Foundation Annual Reports

GRAND RAPIDS COMMUNITY FOUNDATION

161 Ottawa Avenue, N.W., 209-C
Grand Rapids, Mich. 49503-2757
(616) 454-1751
http://www.grfoundation.org

Period covered: Year ending June 30, 2001.

Purpose and areas of support: Established in 1922, the foundation makes both donor-advised and discretionary grants to nonprofit groups in Michigan’s Grand Rapids and Kent County area. It comprises almost 300 funds and makes grants through its Unrestricted Fund in six areas: the arts, community development, education, environment, health, and human services.

During fiscal 2001, the foundation allocated approximately 540 grants totaling just more than $7-million and awarded some 460 scholarships totaling $425,841.

Grants for human services accounted for 35 percent of new grant authorizations. For example, the Arbor Circle Corporation and Lutheran Child & Family Services of Michigan each received $100,000 to provide services to families with reported but unsubstantiated cases of child abuse and neglect.

Education-related grants received the next-largest proportion of grant dollars, 19 percent. Awards included mini-grants totaling $60,000 that went to local teachers for 43 projects designed to augment student learning in the arts, history, literature, mathematics, science, and other subjects.

Environmental grants accounted for 12 percent of grant dollars. The largest single award, $500,000, went to the Kent County Parks Department to acquire land and to develop Millennium Park, a 200-acre space near the city’s urban center.

Allocations in other program areas included $350,000 to the Grand Rapids Art Museum to select an architect and develop a design for an expanded facility, and $10,000 to South End Community Outreach Ministries for support services for teenage mothers and their children.

Based on research and community advice, the foundation’s new Community Leadership Agenda addresses complex issues that require comprehensive, wide-ranging solutions. It currently focuses on child welfare, civic engagement, community and economic development, healthy youths and senior citizens, and public education.

Grant making in adjacent regions is carried out through five component funds: the Ionia County Community Foundation, the Lowell Area Community Fund, the Southeast Ottawa Community Foundation, the Sparta Community Foundation, and the Wyoming Community Foundation. Those funds allocated a total of $857,747 in fiscal 2001.

Application procedure: Interested organizations should submit a letter of inquiry, following the foundation’s specific format, and cover sheet, briefly outlining project plans. A copy of the organization’s 501(c)(3) letter from the Internal Revenue Service should also be included. Foundation staff members will review the letter and notify the organization within 30 days regarding potential next steps. The foundation reviews requests for capital projects or for those that represent innovative start-up efforts; requests for annual support or operating support are not reviewed. For additional information, visit the “For Grants and Scholarships” section of the foundation’s Web site.

Key officials: Diana Sieger, president; Marcia Rapp, vice president of programs; Lynne Black, vice president of finance and administration; Molly Parker, vice president of development; Wendy Lewis Jackson, program director; Laura Craft and Kate Luckert, program officers; Mary Greene, communication and public-relations director; the Hon. Janet A. Haynes, chairwoman of the Board of Trustees.

ROCKEFELLER BROTHERS FUND

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

Period covered: Year ending December 31, 2000.

Purpose and areas of support: The fund was created in 1940 to coordinate charitable giving by the daughter and five sons of John D. Rockefeller Jr. The foundation received a major gift from Mr. Rockefeller in 1951, as well as a large bequest following his death in 1960. In the years since the fund’s establishment, 26 family members representing three generations have served as trustees, joined by 24 nonfamily members.

The Charles E. Culpeper Foundation of Stamford, Conn., merged with the fund in July 1999. The board of trustees subsequently initiated an evaluation of all Rockefeller Brothers and former Culpeper grant programs. This review is scheduled for completion this year and its results will guide future grant making.

In 2000, 606 grant payments totaling $32,113,573 were made in eight program areas: sustainable use of natural resources, nonprofit organizations, global security, arts and culture, health, education, projects in New York City, and basic education in South Africa.

The sustainable-resources program received $9,423,625, or 29 percent of grant payments. Awards are made for global projects and for projects in the United States and East Asia; the foundation is phasing out its environmental program in Central and Eastern Europe. Global-level projects emphasize advancing far-ranging discussions on climate change and biodiversity preservation and supporting feasible models that inform related international agreements. U.S. projects focus on model programs that contribute to the fund’s global strategies and on building environmental awareness and stewardship. East Asia projects help local groups to identify and adopt appropriate community and economic development strategies, with special emphasis on coastal management, sustainable agriculture, watershed planning, and the social and environmental effects of development.

The nonprofit-sector grant program received the next-largest share of grant payments — $5,543,785, or 17 percent. The program’s goal is to increase understanding of the role of nonprofit institutions both domestically and internationally; to increase nonprofit resources; and to foster accountability. The fund places particular emphasis on geographic regions where it is engaged in other grant-making activities. Awards included $100,000 to the Maryland Association of Nonprofit Organizations, in Baltimore, for the national distribution of its Ethics and Accountability Project.

Arts and cultural projects received $3,861,450, or 12 percent of grant dollars. The program supports activities nationwide on cultural and historic preservation, the performing arts, and visual and literary art.

Global-security grants emphasize improving the cooperative management of transnational challenges and threats. For example, the Coalition for Women’s Economic Development and Global Equality, in Washington, received a two-year, $100,000 grant to develop a communications strategy for international women’s groups concerned about the implications of corporate globalization.

The health program received $3,397,981, or 11 percent of grant payments. Grant making is limited to the United States and includes the Charles E. Culpeper Scholarships in Medical Science and the Charles E. Culpeper Biomedical Pilot Initiative.

The fund also administers the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation and the Pocantico Programs at the Pocantico Conference Center in Westchester County, N.Y. The Asian Cultural Council is a publicly supported operating foundation affiliated with the fund.

In July 2000, Colin G. Campbell, who had served as president since 1988, left to become president of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. He was succeeded by Stephen B. Heintz, the founder of Demos, a nonprofit network promoting democracy and more equitably shared economic prosperity in the United States.

Application procedure: A preliminary letter of inquiry is recommended as an initial approach. Letters of no more than two or three pages 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, at the above address. There are no application forms, and review of grant inquiries is continual throughout the year, with the exception of the Charles E. Culpeper Scholarships in Medical Science. The fund’s Web site offers additional information about its program guidelines, descriptions of recent grants, and a list of currently available publications.

Key officials: Stephen B. Heintz, president; William F. McCalpin, executive vice president and chief operating officer; Linda E. Jacobs, vice president; Benjamin R. Shute Jr., secretary; Boris A. Wessely, treasurer; William S. Moody, Nancy L. Muirhead, Michael F. Northrop, Annette U. Rickel, Peter W. Riggs, and Ben Rodriguez-Cubeñas, program officers; Priscilla R. Lewis, director of communications and program officer; Charles L. Granquist, director of Pocantico programs; Steven C. Rockefeller, chairman of the board of trustees.

WEINGART FOUNDATION

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

Period covered: Year ending June 30, 2001.

Purpose and areas of support: The fund was endowed in 1951 by Ben Weingart, a California real-estate developer and investor, and his wife, Stella. Initially called the B.W. Foundation, the fund changed its name to the Weingart Foundation in 1978. Mr. Weingart died in 1980 at age 92.

The foundation’s grant making gives preference to organizations that provide services in seven Southern California counties: Kern, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Santa Barbara, and Ventura. Grants are made in two broad program areas: children and youths and adults and the greater community. During its 2001 fiscal year, the foundation awarded grants totaling $29,423,019 to 363 nonprofit groups and agencies.

Of that total, $15,094,540 went to programs to meet the needs of disadvantaged and at-risk children and youths. Grants emphasized arts and cultural activities, direct health services, early-childhood education, and social services.

Grants totaling $11,568,479 went to projects designed to benefit adults and the broader community, with emphasis on improved access to health and human services and to recreational and cultural events. Additional grants went to expand food-distribution programs and to finance capital improvements at homeless shelters, drug-treatment facilities, and other programs for underserved people.

Colleges, universities, and other educational and vocational programs received awards totaling $2,760,000. Grants focused on capital support for campus improvements and on projects to promote literacy, job skills, and self-sufficiency among disabled, working poor, and unemployed people.

Grants for projects in California’s San Diego and Imperial Counties are supported by the Weingart-Price Fund, administered by the San Diego Foundation. All communication regarding grant requests for projects in those two counties should be directed to the San Diego Foundation.

Application procedure: Applicant organizations must be tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and not a private foundation as defined under Section 509(a) of the code. The foundation accepts and processes grant applications throughout the year. 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 need for funds, the total project cost, 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. Additional information is available at the foundation’s Web site.

Key officials: Steven D. Broidy, chairman and chief executive officer; Fred J. Ali, president and chief administrative officer; Laurence A. Wolfe, vice president for administration and real estate and corporate secretary; Rosa M. Castillo, Barbara Kaze, and Jerry C. Yu, program officers.