Foundation Annual Reports

RICHARD AND RHODA GOLDMAN CHARITABLE FUNDS
1 Lombard Street, Suite 303
San Francisco, Calif. 94111
(415) 788-1090
http://www.goldmanfund.org

Period covered: Year ending December 31, 2001.

Purpose and areas of support: The funds comprise two separate entities: the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund, established in 1951 by Richard N. Goldman and his wife, Rhoda, who died in 1996; and the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Foundation, a supporting organization of the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin, and Sonoma Counties, established in 1996 with a contribution by Mr. Goldman.

Mr. Goldman founded Goldman Insurance Services, in San Francisco, and his wife was a descendant of Levi Strauss, founder of the apparel company.

A former third component of the funds — the Richard N. and Rhoda H. Goldman Philanthropic Fund, a donor-advised fund established by the Goldmans in 1978 at the Jewish Community Federation — spent down its assets and ceased to exist in 2001.

The funds focus on the following programs: children and youths; democracy and civil society; education and the arts; the elderly; low-income, immigrant, and other at-risk populations; health; social and human services; and violence prevention.

Although the funds’ primary focus is the San Francisco Bay Area, they make some grants to Israeli organizations whose work falls within their guidelines, and to national and international projects focusing on the environment, domestic and civil society, population issues, and violence prevention.

In 2001 the funds allocated grants totaling $47,512,937 as follows: environment-related grants received $10,435,452, or 22 percent of grant dollars; Israel, $6,935,000, or 15 percent; Jewish affairs, $4,758,500, or 10 percent; democracy and civil society, $4,675,750, or 10 percent; education, $3,310,500, or 7 percent; population, $2,886,000, or 6 percent; elderly, $2,540,500, or 5 percent; social and human services, $2,512,500, or 5 percent; violence prevention, $1,965,000, or 4 percent; children and youths, $1,911,735, or 4 percent; the arts, $1,811, 500, or 4 percent; health, $1,375,500, or 3 percent; and miscellaneous, $2,395,000, or 5 percent.

Environment grants included a $1-million installment on a multiyear grant made to the National Geographic Society, in Washington, for a five-year exploration, research, and public-awareness project with an emphasis on the protection of marine species and ecosystems. Also under the environment program, ForestEthics, in Berkeley, Calif., received $65,000 for a campaign to protect British Columbia’s rainforest.

Grants made through the Israel program focus on civil society, the environment, Ethiopian Israelis, higher education, and religious pluralism. For example, the Economic Cooperation Foundation, in Tel Aviv, received $100,000 for a policy forum to address concerns of Arab-Israelis.

Jewish-affairs grants included $200,000 over two years to the Joshua Venture, in San Francisco, for a fellowship for Jewish entrepreneurs.

Grants for democracy and civil society included $500,000 to the Southern Poverty Law Center, in Montgomery, Ala., for a new Web site and programs promoting tolerance, and $265,000 to Give2Asia, in San Francisco, for relief efforts in Afghanistan.

Under the programs on education and population, the Reading Program, of Milpitas, Calif., received $104,000 for literacy and life-skills programs for jail inmates in Santa Clara County, Calif., and Family Care International, in New York, received $90,000 for its work to promote reproductive and sexual-health education in Bolivia and Haiti.

Grants under the programs for the elderly and for social and human services included $50,000 to Alzheimer’s Services of the East Bay, in Berkeley, Calif., for care-management services, and $98,000 to the San Francisco Food Bank to expand its services.

The Goldman Environmental Prize, created separately by Mr. Goldman, is given annually to grass-roots environmental activists from each of the world’s inhabited continents. The funds do not accept applications or nominations for the prize, which provides a $125,000 stipend to each recipient. For additional information on the prize, visit its Web site at http://goldmanprize.org.

Application procedure: Potential applicants should first review the funds’ current priorities, limitations, and application deadlines. To apply for a grant, submit a letter of inquiry to the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund, which accepts applications on behalf of both the fund and the foundation. The letter of inquiry should be no more than two pages, preferably double-sided on recycled paper and without plastic folders or other unnecessary presentation materials. It must include a one-paragraph executive summary and the amount requested; a project description; and the name, title, and full contact information of the primary contact person. A one-page itemized project budget and a list of other sources of secured and potential financing for the project should be attached, along with a copy of the IRS tax-determination letter for the applicant or its financial sponsor. If the fund is interested in receiving a full proposal, the applicant will be asked to submit additional information. The fund does not accept letters of inquiry for its programs on the arts, education, or health, and it does not accept faxed or electronically transferred submissions for any program.

Key officials: Robert T. Gamble, executive director; Amy Lyons, deputy director; Brenda Jackson Drake, associate director; Bonnie Boxer, Israel program representative; Debbie Findling and Eric Sloan, program officers; Philip Cohen, communications officer; Alison De Jung, grants manager; Richard N. Goldman, president of the Board of Directors.

ROBERT R. McCORMICK TRIBUNE FOUNDATION

435 North Michigan Avenue
Suite 770
Chicago, Ill. 60611
(312) 222-3512
http://www.rrmtf.org

Period covered: Year ending December 31, 2001.

Purpose and areas of support: The foundation was established as a charitable trust in 1955 through the will of Col. Robert R. McCormick, who served for many years as editor and publisher of the Chicago Tribune. It awards grants in four program areas: citizenship, communities, education, and journalism.

Citizenship grants aim to engage young people in Illinois in civic affairs, strengthen nonprofit organizations in Chicago and elsewhere in Illinois, honor patriotism, and facilitate discussion of “key issues affecting the nation’s future.” For example, the National D-Day Foundation, in Bedford, Va., received $25,000 in 2001 for its education center.

The communities grants program works to foster social and economic improvements in 29 U.S. cities by providing gifts that match money raised by 44 newspapers, broadcast stations, sports teams, and other partner groups in those cities. Each partner group uses its access to the public to promote charitable giving in such areas as child welfare, education, health care, homelessness, hunger, literacy, and science.

The foundation paid grants totaling $66,100,244 through its communities program, with almost half the money — $31,816,991 — going to support projects in Chicago and Denver. For instance, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Colorado, in Denver, received $105,000 to match funds raised by the Colorado Avalanche Community Fund, also in Denver.

Education grants seek to improve the quality of care and education for children from birth to age 5 in Chicago’s low-income communities. For example, City Colleges of Chicago received $1,000,000 for faculty development and courses and degree programs in early-childhood education.

Journalism grants support diversity, freedom of expression, “full and informed coverage of national security issues,” and the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, in Evanston, Ill. Grants under this program are limited to the Western Hemisphere, and included $165,000 to the Alfred Friendly Foundation, in Washington, for fellowships for Latin American journalists. Also under this program, the Centro de Periodistas de Investigación, in Mexico, received $250,000 for general support of an investigative-reporters’ group.

The foundation created a special disaster-relief fund in response to the September 11 attacks, and distributed $13,655,000 to groups serving people who had been affected. For example, the Salvation Army of Greater New York received $350,000 for services to victims and volunteers.

Application procedure: Applicants for the communities program should contact their local participating broadcast, newspaper, or sports group. A list of participating groups is available on the foundation’s Web site.

Prospective applicants for citizenship, education, or journalism grants should send a short letter to the foundation describing the proposed project. The foundation’s Web site provides details and examples of current grant-making priorities.

Key officials: Richard A. Behrenhausen, president and chief executive officer; David L. Grange, executive vice president and chief operating officer; Nicholas Goodban, senior vice president for philanthropy; Louis J. Marsico Jr., vice president for finance and administration; Holly Simpson, communications officer; John W. Madigan, chairman of the Board of Directors.

Program directors: David Anderson (development); Catherine Brown (communities); Wanda Newell (education); John Sirek (citizenship); and Vivian Vahlberg (journalism).

MEADOWS FOUNDATION

Wilson Historic District
3003 Swiss Avenue
Dallas, Tex. 75204-6049
(214) 826-9431
http://www.mfi.org

Period covered: Year ending December 31, 2001.

Purpose and areas of support: The foundation was established in 1948 by Algur H. Meadows, a Texas oil-company executive, and his wife, Virginia. It awards grants to groups throughout Texas, but generally allocates between one-third and one-half of its grant dollars to Dallas-area organizations.

In 2001, the foundation awarded 246 grants totaling $32,216,690 in its five program areas: human services, which received $11,856,090, or 36 percent of grant dollars; health, $7,150,885, or 22 percent; civic and public affairs, $6,393,570, or 21 percent; education, $4,591,375, or 14 percent; and arts and culture, $2,224,770, or 7 percent.

Human-services grants included awards for adult and child development, child care, communities, employment and job training, essential human needs, family life, housing, legal assistance and justice issues, and residential care. For example, Women in Need, in Greenville, Tex., received $161,000 to construct a new shelter and service facility for women and children who are victims of domestic violence.

Also under the program on human services, Habitat for Humanity of Denton, in Texas, received $94,500 to purchase vacant properties on which to construct affordable homes for low-income families.

Health grants focused on disease prevention and health education, health-care services, health fitness and safety, health-related research, mental health and counseling, physical rehabilitation, and substance-abuse prevention. Under this program, for instance, the Texas Association of Community Health Centers, in Austin, was awarded $450,000 for a statewide effort to enroll uninsured individuals in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program through a network of community-based centers.

Civic and public-affairs grants were awarded for “built and natural environments,” economic and community development, free enterprise, volunteerism, and research on wildlife, plants, water, energy, and conservation. For example, the National Wildlife Federation, in Austin, received a two-year, $1-million grant for a project designed to educate and involve the public in sustainable water-use plans for Texas.

Education grants included $372,320 to the Dallas Independent School District to recruit and hire teachers.

Arts and culture grants included $300,000 to the Dallas Children’s Theater to renovate a facility that will house the theater, costume and scene shops, and education programs.

The foundation owns and operates the Wilson Historic District, a 22-acre neighborhood of restored Victorian homes near downtown Dallas. The buildings provide rent-free office space to approximately 25 local nonprofit organizations, including the Mental Health Association of Greater Dallas and the United Negro College Fund.

The foundation’s Small Grants Committee provides grants of less than $25,000; during 2001, 23 grants totaling $495,270 were recommended by the committee and approved by the board.

Application procedure: The foundation accepts grant applications throughout the year and there are no official application forms. Prospective applicants should review the foundation’s grant guidelines, which are available at its Web site, in print, and on audiocassette.

Key officials: Linda P. Evans, president and chief executive officer; Martha L. Benson, vice president, treasurer, and chief financial officer; Bruce H. Esterline, vice president for grants; Michael E. Patrick, vice president and chief investment officer; Bob Weiss, vice president for administration; Carol A. Stabler, director of communications; Steve Davidson, Michael K. McCoy, and Kathy Smith, senior program officers; Robert A. Meadows, chairman of the Board of Trustees.