Foundation Annual Reports

HARTFORD FOUNDATION FOR PUBLIC GIVING
85 Gillett Street
Hartford, Conn. 06105
(800) 548-1888
http://www.hfpg.org

Period covered: Year ending December 31, 2004.

Purpose and areas of support: This community foundation, which was created in 1925, makes discretionary, donor-advised, designated, and other types of grants to institutions in Hartford, Conn., and 28 adjacent towns. It comprises approximately 866 funds, including 40 that were established in 2004.

That year the foundation allocated grants totaling $23,242,501 in seven program areas: family and social services, which received 24.2 percent of grant dollars; housing and economic development, 22.2 percent; arts and culture, 17.5 percent; health, 12.2 percent; education, 11.6 percent; general, 7.8 percent; and summer programs, 4.5 percent.

All told, the foundation awarded 1,132 grants and scholarships ranging in size from $500 to $750,000.

Awards included $80,000 to the Connecticut Opera, in Hartford, for artistic and marketing programs, and $12,500 to the International Institute of Connecticut, in Bridgeport, to plan for a project designed to improve pro bono services for indigent people involved in immigration cases.

The foundation’s Brighter Futures Initiative is a 20-year, $25-million effort to increase the readiness of disadvantaged young children in Hartford to attend school. In 2004, the fund authorized new grants totaling $1,055,980.

As part of the initiative, the foundation created a new partnership to provide intensive services to young parents with children who are at high risk for abuse or neglect.

The foundation awarded a total of $1,042,080 to groups that provide summer programs for thousands of local children; projects included classes in English and math, overnight camps, employment assistance, and career-preparation, dance, and sports activities.

Through its Nonprofit Support Program, the foundation provides regional charities with low-interest loans, technology upgrades, management and board consultations, training sessions, and other assistance.

The foundation also maintains “giving circles” through which donors pool their assets and collectively decide on grant awards. For example, the recently organized Latino Endowment Fund’s 40 members allocated grants totaling $22,500 to the Hispanic Health Council, the National Society of Hispanic MBAs, and other groups that serve Latinos in the Hartford region.

Linda J. Kelly, a commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Public Utility Control, in Hartford, recently became president. She succeeds Michael Bangser, who led the foundation for 16 years.

Application procedure: Prospective applicants should carefully review the foundation’s “Guidelines for Grantseekers” publication, available on its Web site, to determine the eligibility of their organization for a grant from the foundation. After doing so, they should call the foundation to speak with a program officer.

Eligible applicants will then be sent a packet that includes detailed instructions, forms, and a list of required attachments. Applications for grants may be submitted at any time during the year; the only exception to this policy is the foundation’s Summer Grants program, which has its own deadline and application process. Detailed information is available on the foundation’s Web site.

Key officials: Linda J. Kelly, president; Virgilio Blondet Jr., vice president for finance and administration; Christopher H. Hall, vice president for programs and special projects; Richard Porth, vice president for grant making; Sandra B. Wood, vice president for philanthropic services; Donna E. Jolly, director of communications; Sharon O’Meara and Sara A. Sneed, senior program officers; Cheryl L. Gerrish, grants manager; Mark F. Korber, chair of the Board of Directors.

KECK FOUNDATION
550 South Hope Street, Suite 2500
Los Angeles, Calif. 90071
(213) 680-3833
http://www.wmkeck.org

Period covered: Year ending December 31, 2004.

Purpose and areas of support: The foundation was established in 1954 by William Myron Keck (1880-1964), founder of the Superior Oil Company. The foundation’s endowment was relatively small until it received a large infusion of funds when Mr. Keck’s estate was settled in 1978.

In 2004, the foundation awarded 51 grants totaling more than $52-million in its four major program areas: science and engineering, the liberal arts, medical research, and Southern California. That figure was more than double the $23-million allocated in 2003.

With the exception of the Southern California program, the foundation’s grant making focuses on innovative research and collaboration and the development of new technologies. Institutions eligible for awards include accredited four-year colleges and universities, medical schools, and major independent research institutions in the United States.

For example, the foundation made a $600,000 challenge grant to California State University at San Bernardino to construct and equip an astronomy observatory, and Washington State University, in Pullman, received a grant for work on innovative bone-implant materials.

Also that year, the foundation authorized a special $20-million matching grant to the Keck Graduate Institute of Applied Life Sciences, in Claremont, Calif., for institutional development.

The foundation selected its sixth cohort of Distinguished Young Scholars in Medical Research. Through this 10-year, $50-million program, the foundation annually supports five scientists at early stages of their careers who are pursuing potentially “breakthrough” biomedical projects.

The foundation authorized six liberal-arts grants, include one to the College of Santa Fe, in New Mexico, for a new interdisciplinary major in documentary studies.

The Southern California program stresses support for local organizations working in the arts and culture, civic and community service, health care, and precollegiate education. Within those areas, it emphasizes projects that promote the healthy development of children and adolescents and that meet the special needs of people with physical or mental challenges.

For example, the Western Center on Law and Poverty, in Los Angeles, received a grant to increase the number of skilled volunteers in Southern California who are available to help foster children and their caregivers gain access to public benefits and services.

The Early Learning Program is a special focus area that supports high-quality early-education opportunities for children ages 5 and younger who live in Los Angeles County.

Application procedure: The foundation has a two-phase application process and awards grants twice a year, in June and December. Prospective applicants should first submit a letter of inquiry and supporting documents; detailed information regarding this process is available on the foundation’s Web site. Unsolicited proposals and electronic applications are not accepted.

Key officials: Robert A. Day, chairman, president, and chief executive officer; Marsh A. Cooper, Howard M. Day, Walter B. Gerken, Jonathan D. Jaffrey, and W.M. Keck II, vice presidents; Dorothy Fleisher, program director, Southern California; Roxanne Ford, program director, medical research; Mercedes Talley, program director, science, engineering, and liberal arts.

JOHN D. AND CATHERINE T. MACARTHUR FOUNDATION
140 South Dearborn Street
Chicago, Ill. 60603
(312) 726-8000
http://www.macfound.org

Period covered: Year ending December 31, 2004.

Purpose and areas of support: John D. MacArthur (1897-1978) endowed the foundation through his will. Mr. MacArthur owned the Bankers Life and Casualty Company, other businesses, and substantial real estate in Florida and New York. He was one of the three wealthiest men in America at the time of his death. His widow, Catherine, died in 1981.

In 2004, the foundation received 6,250 grant requests and made 511 grants, of which 382 went to organizations and 129 to individuals. The average grant size was $422,000, up from $381,000 in 2003. Geographically, the foundation worked in the United States and 65 foreign countries.

The foundation’s philanthropy continued to stress four program areas: human and community development, which received $70,636,500; global security and sustainability, $69,529,800; general-program grants, $26,447,924; and the MacArthur Fellowships, $11,666,763. Grant making was commensurate with last year’s figures, with the exception of the general program, which was down from $37,988,280.

The program on human and community development makes grants and program-related investments for projects in the United States. It focuses on these areas: community change, which encompasses neighborhood revitalization, community development, urban policies, and related issues; stable and affordable housing, which works to transform public housing in Chicago and preserve low-cost rental housing nationwide; regional policy and practice, which focuses on local decision making in metropolitan Chicago and South Florida; teaching and learning, which stresses better instruction and the dissemination of useful resources and best practices; more-effective juvenile-justice systems, which to date has emphasized Illinois and Pennsylvania; high-quality mental-health services; policy research on issues that affect disadvantaged people; and interdisciplinary efforts that currently include research on socioeconomic status and health and successful transitions to adulthood.

Awards included $195,000 over two years to City Research, in Boston, to study the dynamics of the U.S. rental-housing market, and $150,000 to the EducationLaw Center, in Philadelphia, to provide technical assistance to juvenile probation officers in Pennsylvania.

The program on global security and sustainability emphasizes five areas: universities and scholarship in the Russian Federation and Nigeria, human rights and international justice, conservation and sustainable development, population and reproductive health, and international peace and security.

The program maintains offices in India, Mexico, Nigeria, and Russia that help carry out its global work. Awards included $150,000 over three years to Nueve Lunas, in Oaxaca, Mexico, for an effort to reduce maternal deaths in Oaxaca State, and $2,145,000 to Harvard University for a project that tracks stocks of nuclear materials and helps governments prevent their theft and diversion to the international black market.

Through its general program, the foundation undertakes multiyear efforts in changing areas of special interest. It currently supports projects on intellectual property and the public domain, public radio and independent documentary film and video projects in the United States, and arts and cultural groups in metropolitan Chicago.

Application procedure: Potential applicants should send a one-page cover sheet and a brief letter of inquiry, mailed to the Office of Grants Management at the foundation’s Chicago address or e-mailed to 4answers@macfound.org. Detailed information is available on the foundation’s Web site.

Key officials: Jonathan F. Fanton, president; Elizabeth T. Kane, chief of staff; Julia M. Stasch, vice president, human and community development; Gary S. Samore, vice president, global security and sustainability; Joshua J. Mintz, vice president and general counsel; William E. Lowry, vice president, human resources and administration; Susan E. Manske, vice president and chief investment officer; Arthur M. Sussman, vice president and secretary; Marc P. Yanchura, treasurer; Richard J. Kaplan, associate vice president, institutional research and grants management; Andrew Solomon, director, public affairs; Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, chair of the Board of Directors.

Program directors: Herman Brewer, Laurie R. Garduque, Susan E. Lloyd, Rebecca K. Levine, and Michael A. Stegman, program on human and community development; Judith F. Helzner, population and reproductive health; Mary R. Page, global challenges; Catherine H. Picard, program administrator; Elspeth A. Revere, general program; Debra D. Schwartz, program-related investments; John W. Slocum and Tatiana Zhdanova, Initiative in the Russian Federation and Post-Soviet States; Daniel J. Socolow, MacArthur Fellows; R. Michael Wright, conservation and sustainable development.