Foundation Annual Reports

COMMUNITY FOUNDATION SILICON VALLEY
60 South Market Street
Suite 1000
San Jose, Cal. 95113-2336
(408) 278-0270
http://www.siliconvalleygives.org

Period covered: Year ending June 30, 1999.

Purpose and areas of support: Founded in 1954 as the Community Foundation of Santa Clara County, this foundation comprises more than 475 individual funds and makes competitive, field-of-interest, and donor-advised grants to benefit residents of Santa Clara County and southern San Mateo County.

The foundation awards grants for neighborhoods, arts and humanities, education, and individuals and families — a category that encompasses social services, health, and the environment.

The goal of the foundation’s neighborhoods program is to increase the number of people participating in civic activities. Its Mayfair Neighborhood Improvement Initiative, a six-year effort that is entering its second year, seeks to rebuild an east San Jose neighborhood through 76 continuing projects in such areas as crime reduction and job development. In the past year, the program enlisted Collaborative Economics, an organization that advises community groups, to develop indicators to measure the results of the projects.

The arts program seeks to encourage participation in the cultural, fine, and performing arts, and its Arts Builds Communities Initiative supports projects that are designed to strengthen neighborhoods in Gilroy, Milpitas, and San Jose.

The education program emphasizes schoolwide efforts to promote early-grades literacy, as well as mathematics and science programs for students in kindergarten through 12th grade, and literacy education for non-English speakers.

The “Self-Reliant Individuals and Families” program is designed to help poor people accumulate assets. It provides small-business loans through Lenders for Community Development, a for-profit corporation established by the foundation five years ago.

Last May, the foundation established an emergency fund for the United Way of Santa Clara after a budget crisis threatened the continued financing of 108 charities. The fund secured donations from individuals, corporations, and foundations — including $1.8-million from the community foundation itself — to make up an $11-million shortfall.

Application procedure: Organizations must have a current tax-exempt status under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code in order to apply. Applicants should propose programs that primarily benefit Santa Clara County or southern San Mateo County residents.

Key officials: Peter Hero, president; Winnie Chu, vice-president for planning and programs; Susan Luenberger, vice-president for development and marketing; Robert D. Rosendale, vice-president for investment and finance and chief financial officer; Elizabeth Anabo, senior program officer; Boyd C. Smith, chair of the Board of Directors.

EWING MARION KAUFFMAN FOUNDATION

4801 Rockhill Road
Kansas City, Mo. 64110-2046
(816) 932-1000
http://www.emkf.org

Period covered: Year ending June 30, 1999.

Purpose and areas of support: The foundation was created in 1966 by Ewing Marion Kauffman, who built the Marion Laboratories pharmaceuticals corporation and owned the Kansas City Royals baseball team. Mr. Kauffman died in 1993. The foundation maintains programs and makes grants in youth development and entrepreneurship.

In 1998-99, the foundation allocated $26.5-million to its Youth Development operating program and $26.8-million to its second operating program, the Kauffman Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership. An additional $15.7-million was approved for grants in both program areas.

The Youth Development program covers three areas. “Web of Support,” which emphasizes school reform and community services for children and adolescents, received $10.5-million; “Choice and Hope,” which focuses on economic and neighborhood development and school-to-work transitions, received $5.2-million; and “Started Right,” which encompasses early-childhood development and family support, received $4.7-million. Interdisciplinary programs received $6.1-million.

The Kauffman Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership encourages entrepreneurial education and efforts to “improve the environment in which entrepreneurs grow and start businesses.” Three programs received support: The Entrepreneur Training Institute, which supports adult entrepreneurial programs, received $14.3-million; the Institute for Entrepreneurship Education, which focuses on students in kindergarten through community college, received $7.8-million; and Public Sector and Community Entrepreneurship, which encompasses neighborhood programs, received $4.7-million.

Allocations included $500,000 to the Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild, in Pittsburgh, for a fellowship program that teaches entrepreneurial skills to executives of non-profit organizations. The center also maintains a Web site (http://www.entreworld.org) that lists resources for people who wish to start businesses.

Application procedure: The foundation does not accept unsolicited proposals; its grant making develops out of relationships it forms with other organizations. It may occasionally seek new partners through a request for proposals from groups working in its two areas of interest. Letters of inquiry should be directed to the grants administrator.

Key officials: Louis W. Smith, president and chief executive officer; Kurt H. Mueller, senior vice-president and president of the Kauffman Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership; Eugene R. Wilson, senior vice-president and president of Youth Development; Alicia Mitchelson, director of administration and grants for the Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership; David C. Lady, senior vice-president and chief financial officer and treasurer; Sylvia Robinson, director of strategic programs and planning; Marilyn L. Kourilsky, Kauffman Center vice-president and director of the Institute for Entrepreneurship Education; James E. McGraw, chairman of the Board of Directors; Robert Rogers, chairman emeritus.

SURDNA FOUNDATION

330 Madison Avenue, 30th Floor
New York 10017-5001
(212) 557-0010
http://www.surdna.org

Period covered: Year ending June 30, 1999.

Purpose and areas of support: John Emory Andrus, a New York businessman, investor, and politician, created this foundation in 1917. It awards grants in five program areas: the environment, community revitalization, “effective citizenry,” the arts, and the non-profit sector.

In addition, the foundation provides operating support to two institutions in Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y.: the John E. Andrus Memorial, a retirement home; and the Julia Dyckman Andrus Memorial, a residential treatment and diagnostic center for emotionally disturbed children.

Grants totaling $29,053,550 were allocated as follows: the environment program received $9,334,000; effective citizenry, $6,347,000; community revitalization, $5,820,000; the arts, $4,353,900; the non-profit sector, $1,905,000; the Julia Dyckman Andrus Memorial, $600,000; and miscellaneous grants, $693,650.

The environment program stresses four areas: biological diversity, “human systems” and sustainable consumption, transportation and land use, and, to a lesser extent, energy. The foundation awarded a total of $500,000 to four groups in Maryland, New Jersey, New Mexico, and Utah for a “smart growth” initiative, which seeks to contain the problems of suburban sprawl.

The citizenry program aims to promote civility and spur participation in civic organizations. It focuses on conflict resolution and mediation, tolerance and diversity, and programs that combine formal education with community service, with an emphasis on youth.

Grants in the community-revitalization field focus on increasing access to low-cost housing, helping poor people and welfare recipients become more self-sufficient, and improving child care.

The arts program emphasizes grants to help young people create art, to bolster programs at arts-education institutions, and to support artists who teach.

The Nonprofit Sector Support Program was created in 1997. Its largest single-year grant was $115,000 to the Roberts Enterprise Development Fund, in San Francisco, for a project in which charities share information about their business ventures through the Internet.

Application procedure: Prospective applicants should submit a letter of inquiry detailing their organization’s purpose and specific activities; a brief description of the program for which funds are being sought, including a proposed time period and expected results; budgets for the program and for the organization, and the amount requested; financial support received to date for the program and the sources from which funds are being sought; names and qualifications of people who will run the program; the most-recent audited financial statements of the organization and its operating subsidiaries, if any; certification of the organization’s 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status; and an e-mail address for a contact person at the organization. Upon receipt of the letter of inquiry, the foundation will notify the applicant that its 90-day consideration period has begun. Applications should be addressed to the executive director.

Key officials: Edward Skloot, executive director; Marc de Venoge, chief financial and administrative officer; Hooper L. Brooks, program director for environment; Carey Shea, program officer for community revitalization; Robert Sherman, program officer for effective citizenry; Ellen B. Rudolph, program officer for the arts; Vincent Stehle, program officer for the Nonprofit Sector Initiative; Jonathan Goldberg, grants administrator and information specialist; Elizabeth H. Andrus, chairman and treasurer of the Board of Directors; John E. Andrus III, chairman emeritus.