Foundation Annual Reports

BERTELSMANN FOUNDATION
Carl-Bertelsmann-Strasse 256
P.O. Box 10333311
Gütersloh, Germany
(49) (52) 41.81-0
http://www.bertelsmann-foundation.de

Period covered: Year ending June 30, 2001.

Purpose and areas of support: The Bertelsmann Foundation was created in 1977 by the German entrepreneur Reinhard Mohn. Following World War II, Mr. Mohn became the head of C. Bertelsmann Verlag, his family’s business, which was founded in 1835 as a publisher of Christian literature and prayer books. That once-modest business is now known as Bertelsmann A.G., the German media conglomerate. The foundation is the majority owner of Bertelsmann A.G., holding some 57.6 percent of the company’s shares, which Mr. Mohn transferred to it in 1977. The foundation does not exercise any direct voting rights in conjunction with those holdings.

It is Germany’s largest operating foundation, designing and implementing its own programs in conjunction with partners at private, scientific, and state institutions. During its fiscal year 2001, the foundation’s budget exceeded Euro 54 million — approximately $47.4-million at current exchange rates — derived largely from Bertelsmann A.G. dividends.

Many of the Bertelsmann Foundation’s programs focus on the development and testing of model solutions to economic, political, and social challenges. It maintains nine main project areas, ranked here in descending order by amount of program dollars expended: media, politics, economics, state and public administration, higher education, medicine and health care, public libraries, cultural affairs, and philanthropy and foundations. The foundation employs approximately 280 people active on some 180 projects.

Media programs included Internet for Beginners, a joint project of the Bertelsmann Foundation, the German Adult Education Association, and Stern magazine. More than 600 adult-education centers nationwide now take part in the project, an effort to reach those people not yet familiar with the Web.

Other programs included the Municipal Citizens’ Budget, created in December 2000 by the foundation and the North Rhine-Westphalian Department of the Interior. Its goal is to establish a process through which citizens are included in the budgetary and financial planning of the municipality.

In spring 2001, the philanthropy and foundations division published a 900-page English-language reference book entitled Foundations in Europe: Society, Management, and Law. The foundation also initiated the European Policy Dialog, a forum that brings together business, political, and social leaders to debate the future of Europe and to facilitate the domestic political process of harmonizing positions on Germany’s European policy.

In October 2001, Mr. Mohn turned over chairmanship of the foundation’s board to Gunther Thielen, who most recently served as chairman of the management board of Arvato A.G.

Application procedure: Not listed in report.

Key officials: Gunther Thielen, president, chief executive officer, and chair of the Executive Board and Board of Trustees; Wolfgang Koeckstadt, executive vice president, administrative division; Tim Arnold, vice president, communications division.

Project directors/managers: Stefan Empter (economics), Ingrid Hamm (media), Josef Janning (politics), Brigitte Mohn (medicine and health care), Liz Mohn (cultural affairs), Marga Pröhl (state and public administration), Gerd Schulte-Hillen (higher education), Gunther Thielen (philanthropy and foundations), and Bettina Windau (public libraries).

THE COMMONWEALTH FUND

1 East 75th Street
New York, N.Y. 10021-2692
(212) 606-3800
http://www.cmwf.org

Period covered: Year ending June 30, 2001.

Purpose and areas of support: The fund was endowed in 1918 by the philanthropist Anna Harkness and received the assets of the James Picker Foundation in 1986. It supports independent research on health and social issues and makes grants to improve health-care practice and policy. It maintains two national program areas — improving the quality of health-care services and expanding access to health-insurance coverage and health-care services. The fund also operates an international health-policy program designed to spur innovative policies and practices in the United States and other industrialized nations. Lastly, it makes local grants in New York City to enhance health care and public spaces and services.

During its fiscal year 2000-01, the fund authorized program grants totaling $17,174,723. Grant making to improve the overall quality of health-care services received the largest chunk of money, $9,044,628. Within that category, the fund has developed several related programs to help the health-care industry improve its performance: the Health Care Quality Improvement Program, the Program on Quality of Care for Underserved Populations, the Healthy Steps for Young Children Program, the Picker-Commonwealth Program on Quality of Care for Frail Elders, and the Task Force on Academic Health Centers.

The Health Care Quality Improvement Program works to generate information that can guide accountability, choice, and improvement; to devise incentives that can lead to higher quality services; and to strengthen the ability of the health-care system to achieve and maintain such improvements. For example, a $245,909 grant went to Brigham and Women’s Hospital, in Boston, to develop an electronic referral system that can improve the referral process for ambulatory-care patients.

Through its program to improve access to health care and insurance, the fund makes awards in three subsidiary areas: the Task Force on the Future of Health Insurance, the Health Care in New York City Program, and the Program on Medicare’s Future. Allocations included $183,488 to the Urban Institute, in Washington, to assess the effect of public policies on health-insurance coverage for low-wage and nontraditional workers.

In the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks, New York City grants included $50,000 to the Betances Health Center to hire two outreach workers to promote its services and to encourage participation in the Disaster Relief Medicaid program.

For its fiscal years 2001-02 through 2005-06, the fund plans to spend approximately $125.1-million on programs, allocated as follows: improving the quality of health-care services, $55.6-million; expanding access to health-insurance coverage and health-care services, $25.0-million; international health policy and practice, $15.9-million; communications, $14.3-million; New York City grants, $7.6-million; and health policy, research, and evaluation, $6.7-million.

Application procedure: Prospective grantees should submit a letter of inquiry via regular or electronic mail. The letter should be brief — no longer than three pages — and should include a contact name, the legal name of the organization, its complete mailing address and other contact information; the purpose of the proposed project and a description of its targeted audience; the estimated total project cost and the total dollar amount requested from the fund; a description of the project’s design, including its schedule and work plan; a description of its expected outcomes; and organizational staffing and financial resources. Letters of inquiry are acknowledged when received and typically applicants are advised of the results of an initial staff review within two months. Program staff members will contact applicants if additional information is required. Proposals recommended by the fund’s staff are considered and voted upon by the fund’s board of directors, which meets three times a year. Grants are made only to tax-exempt organizations and public agencies. The fund does not provide support to individuals or for general planning or continuing activities, existing deficits, endowment or capital support, basic biomedical research, major media projects, scholarships, work for which achievements cannot be measured, or for churches and other religious organizations, unless the project under consideration is entirely secular in nature.

Key officials: Karen Davis, president; John E. Craig Jr., executive vice president and treasurer; Stephen C. Schoenbaum, senior vice president; Karen Scott Collins, vice president for national programs; Cathy A. Schoen, vice president for health policy, research, and evaluation; Robin I. Osborn, assistant vice president and director of the International Program in Health Policy; Anne-Marie Audet, Mary Lou Russell, and Edward L. Schor, assistant vice presidents; Jennifer N. Edwards, director of health policy, research, and evaluation; Elizabeth A. Lowe, deputy director of the Harkness Fellowships Program; Dora L. Hughes, Mary Jane Koren, and David R. Sandman, senior program officers; Andrea C. Landes, director of grants management; Paul K. Barry, director of communications; Charles A. Sanders, chairman of the Board of Directors.

MINNEAPOLIS FOUNDATION

A200 Foshay Tower
821 Marquette Avenue
Minneapolis, Minn. 55402
(612) 672-3878
http://www.minneapolisfoundation.org

Period covered: Year ending March 31, 2001.

Purpose and areas of support: Established in 1915, this community foundation makes discretionary, donor-advised, and other grants primarily to benefit residents of the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area.

The foundation makes discretionary grants to improve the health and well-being of children, youth, and families; opportunities for educational achievement; access to affordable housing; and regional economic growth. In fiscal 2001 it appropriated $5,625,110 through its competitive grants program and the largest portion, $1,469,925, went to the children, youth, and families program area. Awards included $50,000 to the Indian Child Welfare Law Center, in Minneapolis, to provide services to American Indian children in the process of custody transfers and adoptions.

Education-related awards included $166,000 to the Institute for Education and Advocacy, in Minneapolis, to provide additional guidance counselors at an English language–immersion school for immigrant students. Grants in other program areas included $10,000 to Lake Street Partners for economic-development activities, and $30,000 to the Children’s Defense Fund Minnesota Office for a project to decrease the number of uninsured children in Minneapolis.

The foundation provided more than $1.1-million in grants to advocacy and service groups that work in the areas of homelessness and affordable housing for low- and middle-income individuals and families. It continued its support of HousingMinnesota, a coalition of more than 75 groups in Minnesota dedicated to public education and legislative change in those areas. The fund also developed Let’s Fix This, a campaign designed to raise public awareness of the issue of homelessness statewide, and held a conference entitled Troubled Waters: Growing Up Homeless in Minnesota.

Also that year, the foundation created AdvisorXpress, a Web-based resource that allows donor advisers to review financial statements and recommend grants over the Internet.

Application procedure: Potential applicants should consult the foundation’s August 2000 Grant Application Guidelines for information about how to apply for a grant from the foundation and its funding partners. To obtain a copy of the guidelines, call the foundation at (612) 672-3861 or visit its Web site. The guidelines explain the foundation’s grant-making goals and approaches as well as its application procedure. Proposals are accepted throughout the year.

Key officials: Emmett D. Carson, president and chief executive officer; Stuart Appelbaum, vice president, development; Mary Ann Dorsher, vice president, philanthropic consulting services; Bruce Hutchins, vice president, finance and administration; Christelle Langer, vice president, marketing and communications; Marigrace Deters and Karen Kelley-Ariwoola, associate vice presidents, community philanthropy; Valerie Lee, Lisa Simer, and Joanne Walz, community-philanthropy officers; Patti Marsh Cagle, grants administrator; William J. Brody, chair of the Board of Trustees.