FOUNDATION ANNUAL REPORTS

ARTHUR VINING DAVIS FOUNDATIONS

111 Riverside Avenue, Suite 130
Jacksonville, Fla. 32202-4921
(904) 359-0670
http://www.jvm.com/davis

Period covered: Year ending December 31, 1999.

Purpose and areas of support: The foundations are three funds established by Arthur Vining Davis, former chairman of the Aluminum Company of America and an investor in several business ventures in Florida. Mr. Davis created the first fund in 1952 under a living trust; the other two foundations started operations in 1965, three years after his death.

The foundations have five defined program areas.

In 1999, the program in private higher education awarded grants totaling $4.5-million; secondary education, $1.7-million; public television and religion, $1.6-million each; and health care, $1.2-million. Grants for miscellaneous purposes totaled $728,135.

The program in private higher education emphasizes four-year liberal-arts institutions whose students primarily choose majors in the humanities, mathematics, and science.

Grants in secondary education are made to institutions working to strengthen education in grades 9 through 12. Awards included $150,000 to the California Institute of Technology, in Pasadena, for a professional-development program for high-school science teachers.

The public-television program primarily provides partial support for educational series that are assured of national broadcast by the Public Broadcasting Service. Among the stations receiving money last year were KCET in Los Angeles, for “Chasing the Sun,” a program on commercial aviation, and WGBH in Boston, for “Between the Lions,” a literacy series for kids.

The foundations’ principal commitment in religion is to graduate theological education. Grants in health care primarily focused on projects that might be duplicated nationwide, and that sought to build trust between doctors and patients.

Other grants included $150,000 to the National Museum of the American Indian, in Washington, for an internship program, and $100,000 to the Nature Conservancy, in Arlington, Va., to purchase endangered land in Rhode Island.

Application procedure: All proposals must come from the president or other primary executive of an organization, not from development officers, department heads, or individual researchers within the institution. A simple statement describing the proposed project is preferred over an elaborate initial presentation; a budget for the project should also be included. The foundations do not support programs outside the United States, efforts to influence elections or legislation, or public colleges and universities (except in the health-care and secondary-education categories).

Key officials: Jonathan T. Howe, executive director; Ann O’Keefe, senior program director; William C. Keator, program director; Jane M. Estes, comptroller and treasurer; J. H. Dow Davis, chairman of the Board of Trustees.

ROBERT WOOD JOHNSON FOUNDATION
Route 1 and College Road East
P.O. Box 2316
Princeton, N.J. 08543-2316
(609) 452-8701
http://www.rwjf.org

Period covered: Year ending December 31, 1999.

Purpose and areas of support: The foundation was established in 1936 and became national in scope in 1972; it supports programs and research to improve health and health care in the United States.

In 1999, the fund made 668 grants and 84 contracts totaling $420.7-million in the following areas: $123.2-million, or 29 percent, went for programs that promote health and reduce the health, social, and economic problems associated with tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs; $98.9-million, or 24 percent, for programs to improve services for people with chronic health conditions; $94.4-million, or 22 percent, for other health and health-care programs; $86.8-million, or 21 percent, for programs to ensure that all Americans have access to basic health-care services at a reasonable cost; and $17.4-million, or 4 percent, for general philanthropy purposes that fall outside the foundation’s main programs, principally in New Brunswick, N.J., where the foundation began operations.

In the area of substance abuse, the foundation awarded $50-million to the National Center for Tobacco-Free Kids, in Washington, for its efforts to educate the public and state lawmakers on the best ways to spend money flowing to states from the tobacco industry, which last year paid billions to settle health-related lawsuits.

Programs that received funds for chronic care included broad projects to help people with asthma, to assist patients who live at home, and to improve hospital-based palliative care.

The foundation pledged $6.7-million to a new program, “State Coverage Initiatives,” which provides states with products, consulting services, and other resources designed to increase the number of people with health insurance.

This year, the foundation reorganized its programs under two main categories: health, which includes programs in tobacco, alcohol and illegal drugs, health and behavior, community health, and population-based health sciences and policy; and health care, which includes coverage, vulnerable populations, clinical-care management, end-of-life care, information, and supportive services.

Application procedure: The foundation awards grants in two ways: through competitive national programs, in which it issues a call for proposals or other invitational announcements, and through grants made throughout the year for unsolicited projects. Institutions wishing to apply for funds for unsolicited projects are advised to submit a preliminary letter of inquiry, rather than a fully developed proposal. In general, the foundation gives preference to applicants that are public agencies or tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Letters of inquiry should be addressed to Richard J. Toth, Director, Office of Proposal Management. For detailed guidelines, write to the foundation at the address above for a copy of Advances, its quarterly publication, or visit its Web site.

Key officials: Steven A. Schroeder, president and chief executive officer; Lewis G. Sandy, executive vice president; Ruby P. Hearn, senior vice president; J. Warren Wood III, vice president, general counsel, and secretary; Robert E. Campbell, chairman of the Board of Trustees.

Senior program officers: Nancy L. Barrand, Linda Bilheimer, Pamela S. Dickson, Seth Emont, Rosemary Gibson, Susan B. Hassmiller, Laura C. Leviton, Jane Isaacs Lowe, Robin E. Mockenhaupt, Floyd K. Morris, Contance M. Pechura, Michael Rothman, Judith S. Stavisky, Anne F. Weiss, and Judith Y. Whang.

LILLY ENDOWMENT
P.O. Box 88068
Indianapolis 46208-0068
(317) 924-5471

Period covered: Year ending December 31, 1999.

Purpose and areas of support: Three members of the Lilly family endowed this foundation in 1937 through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. Although it is a wholly separate entity, stock in the company remains the most significant component of the endowment’s financial portfolio.

Following the wishes of its founders, the endowment allocates grants in three major programs: community development, education, and religion. In 1999, the endowment authorized grants totaling $497.6-million to 1,270 grantees, as follows: the community-development program received $233.2-million, or 47 percent; education, $176.2-million, or 35 percent; and religion, $88.2-million, or 18 percent.

As in previous years, the majority of grants allocated — 66.2 percent — went to non-profit groups located in Marion County, Ind., and elsewhere in the state.

The largest award in the community-development category, $21.8-million, went to the Indiana State Museum Foundation, in Indianapolis, for its capital campaign.

Through the fourth year of the endowment’s Community Foundation GIFT Initiative, it provided $1.5-million to each of 93 community funds in Indiana. The endowment gave the funds the option of using $1.2-million of each grant for their own purposes, for community projects, or for a combination thereof, with the remaining $300,000 to be used as matching funds to improve foundation operations.

The endowment made two huge education-related grants in September. Indiana University at Bloomington received $29.9-million for its Indiana Pervasive Computing Research Program; and Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, in Terre Haute, received $29.7-million to create the Center for an Innovation Economy, a school for entrepreneurship and technology.

Grants in the religion category included a $3.9-million award to the American Theological Library Association, in Evanston, Ill., to establish an Internet archive of periodicals on religion.

Application procedure: If a charitable organization believes that its request falls within the foundation’s program guidelines, it may send a preliminary letter of no more than two pages that describes the organization, proposed project, and amount of support requested. The endowment responds in writing to all preliminary inquiries. In cases that warrant further consideration, the endowment may ask for a full proposal. The grant-review process takes three to six months. All grant applicants receive written notification of the endowment’s decisions.

Key officials: N. Clay Robbins, president; Craig Dykstra, vice president for religion; William M. Goodwin, vice president for community development; Sara B. Cobb and Ralph E. Lundgren, vice presidents for education; David D. Biber, secretary and treasurer; Thomas M. Lofton, chairman of the Board of Directors.