Foundation Annual Reports

COMMUNITY FOUNDATION SERVING RICHMOND AND CENTRAL VIRGINIA

7325 Beaufont Springs Drive
Suite 210
Richmond, Va. 23225
(804) 330-7400
http://www.tcfrichmond.org

Period covered: Year ending December 31, 2003.

Purpose and areas of support: This foundation was established in 1968 by a group of Richmond-area community leaders. It comprises more than 380 funds, including 33 funds that were created last year.

Of the $62-million in grants awarded in 2003, $57-million came from donor-advised and designated funds. Recipient organizations in Virginia included the Arts Council of Richmond, the Petersburg Health Care Alliance, and Washington & Lee University.

The foundation allocated competitive, or discretionary, grants totaling approximately $4.8-million through its Strengthening Families — Strengthening Communities program, special grant and scholarship opportunities, and supporting organizations and affiliates.

The Strengthening Families — Strengthening Communities emphasizes five program “strategies”: access to care, community and economic development, community enrichment, promoting philanthropy, and youth and family development.

Grants for community and economic development promote affordable housing, community revitalization, and safe neighborhoods. For example, $15,000 went to the Southern Environmental Law Center, in Charlottesville, to publish and distribute a report examining how land-use and transportation trends have affected the overall health and quality of life of residents of metropolitan Richmond.

Grants to support youths and families included $20,000 to Richmond Friends of the Homeless to expand a meals program, and $25,000 to Petersburg Urban Ministries for the YouthBuild Initiative, through which unemployed young adults can obtain a GED and acquire job skills while building housing for low-income and homeless people.

Community-enrichment grants included $33,000 to the Catholic Diocese of Richmond’s Refugee and Immigration Services, to retain a bilingual liaison who will assist recent immigrants to the Richmond area.

The foundation’s Youth Philanthropy Project encourages student volunteerism and charitable giving. Each year approximately 20 Richmond-area high-school students review grant proposals and award grants to support community-service projects developed and conducted by their peers.

The foundation has eight supporting organizations, each of which is an independent entity that maintains separate legal status and its own governing board and investment-management policies.

In addition, the foundation has helped create three regional affiliates in Virginia: the Gloucester Community Foundation, located in Gloucester; the Mathews Community Foundation, in Mathews; and the River Counties Community Foundation, in Kilmarnock.

Application procedure: The foundation accepts unsolicited proposals only for grants that will be awarded on a competitive basis. Additional information on grant guidelines and applications procedures is available on the foundation’s Web site.

Key officials: Darcy S. Oman, president and chief executive officer; Robert L. Thalhimer, associate director; Susan Brown Davis, director of programs; Karen W. Hand, director of finance; Jill A. McCormick, senior program officer; Lisa L.P. O’Mara, donor-services officer; Kimberly M. Russell, senior communications associate; Robert F. Norfleet Jr., chairman of the Board of Governors.

JAMES IRVINE FOUNDATION

1 Market, Steuart Tower, Suite 2500
San Francisco, Calif. 94105
(415) 777-2244
http://www.irvine.org

Period covered: Year ending December 31, 2003.

Purpose and areas of support: The foundation was created in 1937 by James Irvine, a lifelong Californian who had business interests in San Francisco. He set up the foundation as the primary stock holder of the Irvine Company, which managed a 110,000-acre ranch in Orange County that he had inherited from his father in 1886. The ranch covered an area equal to almost one-third of contemporary Orange County. Mr. Irvine died in 1947 and, in the mid-1970s, the foundation was forced to sell its share in the company to comply with new federal legislation.

In accordance with Mr. Irvine’s wishes, the foundation restricts its grant making to organizations and programs that benefit California residents.

In 2003, the foundation completed a strategic-planning process and identified three grant-making priorities: the arts, the California Perspectives program, and youths.

The foundation also selected three priority regions of the state: the Central Valley, Los Angeles County, and Riverside and San Bernardino Counties. It chose those areas because “historically they have been underserved by philanthropy, are experiencing major demographic shifts, and are home to a large proportion of low-income residents.” Although these are the foundation’s geographic priorities, it continues to make grants elsewhere in California.

In 2003, the foundation allocated 405 grants totaling $50.5-million. It appropriated roughly half of its grant-making budget to transitional grants in its former program areas — children, youth, and families; civic culture; higher education; sustainable communities; and special projects.

The arts program seeks “to promote a vibrant and inclusive artistic and cultural environment in California.” Grant making emphasizes creative and innovative arts programs, fosters cross-cultural understanding, and supports well-established arts groups that show exemplary management and artistic achievement.

For example, the San Diego Museum of Art received $200,000 over two years for a comprehensive effort to attract Latino audiences through exhibitions and programs on Latino culture.

Other awards included $15,000 to the Southern California Association for Philanthropy, in Los Angeles, to survey regional giving to the arts in 1998-2002, and $200,000 over two years to the Oakland Museum of California Foundation for an exhibition entitled “Next Stop Vietnam: California and Vietnam Transformed” that will travel to 17 cultural institutions statewide.

The goal of the California Perspectives program is “to inform public understanding, engage Californians, and improve decision making on significant state issues.” To this end, the foundation supports advocacy, communications, policy research and analysis, and public outreach and education on such issues.

For instance, the Chinese American Voters Education Committee, in San Francisco, received $200,000 over two years to strengthen the civic and electoral participation of Asian-Americans. The Public Policy Institute of California, also in San Francisco, received $150,000 to produce two public-opinion surveys on budget and taxation issues affecting Californians.

The youth program seeks “to enhance the academic preparation of low-income youth, aged 14 to 24, for successful transition to postsecondary opportunities, the workplace, and citizenship.” Allocations included $220,000 over 30 months to the United Way of Kern County, in Bakersfield, for an effort to improve the academic achievement of local students through a self-paced, Web-based academic and career assessment and tutorial plan.

Other youth grants included $250,000 over two years to the California State University at Fresno Foundation to promote programs, policies, and other activities aimed at increasing college enrollment and completion among underrepresented youths in the San Joaquin Valley.

The foundation also continued its multiple-year Communities Organizing Resources to Advance Learning (CORAL) Initiative. However, it is not accepting new grant proposals in this area and plans to conclude CORAL in 2007 as originally scheduled.

In addition to its headquarters in San Francisco, the foundation operates an office in Los Angeles.

Application procedure: The foundation primarily supports organizations that are tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. The foundation encourages all potential applicants to first review its Web site, which offers up-to-date information about current priorities and grant making, as well as directions for submitting letters of inquiry. As part of the strategic-planning process completed in 2003, the foundation has instituted a new process for handling unsolicited inquiries, offering an online application through which applicants can be considered for a grant. The foundation accepts letters of inquiry only via this electronic form, and evaluates unsolicited inquiries in three rounds per year, with funding decisions made in March, June, and October.

Key officials: James E. Canales, president and chief executive officer; Martha S. Campbell, vice president for programs; John R. Jenks, chief investment officer, treasurer, and corporate secretary; Elisa C. Callow, Amy Dominguez-Arms, and Anne B. Stanton, program directors; John Orders, acting program director; Ann L. Clarke, director of administration; Diane J. Olberg, director of communications; Kelly Martin, grants manager; Peter W. Stanley, chair of the Board of Directors.

CORPORATIONS

PRUDENTIAL FOUNDATION

751 Broad Street, 15th Floor
Newark, N.J. 07102
(973) 802-4791
http://www.prudential.com

Period covered: Year ending December 31, 2003.

Purpose and areas of support: The Prudential Foundation supports organizations that provide direct services within specific geographic regions. The foundation gives top priority to programs that serve Newark and adjacent “urban centers” in New Jersey. It places secondary emphasis on programs in several cities where the Prudential Insurance Company of America maintains large operations, including Atlanta; Chicago; Hartford, Conn.; Houston; Jacksonville, Fla.; Los Angeles; Minneapolis; Philadelphia; and Phoenix. The foundation also considers support for national programs that can be adopted for use in the aforementioned cities.

Through the Prudential Neighborhood Partnership, the foundation also supports projects in selected neighborhoods in Jacksonville, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Newark, and Philadelphia.

The foundation’s grant making stresses support for children and families through three program areas: Ready to Learn, Ready to Live, and Ready to Work.

In 2003, the foundation allocated $4,937,200 through its Ready to Learn program, which focuses on early-childhood care and education, child and family literacy, and education-reform efforts in public elementary schools.

One common strategy in the Ready to Learn program is enhanced professional development for teachers. For example, New American Schools, in Alexandria, Va., received $335,000 to foster educational leadership and tangible performance improvements in several New Jersey school districts.

The Prudential Foundation awarded $3,173,500 through the Ready to Live program, which focuses on arts and cultural activities in New Jersey, child health, the Greater Newark AIDS Initiative, human-services programs, and youth-development activities.

Grants included $25,000 to Chris Homes, in Atlanta, for a residence for young people “aging out” of foster care, and $50,000 to the Association for Children of New Jersey, in Newark, to publish the Newark Kids Count report and to tackle child-health issues such as lead poisoning.

The foundation appropriated $2,052,000 through its Ready to Work program, which stresses support for job-creation strategies, low-cost and safe housing, and vocational training.

For example, $30,000 went to Congreso de Latinos Unidos, in Philadelphia, for its work-force services, which include vocational training and English-as-a-second-language programs.

Application procedure: Potential applicants should visit the foundation’s Web site for grant guidelines and application forms. The foundation also accepts the New York Area Common Application Form. A brief concept letter of three pages or less may be submitted with the application. Applicants should not fax applications or submit videotapes. If it feels that there is potential for a grant award, the foundation will notify the applicant, which should be prepared to provide copies of its latest audited financial statement; a complete itemized project budget; a list of sources of funds, including the amount received from each; and the names and qualifications of individuals conducting the project. Although grant proposals are accepted and reviewed throughout the year, grants in excess of $200,000 must be approved by the board, which meets three times a year.

Key officials: Gabriella E. Morris, president; Lata N. Reddy, secretary and vice president; Sharon C. Taylor, chairman of the Board of Trustees.