Foundation Annual Reports

ARCHSTONE FOUNDATION

401 Ocean Boulevard, Suite 1000
Long Beach, Calif. 90802
(562) 590-8655
http://www.archstone.org

Period covered: Two years ending June 30, 2003.

Purpose and areas of support: The Archstone Foundation was established in 1985 to support charitable activities in the areas of health and health-care services. In 1999 the foundation changed its tax status from a public charity to a private foundation. Its grant making focuses on preparing society to better meet “the needs of an aging population.”

The foundation currently allocates the majority of its grants in four program areas: preventing elder abuse, reducing the incidence of falls among elderly people, improving end-of-life care and services for older adults, and responding to emerging needs in the field of aging.

Although priority is given to projects that serve residents of Southern California, the foundation also considers projects that serve California as a whole, that have the potential for duplication in California, that can have a regional or national effect, or that have the potential to improve practices in the field of geriatrics.

Elder-abuse grants focus on preventing the abuse, neglect, and financial exploitation of older people and on treating those who have been victimized. For example, the University of California at Irvine received a three-year, $833,085 award to establish the Elder Abuse Forensic Clinic, a regional facility that provides coordinated services to older and disabled adults who have been abused or neglected.

According to the foundation’s report, each year more than 1.3 million Californians aged 65 and older suffer hip fractures and other serious injuries as the result of falls. To help prevent such injuries, the foundation awarded $135,000 to the University of California at Los Angeles for a meeting at which more than 150 participants — including representatives of public-health departments, hospitals and health systems, health-insurance plans, and social-service agencies — created a statewide plan for reducing the incidence of falls among older Californians.

Allocations made through the foundation’s end-of-life program included $50,000 over two years to the Zen Hospice Project, in San Francisco, for a one-year counseling curriculum for practitioners involved in the direct care of dying people.

Grants to respond to unmet and emerging needs emphasize support for social and health programs, adult day-care services, primary caregivers for elderly people, services for disabled people, mental-health projects, and professional education and training. Awards included $33,300 to the Los Angeles Free Clinic to provide free dental and case-management services to low-income senior citizens, and $4,000 to the Alliance on Aging, in Monterey, to provide free counseling and peer-based services to elderly people with limited access to mental-health care.

Application procedure: Unsolicited proposals are accepted throughout the year, and the Board of Directors meets quarterly to decide on grant allocations. The foundation’s Web site provides information on the grant-application process and on materials that should be submitted with proposals. The foundation also periodically issues requests for proposals on specific topics; these have a separate review process.

Key officials: Joseph F. Prevratil, president and chief executive officer; Mary Ellen Courtright, vice president and program officer; E. Thomas Brewer, program associate; John T. Knox, chairman of the Board of Directors.

LILLY ENDOWMENT

2801 North Meridian Street
P.O. Box 88068
Indianapolis, Ind. 46208
(317) 924-5471
http://www.lillyendowment.org

Period covered: Year ending December 31, 2003.

Purpose and areas of support: This foundation was endowed in 1937 by J.K. Lilly Sr. and his sons Eli and J.K. Jr. through donations of stock in the family’s Indianapolis-based pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. Although the endowment’s financial portfolio continues to consist primarily of Lilly stock, the endowment is not affiliated with the company.

In keeping with the wishes of its founders, the endowment makes grants through three program divisions: community development, education, and religion. In addition, it makes some grants in support of youth development, leadership education, and fund raising and philanthropy.

During 2003, the endowment appropriated grants totaling $315.3-million to 640 organizations; of those, 238 were first-time grantees of the endowment. The education division received the most money — $119.7-million or 38 percent of total dollars awarded, followed by the religion division, which received $103.5-million or 33 percent, and the community-development division, which received $92.1-million or 29 percent.

Organizations in Indianapolis and surrounding Marion County, Ind., received $72.2-million, while groups elsewhere in Indiana received $125.6-million. Grants to institutions elsewhere in the United States totaled $101.2-million and grants to international groups totaled $16.3-million.

Education grants emphasize efforts to improve education in Indiana, with special emphasis on higher education and on programs intended to boost the number of Indiana residents who hold bachelor’s degrees. The endowment also supports programs that increase higher-education opportunities for blacks, American Indians, and Hispanic-Americans. Awards included $28-million to Independent Colleges of Indiana, in Indianapolis, for the endowment’s Community Scholarship Program.

The religion division seeks to benefit the spiritual lives of American Christians, primarily by supporting efforts to attract talented young people to the ministry and by financing sabbatical and other programs for current pastors and their congregations. For example, Auburn Theological Seminary, in New York, received $991,321 for the Center for the Study of Theological Education.

Community-development grants seek to benefit residents of Indianapolis and Indiana through support for human and societal needs, inner-city and neighborhood revitalization, low-cost housing, and the arts and culture. Grants included $75,000 to Dance Kaleidoscope, in Indianapolis, for general operating support.

Through the community-development division, the endowment also supports amateur athletic and fitness organizations, facilities, and programs that provide both economic-development and recreational opportunities. Statewide, the endowment provides large-scale support to benefit United Way affiliates and to augment the endowments of community foundations.

Application procedure: Charitable organizations with projects that fit the endowment’s guidelines may submit a preliminary letter of two pages or less that provides information about the organization, the proposed project, and the amount of money to be requested. Inquiries should be directed to the Grant-Services Office at the address above. The endowment responds in writing to all preliminary inquiries and will request a full proposal from those organizations whose projects it feels warrant consideration. The grant-review process takes three to six months, and all grant seekers receive written notification of the endowment’s decisions. Additional information is available on the endowment’s Web site.

Key officials: N. Clay Robbins, president; David D. Biber, secretary and treasurer; Sara B. Cobb, vice president, education; Craig Dykstra, vice president, religion; William M. Goodwin, vice president, community development; Thomas M. Lofton, chairman of the Board of Directors.

SURDNA FOUNDATION

330 Madison Avenue, 30th Floor
New York, N.Y. 10017
(212) 557-0010
http://www.surdna.org

Period covered: Year ending June 30, 2003.

Purpose and areas of support: The foundation was created in 1917 by John Emory Andrus (1841-1934), a New York businessman, investor, and politician. In its initial years, the foundation’s grant making focused on support for orphaned and emotionally disturbed children and on young people in general. In 1989, the third and fourth generations of the Andrus family to serve on the foundation’s board added programs in community revitalization and the environment. These were augmented in 1994 by programs in the arts and effective citizenry and in 1997 by the nonprofit-sector support program.

During its fiscal year 2003, the foundation authorized grants as follows: the environment program received $6,340,000; effective citizenry, $5,060,000; community revitalization, $4,850,000; the arts, $4,024,000; nonprofit-sector support, $3,345,000; the Andrus Family Fund, $2,347,550; and miscellaneous, $1,612,890.

Environment grants emphasize biological diversity, particularly with regard to forest and marine ecosystems; “realigning human and natural systems”; transportation and the sustainable use of urban and suburban lands; and renewable energy sources and energy efficiency. For example, Climate Solutions, in Olympia, Wash., received $50,000 to develop and adopt practical solutions to global warming that take job creation, economic development, and other factors into account.

The program on effective citizenry supports efforts that involve young people in direct, meaningful ways in order to solve problems in their schools, communities, and broader society. Grants included $300,000 over two years to the Center for Teen Empowerment, in Boston, for two chapters of this organization that involves teenagers in after-school activities centered on peace and social justice.

The community-revitalization program supports the balanced growth of urban areas and their ability to maintain economic and racial diversity. In what it calls “growing cities,” the foundation stresses efforts to expand and preserve low-cost housing, to involve residents and local government in planning and managing neighborhood growth and change, and to develop commercial areas that attract diversified businesses. In what it calls “declining cities,” the foundation supports innovative efforts to increase real-estate values and homeownership opportunities, to revitalize or establish pedestrian-friendly commercial districts, and to involve new immigrants in local enterprises.

The foundation’s nonprofit-sector program focuses on increasing the advocacy and policy role of charitable organizations; strengthening their internal management; enhancing their ability to respond to evolving economic, political, and technological realities; and helping them make effective use of new communications and media technologies. It also supports the creation of new sources of philanthropic funds, discussion on exemplary stewardship practices, and effective collaborations.

Allocations included $75,000 to Arts Engine, in New York, for MediaRights.org., a resource that provides nonprofit groups with the technical tools and resources needed to more effectively transmit their stories to the public.

In 2000, the foundation’s board established the Andrus Family Philanthropy Program, which has the goal of involving more than 350 extended family members in grant making. One component of the program, the Andrus Family Fund, facilitates the participation of fifth-generation family members in philanthropy. It makes grants in two program areas: helping young adults who are “aging out” of the foster-care system lead independent lives; and community reconciliation, which focuses on ways to ameliorate community-based conflict, strained relations between community residents and police officers, and conflicts over conservation measures.

Application procedure: The foundation strongly recommends that applicants submit a letter of inquiry before sending a full proposal. Upon receipt of the letter of inquiry, the foundation will issue notification of its 90-day consideration period. Although there are no deadlines for letters of inquiry, the board meets three times each year — in February, May, and September — to consider grants, and letters should be timed to allow at least three months for staff review. Additional information, including detailed guidelines on submitting a letter of inquiry, is available on the foundation’s Web site.

Key officials: Edward Skloot, executive director; Marc de Venoge, chief financial and administrative officer; Hooper L. Brooks, program director for environment; Ellen B. Rudolph, program director for arts; Robert Sherman, program director for effective citizenry; Carey Shea, program director for community revitalization; Vincent Stehle, program officer for nonprofit-sector support; Jonathan Goldberg, grants administrator and manager of information systems; Elizabeth H. Andrus, chairperson of the Board of Directors; John E. Andrus III, chairman emeritus.