Puerto Rico Community Foundation (Fundación Comunitaria de Puerto Rico)

History: Established in 1985 with

ALSO SEE:

Building a Tradition of Giving

$2-million from the Ford Foundation to stimulate philanthropy in Puerto Rico and to make grants to help the island deal with its social and economic problems.

Areas of support: Makes grants in four areas: education, youth, community development, and the arts. It also manages 25 funds, the majority of which are donor-advised funds that allow donors to recommend how their gifts should be distributed.

Finances: The organization brought in about $3.2-million last year. Its assets were $21,736,323 as of December 31, 1998.

Sources of funds: Received some $1.2-million from foundations in 1998, $935,605 from corporations, $893,000 from U.S. government agencies, and $175,970 from individuals.

Grants and operating programs: The organization distributed $1,068,778 in grants last year. Grants made from the donor-advised funds accounted for $138,000 of that amount.

Key officials: Ethel Ríos de Betancourt, president; Lillian Zeller, chairman of the Board of Directors.

Application procedures: Grant applications are accepted throughout the year. Before submitting a proposal, applicants are encouraged to write letters of inquiry to the community foundation outlining what they propose to do with the grant money. The board meets four times a year to approve grant requests.

Address: P.O. Box 70362, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00936-8362; (787) 721-1037.

World-Wide Web site: http://www.fcpr.org