Foundation Annual Reports

ROBERT WOOD JOHNSON FOUNDATION

Route 1 and College Road East
P.O. Box 2316
Princeton, N.J. 08543
(888) 631-9989
http://www.rwjf.org

Period covered: Year ending December 31, 2004.

Purpose and areas of support: The foundation was created in 1936 by Robert Wood Johnson, who built his family’s Johnson & Johnson company into one of the world’s largest manufacturers of health and medical-care products. The foundation initially restricted its grant making to projects near its New Jersey headquarters; its grant making became national in scope in 1972, when it received virtually all of Mr. Johnson’s estate following his death in 1968.

The foundation’s overarching mission is to improve the health and health care of all Americans. In 2004, it received 4,388 proposals and awarded 823 grants and contracts, primarily in pursuit of four goals: assuring access to high-quality care at a reasonable price, improving care for people with chronic health conditions, promoting healthy communities and lifestyles, and reducing the personal, social, and economic hardship caused by substance abuse.

To meet its goals, the foundation has implemented a new system of classifying its grants. Virtually all grants fall into one of four portfolios: targeted, vulnerable populations, human capital, or pioneer.

In 2004, 57 percent of the foundation’s grant making fell into the “targeted” portfolio, for programs that seek to achieve specific improvements in eight “health challenges” within a defined time period. The “vulnerable populations” portfolio received 20 percent of grant awards, for programs that identify and promote effective community-based services for the neediest Americans. The “human capital” portfolio received 12 percent of grants, for programs designed to attract, develop, and retain high-quality health-care workers. The “pioneer” portfolio received 1 percent, for programs that stress cutting-edge approaches to health and health-care issues, including information technology and medical malpractice.

The remaining 10 percent of grant dollars went to miscellaneous programs and to projects in New Brunswick, N.J., and adjacent communities.

The “targeted” portfolio currently emphasizes eight areas of interest: addiction prevention and treatment, childhood obesity, health-care coverage, health-care disparities, health-care quality, nursing, public-health leadership and capacity, and tobacco use. The foundation phased out its work on end-of-life care. Allocations included $299,366 over three years to the Rand Corporation, in Santa Monica, Calif., to study the relationship between alcohol consumption and neighborhood retailers, and $100,000 to the Media Network, in Silver Spring, Md., for focus groups to assess perceptions of childhood obesity in low-income, minority communities.

Through its “vulnerable populations” portfolio, the foundation makes grants in several areas, with an increasing focus on programs that deal with the intersection of health needs and such social factors as poverty, housing, and inadequate education. For example, Planned Parenthood of Central New Jersey, in Shrewsbury, received a three-year, $300,000 grant to counter barriers to reproductive health care faced by immigrants and underserved minorities.

The “human capital” portfolio comprises several foundation training programs, including the Health Policy Fellowships Program, the Clinical Scholars Program, and the Health & Society Scholars Program. In 2004 the foundation also supported a cluster of projects designed to strengthen “front-line” health-care workers — including addiction counselors, home health aides, nursing assistants, and social workers — who provide regular care and services to patients.

Application procedure: The foundation awards grants in two primary ways: as national program grants, which are made through its approximately 80 competitive national programs, for which it issues calls for proposals or invitational announcements; and as independent grants, which are made in response to unsolicited proposals that address one or more of the foundation’s goals and areas of interest. Detailed information on the foundation’s grant-making guidelines and priorities is available on its Web site.

Key officials: Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, president and chief executive officer; John Lumpkin, senior vice president and director, health-care group; James Marks, senior vice president and director, health group; Calvin Bland, chief of staff and special adviser to the president and chief executive officer; Peter Goodwin, vice president, national public affairs; James Knickman, vice president for evaluation and research; David Morse, vice president for communications; Albert Shar, vice president of information technology; David Waldman, vice president of human resources and administration; Katherine Hatton, vice president, general counsel, and secretary; Peggi Einhorn, chief financial officer and treasurer; Robert Hughes, chief learning officer; Brian O’Neil, chief investment officer; Richard Toth, director, office of proposal management; the Hon. Thomas H. Kean, chairman of the Board of Trustees.

PUBLIC WELFARE FOUNDATION

1200 U Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20009
(202) 965-1800
http://www.publicwelfare.org

Period covered: Year ending October 31, 2004.

Purpose and areas of support: The foundation was established in 1947 by Charles Edward Marsh, a newspaper publisher, and his wife, Claudia.

Mr. Marsh endowed the foundation by donating three daily Southern newspapers — The Gadsden Times, The Spartanburg Herald & Journal, and The Tuscaloosa News — that were later sold to the New York Times Company. The foundation was initially incorporated in Texas and later in Delaware, then moved its office to Washington in 1960. It made its first grant in 1948.

During its 2003 fiscal year, the foundation awarded 377 grants totaling $18,626,200 in these program areas: the environment, which received 44 grants totaling $3,178,000; human rights and global security, 53 grants totaling $3,007,500; reproductive and sexual health, 42 grants totaling $2,785,000; health, 37 grants totaling $2,490,000; community development, 40 grants totaling $2,015,000; youth, 26 grants totaling $1,402,500; criminal justice, 24 grants totaling $1,370,000; disadvantaged elderly, 14 grants totaling $1,060,000; welfare reform,15 grants totaling $500,000; civic participation, 25 grants totaling $475,000; and special opportunities, 15 grants totaling $1,025,000. The foundation also made 50 trustee-initiated grants totaling $220,000.

The environment program received a substantially higher percentage of funds, up from $1,715,000 the previous fiscal year. It focuses on support for advocacy and policy development, grass-roots and local organizations, sustainable development, and technical assistance to small groups. For example, the Toxics Action Center, in Boston, received a two-year, $80,000 grant to provide training and assistance to neighborhood groups in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire.

The program on human rights and global security works to mitigate hate-motivated activity and discrimination, to assist immigrant communities in the United States, and to promote international human rights.

The program in reproductive and sexual health emphasizes reproductive rights, international reproductive health, services for teenagers, and HIV/AIDS prevention, education, and advocacy. Awards included $45,000 to Criola, in Rio de Janeiro, to help meet the health needs of Afro-Brazilian women.

The foundation initiated the Civic Participation Fund, which provided grants totaling $475,000 to 25 local, state, and regional groups working to educate and mobilize people about voting rights and public-policy issues that affect them. For instance, Native Action, in Lame Deer, Mont., received $20,000 to conduct a nonpartisan voter-education project on seven American Indian reservations in Montana.

Application procedure: Initial requests for first-time support and for projects that have not received recent support from the foundation should come in the form of a three-part letter of inquiry, written in English. If the foundation determines that a proposed project fits its grant-making priorities, and if resources are available, it will then request a full proposal. Instructions for writing letters of inquiry and detailed information on grant-making priorities are available on the foundation’s Web site.

Key officials: Larry Kressley, executive director; Phillipa P. Taylor, chief financial and administrative officer; Adisa Douglas and Teresa Langston, directors of programs; Kimberly J. Villa, manager of investments; Jacqueline Chun, manager of administration; Ericka Taylor, program officer for community development; Midge Taylor, program officer for environment; Charisse M. Williams, program officer for criminal justice and youth; Joe Wilson, program officer for human rights and global security; June Drew, grants manager; Thomas J. Scanlon, chair of the Board of Directors.

TRIANGLE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION

P.O. Box 12834
Research Triangle Park, N.C. 27709
(919) 474-8370
http://www.trianglecf.org

Period covered: Year ending June 30, 2004.

Purpose and areas of support: This community foundation was established in 1983 with an initial donation of $1,000 by George H. Hitchings, a Nobel Prize laureate who served as president of the Burroughs Wellcome Fund from 1974 to 1990.

The foundation allocates grants primarily to benefit people living in North Carolina’s Chatham, Durham, Orange, and Wake Counties, including the cities of Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill. It administers more than 550 donor-advised, field-of-interest, unrestricted, designated, scholarship, and other funds.

During its fiscal year 2003, the foundation awarded designated grants totaling $1,137,888 and donor-advised grants totaling $5,895,750. Grant categories included animal welfare; the arts, culture, and humanities; civil rights, social action, and advocacy; community, business, and industry; diseases and medical research; education; the environment; health care; housing; human services; religion and spirituality; and youth development.

Awards included $5,250 to the Sarah P. Duke Gardens, in Durham; $73,983 to the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina, in Raleigh; and $16,350 to Habitat for Humanity of Orange County, in Chapel Hill.

The foundation operates Philanthropy Central, a mechanism available at its Web site that contains profiles of hundreds of registered nonprofit groups and matches potential donors with projects and organizations. The foundation also provides services to donors through its Triangle Center for Effective Philanthropy.

The Triangle Community Foundation is a member of the Catalyst Project, a coalition of corporate, foundation, and private representatives who seek to triple the overall philanthropic resources of Chatham, Durham, Orange, and Wake Counties from approximately $1-billion to $3-billion over 20 years.

Earlier this year, Shannon E. St. John announced that she would leave the foundation this summer after heading it since 1983.

Application procedure: Potential grantees are strongly encouraged to visit the foundation’s Web site in order to complete an “impact profile” that provides information about the grant seeker’s organization, the demographic and program areas it serves, and specific projects that require funding. This information is shared with the foundation’s constituent funds and with other philanthropists via the foundation’s Philanthropy Central online tool. Organizations that complete a profile are also eligible to receive appropriate requests for proposals. Additional information is available on the foundation’s Web site.

Key officials: Shannon E. St. John, president; Steve Michalak, vice president of finance and operations; Beverley Francis, director of philanthropic services; Jodi Hubble, director of communications; Fred S. Stang, director of development; Linda Depo, philanthropic-services associate; Peter J. Meehan, chair of the Board of Directors.