Foundation Annual Reports

BILL & MELINDA GATES FOUNDATION
P.O. Box 23350
Seattle, Wash. 98102
(206) 709-3100
http://www.gatesfoundation.org

Period covered: Year ending December 31, 2007.

Purpose and areas of support: The foundation was created in 2000 through the merger of two funds endowed by Bill Gates, the chairman and chief software architect of the Microsoft Corporation, and his wife, Melinda French Gates. The Gates foundation is completely independent of Microsoft, which maintains its own corporate-giving programs.

The foundation was already the world’s largest grant maker when Warren E. Buffett, the investor and philanthropist, pledged 10 million shares of Berkshire Hathaway stock — valued at more than $30-billion — to the fund in June 2006, effectively doubling its size. Mr. Buffett stipulated that his annual payment, which totaled nearly $1.8-billion in 2007, should be spent the same year it is awarded.

The grant maker has also set a timeline for its eventual closure, announcing that operations will cease 50 years after the death of all three current trustees — Bill and Melinda Gates and Mr. Buffett.

The Gates foundation allocates grants through three program divisions: global health, which received payments of $1.2-billion in 2007; the United States, $438.6-million; and global development, $308.0-million.

The global-health program’s main goal is to ensure that medical equipment and drugs are available to people in poor countries. Grant making emphasizes research on major diseases, collaborative efforts to develop vaccines, medications, and health tools, and delivery of those health solutions to needy people worldwide.

Last year, the foundation awarded grants totaling $280-million for efforts to fight tuberculosis, including vaccine development, improved diagnostic tests, and new treatments for the disease. Additionally, Mr. Gates has promised the Stop TB Partnership that the foundation will increase its tuberculosis grant making by $900-million by 2016.

The U.S. program’s priorities are expanding high-quality secondary and postsecondary education, providing services for poor families and children in the Pacific Northwest, and helping public libraries provide patrons with free computer and Internet access.

For example, the foundation’s grant of $425,000 over three years to the Native American Youth and Family Center, in Portland, Ore., helped 85 percent of students in its year-round program graduate from high school. Ninety-one percent of students in its summer program went on to college.

Grants through the global-development division stressed support of agricultural development, financial services for poor people in Asia and Africa, and other economic opportunities for those in developing countries.

For example, the foundation operates an online forum for library employees from six countries that have received grants to help libraries provide free public access to computers and the Internet. The Web site provides a workspace to help grantees and program officers work on projects together, enables library workers to engage in discussions, and contains a database of useful resources.

In May, the foundation announced that Jeffrey S. Raikes, former president of the Business Division at Microsoft, would succeed Patty Stonesifer as chief executive officer in September. Ms. Stonesifer, who has led the foundation since its creation 11 years ago, plans to continue working at the organization and oversee a new grant-making program that has yet to take shape.

Application procedure: The foundation awards the majority of its grants to institutions selected by its program teams. Detailed information on grant-making processes, emphases, and limitations is available on the foundation’s Web site.

Key officials: Bill Gates, Melinda French Gates, and William H. Gates Sr., co-chairs; Patty Stonesifer, chief executive officer; Sylvia Mathews Burwell, president, global-development program; Allan C. Golston, president, U.S. program; Tadataka Yamada, president, global-health program; Martha Choe, chief administrative officer; Connie Collingsworth, general counsel; Alexander S. Friedman, chief financial officer; Geoff Lamb, managing director, public policy; Heidi Sinclair, chief communications officer; Bill Gates, Melinda French Gates, and Warren E. Buffett, trustees.

LILLY ENDOWMENT
2801 North Meridian Street
P.O. Box 88068
Indianapolis, Ind. 46208
(317) 924-5471
http://www.lillyendowment.org

Period covered: Year ending December 31, 2007.

Purpose and areas of support: This private foundation was established in 1937 by J.K. Lilly Sr. and his sons Eli and J.K. Jr. and endowed through gifts of stock in the family’s pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. Although Lilly stock remains the “financial bedrock” of its portfolio, the endowment is completely separate from the company.

In accordance with the wishes of its three founders, the endowment awards grants through three program divisions: community development, education, and religion. Within this framework, grant making focuses on projects that benefit young people and advance leadership education and fiscal responsibility at charitable organizations.

In 2007, the endowment approved grants totaling $333.2-million to 664 grantees. The education division’s approved grants totaled $130.9-million, accounting for 39 percent of the foundation’s giving. The community-development division received $112.7-million, or 34 percent, and the religion division paid out $89.7-million, or 27 percent.

The majority of new grant dollars — 73 percent — went to nonprofit groups in Indiana, with 15 percent going to organizations in Indianapolis and Marion County. The remaining 27 percent went to organizations outside the state. This was in contrast to the preceding year, when only 55 percent of grant dollars went to groups in Indiana.

The foundation’s education-related grant making centers on improving education in Indiana, with a focus on higher education and programs designed to boost the number of Indiana residents who complete college. The endowment also supports programs to expand scholarships and other higher-education opportunities for disadvantaged students.

The Indiana University Foundation, in Bloomington, received two notable grants: $44-million for a faculty studio at the university’s Jacobs School of Music, and $25-million for a fund to support its law school. Additionally, the Independent Colleges of Indiana, in Indianapolis, was awarded $17-million for the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program.

The stated goal of the religion division is “to deepen and enrich the religious lives of American Christians,” principally through grants to seminaries, theological schools, and other educational and religious groups. Grants generally support projects that encourage congregations to be “vibrant, healthy communities of faith” that apply Christian teachings to contemporary life.

For example, the endowment awarded 113 grants totaling $5,315,408 to strengthen congregations through sabbaticals for pastors and other church leaders. Additionally, $225,800 was granted to the Institute for American Values, in New York, for research and to expand moral and religious teaching for children whose parents have divorced.

Community-development grants emphasize efforts to benefit Indianapolis residents in the areas of the arts and culture, human and societal needs, inner-city and neighborhood revitalization, and low-income housing. The endowment also supports programs to help spur economic revitalization and create recreational opportunities in the region.

The largest award in this category was $26-million to the Columbus Learning Center Management Corporation, in Columbus, Ind., for educational efforts associated with the Economic Opportunities 2015 program, which seeks to bolster financial growth in 10 counties in southeast Indiana.

The annual report’s theme is “the virtuous circle of community” and features profiles of grantees that have collaborated on community-development efforts.

Application procedure: Charitable organizations with projects and requests that fit the endowment’s guidelines may submit a preliminary letter of no more than two pages that provides information about the organization, the proposed project, and the amount of money to be requested. Correspondence should be directed to the Program Office at the endowment’s address. The endowment responds in writing to all preliminary inquiries and will request a full proposal from those organizations whose projects it feels warrant further consideration. The endowment does not accept inquiries by e-mail or fax. Additional information is available on the endowment’s Web site.

Key officials: N. Clay Robbins, president; Craig Dykstra, senior vice president, religion; Sara B. Cobb, vice president, education; William M. Goodwin, vice president, community development; E.G. White, vice president, finance; David D. Biber, secretary; Diane M. Stenson, treasurer; Thomas M. Lofton, chairman of the Board of Directors.

SKOLL FOUNDATION
250 University Avenue, Suite 200
Palo Alto, Calif. 94301
(650) 331-1031
http://www.skollfoundation.org

Period covered: Year ending June 30, 2007.

Purpose and areas of support: The foundation was established by Jeffrey S. Skoll, the first full-time employee and first president of eBay. It comprises two separate entities: the Skoll Fund, a public charity and supporting organization associated with the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, and the Skoll Foundation, a private philanthropy created in 2002. The two entities share administrative, grant-making, and program resources but are governed by separate boards.

The foundation’s main grant-making mechanism is the Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship program. Those and other grants are made through six identified program areas: economic and social equity, environmental sustainability, health, institutional responsibility, peace and security, and tolerance and human rights.

The foundation also places emphasis on geographic regions where those issues are of particular concern and the potential for substantial long-term change is greatest.

The Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship support “social entrepreneurs whose organizations address inequities between rich and poor by creating new systems that achieve lasting social change.” In the 2007 cycle, the foundation awarded 10 grants totaling $10,150,000 for core support.

One recipient, Gram Vikas, a group in India, is working to expand a network of nongovernmental organizations that will provide sanitation services — such as running water — in every household in participating villages throughout India. Once the first phase is successful, villages will have the opportunity to pursue other development activities, including efforts to promote community health, increase school attendance, and encourage the government to open local health-care facilities. Gram Vikas received $1,015,000 over three years.

In addition to the awards, the foundation also began to increase its emphasis on program-related investments. For example, the GroFin East Africa Fund, a group that provides money and other resources to poor people who wish to start their own businesses, received a $350,000 loan to expand its efforts in Rwanda.

The foundation continued to support efforts to raise public awareness of social entrepreneurship. Nine nonprofit groups — including the Carter Center, the PBS Foundation, and the Acumen Fund — have been awarded $10,450,000 for such media campaigns.

Application procedure: Detailed information is available on the foundation’s Web site.

Key officials: Sally Osberg, president and chief executive officer; Richard Fahey, chief operating officer; Lance Henderson, vice president, program and impact; Laura Vais, vice president, marketing; Sandy Herz, senior advancement officer; Ed Diener, counsel; Pamela Lawrence, program coordinator; Daniel Crisafulli and Ruth Norris, senior program officers; Victor d’Allant, executive director, Social Edge; Lakshmi Karan, Bridget McNamer, and Acon Swofford, program officers; Cristina Yoon, grants administrator; Jeffrey S. Skoll, founder and chairman.