the annual report.

Grants to benefit the San Francisco area totaled $20.8-million, due in large part to a $10-million challenge grant to the San Francisco Symphony to endow up to 20 positions in the orchestra’s string section.

Other significant payments included $3-million to the Contemporary Jewish Museum, in San Francisco, for a new museum facility designed by the architect Daniel Libeskind, and $1.6-million to the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, also in San Francisco, to restore a 2.6-mile coastal hiking trail that has cliff-top views of the Golden Gate Bridge, the Pacific Ocean, and the Marin Headlands.

Environmental projects received $8.4-million, and focused on efforts to protect and restore California’s natural resources, to reduce the impact of industry on the environment, and to protect threatened habitats.

Allocations included $75,000 to the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition, in Washington, for its campaign to deal with environmental threats stemming from commercial tourism in Antarctica, and $50,000 to the Green Press Initiative, in Ann Arbor, Mich., to advocate market-based solutions that encourage the publishing industry to use recycled paper fiber.

Jewish-affairs grants totaled $5.6-million, and included $80,000 to the Jewish Film Festival, in San Francisco, to enable teenagers to explore Jewish issues through filmmaking.

Awards made through the Israel program totaled $4.2-million; grants included $175,000 to Friends of the Earth-Middle East, in Tel Aviv, for a project designed to strengthen grass-roots cooperation among Israeli, Jordanian, and Palestinian communities that share water resources.

Population-related grants also totaled $4.2-million, with an emphasis on protecting and expanding reproductive rights and stabilizing global population growth. In addition, the funds made 90 grants totaling $4.1-million for special projects, including $50,000 to the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, in New York, for humanitarian-relief efforts in Sudan’s Darfur region.

Although the fund does not regularly support HIV/AIDS programs, it awarded $1-million to be split among 14 HIV/AIDS organizations in recognition of the 25th year of the AIDS pandemic and the need for continued philanthropic leadership on the issue.

Most of those grantees were located in the San Francisco Bay Area, including Healing Waters, a San Francisco group that received $25,000 for its low-cost outdoor recreational activities for people with HIV/AIDS.

Application procedure: Potential applicants should visit the fund’s Web site for detailed information on application procedures, grant-making priorities and limitations, and frequently asked questions, as well as lists of grants awarded. The fund does not accept unsolicited letters of inquiry or proposals in the areas of arts, education, health, or international population. All grant applications must be made through the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund.

Key officials: Amy Lyons, executive director; Debbie Findling, deputy director; Pamela Allen, program officer; Bonnie Boxer, Israel program representative; Nicole Carta, associate program officer; Natalie Silverstein, communications officer; Richard N. Goldman, president of the Board of Directors.