Foundation Annual Reports

MILWAUKEE FOUNDATION
1020 North Broadway
Milwaukee 53202
(414) 272-5805
http://www.milwaukeefoundation.org

Period covered: Year ending December 31, 1997.

Purpose and areas of support: This community foundation allocates both discretionary and donor-advised grants for projects that benefit residents of Wisconsin’s Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Washington, and Waukesha Counties.

The fund comprises approximately 450 individual funds. In 1997, grants totaling $8.7-million were made in the following programs: health and human services, which received $3.5-million or 40 per cent; education, $2.5-million or 29 per cent; arts and culture, $1.4-million or 16 per cent; conservation, $400,000 or 5 per cent; community development, $350,000 or 4 per cent; employment and training, $170,000 or 2 per cent; and other, $385,000 or 4 per cent.

The foundation increased its overall support for youth-related causes in 1997. Grants included $23,000 to the Y.M.C.A. of Metropolitan Milwaukee for the “Sponsor-a-Scholar” program, through which inner-city students entering high school are matched with mentors and promised an incentive college scholarship if they complete high school with good grades and attendance records.

Appropriations in other program areas included $50,000 to the Martin Luther King Economic Development Corporation for a housing- and community-development project in a 10-block area of Milwaukee’s Harambee neighborhood, and $25,000 to the Hebron House of Hospitality to create a shelter in Waukesha for mentally ill homeless people.

In cooperation with the Donors Forum, the United Way, and other organizations, the foundation prepared and released “The Report Card on Charitable Giving,” which tracked Milwaukee-area giving to non-profit groups. The foundation plans to update the report annually.

Application procedure: Foundation officials annually set detailed financing guidelines for each of its six program areas; prospective grant applicants should contact the foundation for information on current criteria. The foundation also offers regular sessions on its priorities and guidelines for grant seekers. Prior to submitting a full proposal, non-profit organizations must submit a one- to two-page letter of intent that outlines the proposed project. The letter should include a brief description of the project, basic information about the organization and its governance and financial situation; the amount requested from the foundation, the project’s total budget, and the name, address, and telephone number of the project’s principal contact person. Program staff members will review the letter and get in touch with the applicant organization if additional information is required. The board meets in March, June, September, and December.

Key officials: Douglas M. Jansson, executive director; James A. Marks, associate director; Doris H. Heiser, director of donor services; Wendy Horton, chief financial officer; Frank Miller, communications director; Margaret Jane Moore, senior program officer; Jose A. Olivieri, chair of the board.

SID W. RICHARDSON FOUNDATION

309 Main Street
Fort Worth 76102
(817) 336-0494

Period covered: Year ending December 31, 1997.

Purpose and areas of support: The foundation was created in 1947 by Sid W. Richardson, a lifelong Texas resident who had multiple business interests in petroleum, cattle, and land. It awards grants for programs operating in Texas in four areas: education, human services, health, and the arts and humanities.

Education grants emphasized partnerships among schools, universities, professional organizations, parent groups, and businesses to improve public education in Texas. For example, $140,000 each went to Stephen F. Austin State University, in Nacogdoches, and to the Education Service Center-Region VII, in Kilgore, for their joint “Developing the Leadership for Transformation of Education in East Texas” program.

Human-services grants continued to focus on children and youths, crime prevention, disaster relief and emergency assistance, elderly and disabled people, employment and training, housing and homelessness, hunger, substance-abuse prevention, and volunteerism. Awards included $26,400 to the Aransas County Council on Aging, in Rockport, to purchase a van and for program support, and $20,000 to the Tarrant Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, in Fort Worth, for a program for adolescents in juvenile-detention facilities.

Two large allocations were made in the health program: $2,640,000 to the Fort Worth Education and Research Foundation for Pain Management, for research and organizational development, and $1,075,000 to the Baylor College of Medicine, in Houston, for a research program of the Cullen Eye Institute and to establish a center on macular degeneration.

The foundation made nine new arts grants, including $300,000 to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, for a major expansion project, and $25,000 to Shakespeare in the Park, in Fort Worth, for general support.

The foundation also supports the Sid Richardson Collection of Western Art, in Fort Worth, which opened in 1982; its collection emphasizes paintings by the American artists Frederic Remington and Charles M. Russell.

Application procedure: Applicants must be organizations that are tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and not private foundations under Section 509(a). An organization may also qualify if it falls within the terms of Section 170(c)(1) and the grant is to be used exclusively for public purposes. Grant requests must be limited to programs or projects within Texas, and no grants are made to individuals. A letter of inquiry briefly describing the project or program should be submitted before filing a formal application. If the project falls within foundation guidelines and interests, a formal proposal will be requested for review by staff members. The board meets twice a year to consider proposals; applications must be received no later than March 1 and September 1 for consideration at board meetings.

Key officials: Valleau Wilkie, Jr., executive director; Jo Helen Rosacker, associate director; Cindy Alexander, business manager; Jan Brenneman, director of the Sid Richardson Collection of Western Art; Perry R. Bass, president of the Board of Directors.

WEINGART FOUNDATION

1055 West Seventh Street, Suite 3050
Los Angeles 90017-2305
(213) 688-7799
http://www.weingartfnd.org

Period covered: Year ending June 30, 1998.

Purpose and areas of support: The foundation was endowed in 1951 by the California real-estate developer and owner Ben Weingart and his wife, Stella. It makes grants primarily for projects to benefit disadvantaged people in southern California.

In 1997-98, 756 grants totaling $41,399,966 were allocated in two main areas: children and youths, which received $28,389,551, and adults and the greater community, which received $13,010,415.

In 1995-96, the foundation established the Major Grants Program, through which it developed four large-scale projects. “Bridges to Independence” is a five-year, $10.7-million effort to assist the approximately 900 18-year-olds who are released from the Los Angeles County foster-care system each year. “Design for Excellence: Linking Teaching and Achievement” is a five-year, $8.2-million effort to redesign the California State University teacher-preparation curriculum. “Parents as Learning Partners” is a five-year, $4.8-million program to involve parents more directly in their children’s learning. The “Fremont Youth Collaborative” is a five-year, $10.7-million effort to involve more than 10,000 youths in camping, sports, and tutorial activities.

Grants to assist children and youths emphasized community-based activities, crisis intervention, culture, education, and health and medicine. For example, $50,000 went to the Alliance for Children’s Rights to increase the number of children adopted out of foster care, and $50,000 went to WattsHealth Charities for a mobile pediatrics clinic.

Grants to benefit adults and other constituents focused on community services, culture and the arts, health and medicine, and higher education. Allocations included $100,000 to Clothes the Deal to provide appropriate business clothing to low-income people pursuing employment, and $1-million to the Japanese American National Museum to construct a pavilion that will include seven galleries, two education centers, and a resource center.

Application procedure: Applicant organizations must be tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Organizations that believe they meet the foundation’s eligibility criteria should first submit three copies of a brief “test letter” that contains a concise statement of the project’s purpose, the amount sought, and enough factual information to enable the foundation to determine its initial response. One copy of any supporting data may accompany the letter. If it is determined that the project meets the foundation’s interests and priorities, the applicant will be provided with the instructions and forms required to prepare and submit a formal application. All communication regarding grants should be sent to the president at the address above.

Key officials: Roy A. Anderson, chairman and chief executive officer; John G. Ouellet, president and chief administrative officer; Laurence A. Wolfe, vice-president for administration and real estate and corporate secretary; Ann L. Van Dormolen, vice-president and treasurer; Susan H. Grimes, Barbara Kaze, and Jerry C. Yu, program officers; Harry J. Volk, chairman emeritus.