Foundation Annual Reports

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, 2006.

Purpose and areas of support: This private foundation was endowed in 1937 by three members of the Lilly family through gifts of stock in the family’s pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. Although Lilly stock remains the “financial bedrock” of its portfolio, in July the endowment announced plans to build a more diversified investments portfolio.

The endowment makes grants in three program divisions: community development, education, and religion. Grant making also stresses projects that benefit young people, foster leadership development at charities, and promote philanthropy and volunteerism.

In 2006 the endowment approved grants totaling $310.1-million to 657 grantees, of which 279 were first-time recipients of Lilly Endowment support. The education and religion divisions received virtually the same amount of money — $124.8-million and $124.6-million, respectively — accounting for 80 percent of grants approved. The community-development division received $60.7-million, or 20 percent. New allocations were down substantially, from $468.8-million in 2005.

The majority of new grant dollars — 55 percent — went to nonprofit groups in Indiana, with an emphasis on Indianapolis and Marion County, and 45 percent went to organizations outside the state. This was in contrast to the preceding year, when 74 percent of grant dollars went to Indiana organizations.

Education-related grant making revolves around improving education in Indiana, with a specific emphasis on higher education and programs designed to boost the number of Indiana residents who complete college.

The endowment also supports programs to expand higher-education opportunities for African-Americans, American Indians, and Hispanic-Americans.

Butler University, in Indianapolis, and the Purdue Research Foundation, in West Lafayette, Ind., each received a $25-million grant to strengthen the institutions’ pharmacy education and research programs. And the American Indian College Fund, in Denver, received $17.5-million for its five-year Woksape Oyate (Lakota for “wisdom of the people”) program, which will allow each of its 32 member colleges to tailor recruitment, retention, and development activities for faculty members and students.

The broad 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 institutions for projects that encourage congregations to be “vibrant, healthy communities of faith” and that apply Christian teachings to contemporary life.

For example, the endowment awarded 34 grants totaling $14,274,700 for projects in which high-school students engage in theological education and inquiry and consider Christian ministry as a vocation.

Other grants included $1,165,390 to the Religion Newswriters Foundation, in Westerville, Ohio, for a scholarship program for journalists interested in taking college courses on religion or spirituality.

Community-development grants focus on efforts designed 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 makes grants to help spur economic revitalization and create recreational opportunities in the region.

The largest award by far was $20-million to the United Way of Central Indiana, in Indianapolis, to help with the capital needs of local human-services groups. Other allocations included $1,116,720 to the Indianapolis Zoological Society for general operating support, and $1.1-million to the Indiana University Foundation, in Bloomington, for the Indiana Business Research Center.

The annual report’s theme is “renewal,” and features profiles of individuals who have benefited from the endowment’s short-term sabbatical programs for pastors, teachers, artists, human-services professionals, and other people in charitable work.

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 address above. 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 e-mailed or faxed inquiries. 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.

MINNEAPOLIS FOUNDATION
800 IDS Center
80 South Eighth Street
Minneapolis, Minn. 55402
(612) 672-3878
http://www.minneapolisfoundation.org

Period covered: Year ending March 31, 2006.

Purpose and areas of support: This community foundation was established in 1915 as one of the first such funds in the country. It makes grants that primarily benefit Minnesotans, with an emphasis on residents of the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. The foundation administers more than 900 unrestricted, donor-advised, field-of-interest, scholarship, and other types of funds, 112 of which were created during the 2005-6 fiscal year.

The foundation also oversees approximately 10 “Signature Funds,” which offer services for individuals, families, or businesses that maintain donor-advised funds with assets of $1-million or more.

Minnesota nonprofit groups can apply for grants through three options: the Community Grants program, which provides competitive support using the unrestricted funds of the foundation and its supporting organizations; the Connections Grants program, which enables groups to request funds designated by individual donors for small, one-time, or time-sensitive needs; and requests for proposals, which are issued periodically by the foundation.

In 2005-6, grants totaling $3,695,500 were allocated to nonprofit organizations through the Community Grants program, down from $7,404,950 the previous year. Awards are made in four areas: affordable housing, economic opportunities, educational achievement, and the health and well-being of children, youths, and families.

Grants go to projects that “support efforts to improve policies and practices affecting disadvantaged Minnesotans,” including advocacy, community-organizing, and public-awareness activities.

Geographically, 53 percent of Community Grants went to statewide projects, 31 percent benefited projects in the Twin Cities area, and 16 percent supported projects in other Minnesota locales.

Community Grants fall into two categories: “system and policy change” and capital support. Grants that fell under the first category included $100,000 to the Minnesota Veterans Homes Board, in St. Paul, to establish a triage center for homeless veterans in Minnesota, and $125,000 to the Minneapolis Urban League for a collaborative effort of six groups to mitigate street violence by youths in the city.

Capital grants included $50,000 to Centro Campesino, in Owatonna, to purchase and renovate a building in the downtown area of this city in south Minnesota; the building will serve as a community center for the region’s migrant workers.

Sandra Vargas, former Hennepin County (Minn.) administrator, became president and chief executive officer on April 1, 2007. She succeeded Emmett D. Carson, who became president and chief executive officer of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation last fall.

Application procedure: Potential applicants should consult the foundation’s grant guidelines, entitled “Broader Reach,” which are available on the foundation’s Web site. Applicants may contact the foundation with questions at (612) 672-3836 or grants@mplsfoundation.org.

Key officials: Sandra Vargas, president and chief executive officer; Jean Adams, vice president, finance and administration; Stuart Appelbaum, vice president, development; Desiree Heller, vice president, philanthropic consulting services; Karen Kelley-Ariwoola, vice president, community philanthropy; Christelle Langer, vice president, marketing and communications; Marigrace Deters, associate vice president, community philanthropy; Stephen Roszell, chair of the Board of Trustees.

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

Period covered: Year ending June 30, 2006.

Purpose and areas of support: Jeffrey S. Skoll, the first full-time employee and first president of eBay, established the foundation in 1999. It encompasses two separate entities: the Skoll Fund, a public charity and supporting organization of the Community Foundation Silicon Valley, and the Skoll Foundation, a private foundation that was established in 2002. The two entities share administrative, grant-making, and program resources, but are governed by separate boards.

The foundation’s primary grant-making program is the Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship. Those and other grants are focused in six 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 “established organizations led by social entrepreneurs who are applying innovative and effective approaches to resolve critical social issues around the world.” In the 2006 cycle, 16 organizations received three-year grants for core support ranging from $450,000 to $1.52-million.

One recipient, the Afghan Institute of Learning, offers teacher education and provides school supplies for thousands of students in Afghanistan through its Educational Learning Centers, and has prepared students for careers as leaders of their communities through programs at its university. The Afghan Institute of Learning received $480,000 over three years.

In addition to the awards, the foundation also granted $13.6-million to social-entrepreneurship organizations to help build and strengthen the field and promote its achievements through media programs.

For example, the foundation awarded $2.5-million to establish the PBS Foundation Social Entrepreneurship Fund to produce documentaries, films, and other journalistic work to raise public awareness of social entrepreneurship.

The foundation also continued to sponsor Social Edge, an online forum for entrepreneurs, nonprofit professionals, and philanthropists. According to the annual report, Web-site traffic increased 250 percent during 2006, partly fueled by articles by guest authors, results of academic research, and excerpts from new books by leaders in the field.

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

Key officials: Sally Osberg, president and chief executive officer; Lance Henderson, vice president, program and impact; Sandy Herz, vice president, marketing and communications; Richard Fahey, chief operating officer; Ed Diener, counsel; Andria de Witt and Pamela Lawrence, program coordinators; Ruth Norris, senior program officer; Victor d’Allant, executive director, Social Edge; Terry Nagel, communications officer; Laura Vais, marketing director; Cristina Yoon, grants administrator; Jeffrey S. Skoll, founder and chairman.