Foundation Annual Reports

WILLIAM H. GATES FOUNDATION
4756 University Village Place N.E.
Suite 379
Seattle 98105
http://www.gatesfoundations.org

Period covered: Year ending March 31, 1998.

Purpose and areas of support:

The foundation was created in 1994 by Bill Gates, chairman of the Microsoft Corporation, and his wife, Melinda. It is directed by William H. Gates, Sr., retired senior partner in the law firm of Preston Gates Ellis, and makes grants in three program areas: world health and population, community giving in the Pacific Northwest, and education.

The foundation made allocations totaling $10,032,977 in the world health and population program, which focuses on reproductive health, voluntary family-planning services, health care for women and children, and global population growth. Grants included $2,094,509 over three years to AVSC International, in New York, to expand a study of effective ways to screen poor women for cervical cancer and to develop an on-line training program on infection prevention for health-care workers in low-income and inaccessible areas.

The program also emphasizes efforts to insure that children in developing countries have access to new vaccines that immunize them against preventable diseases. To that end, the foundation awarded $100-million in early December to a Seattle-based organization, the Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH), to administer the Bill and Melinda Gates Children’s Vaccine Program, which will work to decrease the time it takes for new vaccines to reach children in poor nations. The program will focus initially on new vaccines that protect against diarrheal and respiratory diseases and against liver disease resulting from hepatitis B infection.

Charities that serve the Pacific Northwest received allocations totaling $5,168,937; awards focused on capital campaigns and programs that meet the needs of children and families. For example, $75,000 went to the Children’s Museum of Spokane for its capital campaign, and $20,000 to ACAP Child and Family Services, in Auburn, for the King County Courthouse Drop-In Child Care Center.

Education-related grants totaling $4,277,647 were awarded for both U.S. and international projects; allocations included $150,000 to the Bellevue Community College Foundation for the Northwest Center for Emerging Technologies, and $1,125,492 to the Friends of Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund, in Rockville, Md., for educational programs for South African youths who are disabled, homeless, or in detention.

Since the end of the period covered in this report, the Gates family has made additional contributions to the foundation’s endowment, most notably a $1-billion gift in October. The gift doubled the fund’s assets, which currently stand at approximately $2-billion. (See “Gates Boots Up His Giving,” The Chronicle, December 17, 1998.)

Application procedure: The foundation does not accept unsolicited proposals. Additional information is available on the foundation’s World-Wide Web site, located at http://www.gatesfoundations.org. Additional information on the Bill and Melinda Gates Children’s Vaccine Program can be found at http://www.childrensvaccine.org.

Key officials: William H. Gates Sr., director; Suzanne Cluett, associate director; William H. Gates III, founder and trustee; Melinda Gates, founder.

W. K. KELLOGG FOUNDATION

One Michigan Avenue East
Battle Creek, Mich. 49017-4058
(616) 968-1611
http://www.wkkf.org

Period covered: Year ending August 31, 1998.

Purpose and areas of support:

The foundation was established in 1930 by W. K. Kellogg, founder of the breakfast-cereal company that bears his name. In 1997- 98, grant commitments totaling $319.4-million were made in the following areas: health, which received 28 per cent of grant dollars; youth development and education, 21 per cent; “cross-cutting themes,” 15 per cent; philanthropy and volunteerism, 12 per cent; special opportunities, 8 per cent; food systems and rural development, 6 per cent; projects in the Battle Creek, Mich., area, 3 per cent; and other, 7 per cent.

The foundation made payments to 1,437 of its 3,692 active projects and awarded 1,023 new commitments. Overall, 86 per cent of new dollars allocated went to U.S. programs, 10 per cent to programs in Latin America and the Caribbean, and 4 per cent to programs in southern Africa. Grants in southern Africa focus on projects in Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe.

Health-related grants stress increased access to comprehensive services that emphasize public health, disease prevention, and primary care.

Youth and education grants focus on two areas: promoting the well-being of children, teen-agers, and young adults in the United States through community-based programs, and strengthening higher-education institutions. Several grants were made through the Native American Higher Education Initiative; for example, $530,000 went to Bay Mills Community College, in Brimley, Mich., to provide economic-development training to tribal groups and businesses and to provide an immersion program in the Ojibwe language.

“Cross-cutting themes” comprise projects in leadership development, information systems and technology, cultural and ethnic diversity, and community-based social and economic development.

Grants in the philanthropy and volunteerism program included $800,000 to Northwestern University, in Evanston, Ill., to establish the Center for Non-Profit Management and Social Entrepreneurship.

Application procedure: Interested organizations should submit a one- to two-page pre-proposal letter that describes the basic problem to be considered and the plan for its solution. The letter should briefly explain the project’s objectives, operational procedures, and time schedules as well as the personnel and financial resources available and needed. Pre-proposal letters should be sent to the Manager of Grant Proposals at the address above. It is not necessary to provide a plastic-bound or expensively produced letter, since all requests must be disassembled for electronic imaging and filing. Letters should be sent on standard-sized, light-colored paper. Personal visits to the foundation are discouraged, and videotapes, information on staff or board members, invoices, and other information should not be sent unless specifically requested. If the proposal is within the foundation’s guidelines, interests, and resources, the applicant may be asked to develop a more-detailed proposal.

Key officials: William C. Richardson, president and chief executive officer; Gregory A. Lyman, senior vice-president and corporate secretary; Anne C. Petersen, senior vice-president for programs; Geraldine Kearse Brookins, Richard M. Foster, Gail D. McClure, Dan E. Moore, and Gloria R. Smith, vice-presidents for programs; Karen R. Hollenbeck, vice-president of administration and assistant corporate secretary; Paul J. Lawler, vice-president of finance and treasurer; Robert L. Raun, chair of the Board of Trustees.

ROCKEFELLER BROTHERS FUND

437 Madison Avenue
New York 10022-7001
(212) 812-4200
rock@rbf.org
http://www.rbf.org

Period covered: Year ending December 31, 1997.

Purpose and areas of support:

The fund was established in 1940 as a vehicle for coordinating charitable giving by the daughter and five sons of John D. Rockefeller, Jr., who made a substantial gift to the foundation in 1951 and left a major bequest upon his death in 1960.

In 1997, 405 grant payments totaling $10,406,670 were made in five major areas: the “One World” program, which supports projects on world security and the sustainable use of natural resources; non-profit organizations; projects in New York City; education; and basic education for children and adults in South Africa. The fund also administers the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation, the Program for Asian Projects, and the Pocantico Programs at the Pocantico Conference Center, located in Westchester County, N.Y.

The “One World: Sustainable Resource Use” area remained the fund’s largest program, receiving $4,825,300, or 46 per cent of total grants paid. Awards are made in four geographic areas: global, the United States, Central and Eastern Europe, and East Asia.

Global projects focused on climate change and on biological diversity. In the former area, emphasis was placed on projects related to utility-based energy efficiency, renewable energy sources, transportation, and “green taxes” on energy use. In the latter area, emphasis was placed on projects related to temperate rain forests and the management of fisheries and coastal zones. The fund also focused on the effects on climate change and biodiversity of international trade, economics, and multilateral financial and grant-making institutions.

Awards included $600,000 over three years to the German Marshall Fund of the United States, in Washington, for the Environmental Partnership for Central Europe, which promotes grassroots environmental leadership in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia.

The “One World: World Security” area received $543,020, or 5 per cent of grant payments. Its grant-making guidelines are under review, and normal grant making in the program has been suspended until revised guidelines are adopted in the coming months.

Grants to promote the “health and vitality” of non-profit organizations received $1,928,050, or 19 per cent of payments. Awards went to promote increased understanding of the role of non-profit institutions, to strengthen their resources and accountability, and to support model community foundations and non-governmental organizations in Asia and in Central and Eastern Europe. For example, the fund allocated $20,000 to the Asia Foundation, in San Francisco, for the International Conference on Supporting the Non-Profit Sector in Asia, which was held in Bangkok in January 1998.

Grants to foster civic engagement, community development, and education in New York City received $1,224,500, or 12 per cent of grant dollars. Allocations included $40,000 to Mothers on the Move, a Bronx-based group that promotes parental involvement in local school-reform efforts.

Education-related grants received $1,070,800, or 10 per cent of grant dollars; the fund places emphasis on developing outstanding public-school teachers, particularly minorities, and on improving early-childhood education in the United States. Awards included $200,000 to the Southern Education Foundation, in Atlanta, to help black teachers who are alumni of its Summer Scholars Program to initiate innovative educational programs in their schools.

Grants in southern Africa included $150,000 over three years to the University of Natal for the New Readers Project, which develops basic reading materials for adult learners in several African languages.

Application procedure: Applicants must be either a tax-exempt organization or an organization seeking support for an educational or charitable project. Foreign applicants must satisfy a determination that the organization would qualify as a tax-exempt organization if it were incorporated in the United States or that the project would qualify as educational or charitable. A preliminary letter of inquiry is recommended as an initial approach. Letters should be approximately two to three pages long and should include a succinct description of the project or organization for which support is sought, its relationship to the fund’s program, information about the principal staff members involved, a synopsis of the budget, and an indication of the amount requested from the fund. Letters of inquiry should be addressed to Benjamin R. Shute, Jr., Secretary and Treasurer. Review of grant inquiries is continual throughout the year. The fund’s World-Wide Web site includes information about its program guidelines, descriptions of recent grants, and a list of currently available publications. Copies of annual reports may be requested via e-mail by sending a message to anreport@rbf.org; grant guidelines may be requested by sending a message to guidelines@rbf.org.

Key officials: Colin G. Campbell, president; William F. McCalpin, executive vice-president; Benjamin R. Shute, Jr., secretary and treasurer; William S. Moody, Nancy L. Muirhead, Michael F. Northrop, Peter W. Riggs, Ben Rodriguez-Cubenas, and Caroline Zinsser, program officers; Priscilla Lewis, director of communications and special assistant to the president; Charles L. Granquist, director of Pocantico programs; Steven C. Rockefeller, chairman of the Board of Trustees.