Foundation Annual Reports

EWING MARION KAUFFMANFOUNDATION
4900 Oak StreetKansas City, Mo. 64112-2776
(816) 932-1000
World-Wide Web:http://www.emkf.org
Period covered: Year ending June 30, 1997.

Purpose and areas of support: The foundation was established in 1966 by the late Ewing Marion Kauffman, builder of the Marion Laboratories pharmaceuticals corporation and owner of the Kansas City Royals baseball team. It maintains operating programs and makes some grants in two areas: entrepreneurial education and leadership, and youth development.

In 1996-97, the foundation appropriated $22.2-million to its Youth Development operating program and $21.9-million to its second operating program, the Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership. An additional $6.1-million was allocated for grants in both program areas.

The Youth Development program comprises three areas: “Started Right,” which encompasses early-childhood care and education and parental and family support; “Web of Support,” which emphasizes school reform and community-based services for children and youths; and “Choice and Hope,” which focuses on neighborhood and economic development and productive school-to-career transitions.

Youth Development created the Youth Advisory Board, composed of 20 local high-school students, which is responsible for soliciting proposals and making grants to local grassroots groups. It made its first grants, totaling $92,375, in June; recipients included the Ad Hoc Group Against Crime and the Mattie Rhodes Counseling and Art Center.

The Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership promotes entrepreneurial education and innovation at both non-profit and for-profit U.S. organizations. In 1996-97, funds were divided among three programs: the Entrepreneur Training Institute, which supports adult entrepreneurs, received $13.7-million; the Institute for Entrepreneurship Education, which focuses on students in kindergarten through community college, received $5.4-million; and encouraging entrepreneurship in communities, non-profit groups, and government, which received $2.8-million.

The center’s activities included sponsoring the national competition of the Entrepreneur Invention Society and producing a report describing the strategies of entrepreneurs whose companies grew by more than 25 per cent from 1994 to 1995.

Application procedure: The foundation does not welcome unsolicited grant proposals. In general, its grant making develops out of relationships it forms with other organizations. It may occasionally seek new partners through a request for proposals from groups working in its two areas of interest. Letters of inquiry should be directed to the grants administrator at the address above.

Key officials: Robert B. Rogers, chairman; Louis W. Smith, president and chief executive officer; Michie P. Slaughter, president, chief operating officer, and chairman of the Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership; Eugene R. Wilson, president, chief operating officer, and chairman of Youth Development; Jerry Kitzi, vice-president of Youth Development; Alicia Mitchelson, director of administration and grants for the Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership; David E. Elder, vice-president for administration; David C. Lady, vice-president for finance and treasurer; Edward T. Weaver, vice-president for program-support services.

M.J. MURDOCKCHARITABLE TRUST
703 Broadway, Suite 710
Vancouver, Wash. 98660
(360) 694-8415
Period covered: Year ending December 31, 1996.

Purpose and areas of support:The foundation was created in 1975 through the will of Melvin J. (Jack) Murdock, co-founder of Tektronix, a technology company. It makes grants primarily to non-profit groups in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington State. Special emphasis is given to projects and organizations in the metropolitan Portland, Ore.-Vancouver, Wash., area.

In 1996, grants totaling $12,094,280 were appropriated as follows: education received $4.3-million, or 35.8 per cent; health and human services, $3.7-million or 30.7 per cent; scientific research, $2.8-million or 22.8 per cent; and arts and culture, $1.3-million or 10.7 per cent.

Education projects emphasized faculty development, schools and higher-education institutions in the Pacific Northwest, and adapting new technologies for use in learning. For example, $148,500 went to Albertson College in Caldwell, Idaho, for the Mathematics and Science Teachers Educational Resource Center.

Health and human-services grants focused on youth development, hospitals, health-care services for low-income people, emergency services and disaster relief, and homelessness and hunger.

Scientific-research grants emphasized projects in the natural sciences at Pacific Northwest institutions that train students in research skills and that seek to acquire new scientific knowledge in biotechnology and other areas.

Twelve new arts-related grants were made, including $50,000 to the Museum of Northwest Art in La Conner, Wash., for its facilities.

Application procedure: Prospective applicants should first determine their eligibility by viewing the proposed project against the trust’s stated philosophy, policies, and practice as represented in the trust’s annual report. The applicant should send a letter of inquiry summarizing pertinent information about the project so that the trust may determine the propriety of the applicant’s submitting a formal proposal. The trust may be contacted for guidelines on what to include in the letter. An appropriate application packet will be sent in response to letters of inquiry that outline projects deemed to be appropriate for further development. Letters of inquiry should be addressed to John Van Zytveld, Senior Program Director, P.O. Box 1618, Vancouver, Wash. 98668.

Key officials: Neal O. Thorpe, executive director; John Van Zytveld, senior program director; Joanna S. Wilson and John M. Woodyard, program directors; James R. Martin, chief financial officer; Bonnie J. O’Donnell, community and special-projects coordinator.

PITTSBURGH FOUNDATION
One PPG Place, 30th Floor
Pittsburgh 15222-5401
(412) 391-5122
Period covered: Year ending December 31, 1996.

Purpose and areas of support: This community foundation was created in 1946; it makes both discretionary and donor-advised grants for projects in Pittsburgh and in Allegheny County in western Pennsylvania, except as provided in the terms of individual trusts.

The fund comprises approximately 525 individual funds. In 1996, grants totaling $12,103,786 were made in the following programs: education, which received $2.8-million or 23 per cent; health and special-needs populations, $2.6-million or 22 per cent; community development and the environment, $1.8-million or 15 per cent; special projects and philanthropic relations, $1.8-million or 15 per cent; families, youths, and children, $1.6-million or 13 per cent; and arts, culture, and the humanities, $1.5-million or 12 per cent. Grant making in all areas emphasizes projects that deal with persistent poverty, racism, and the economic vitality and overall quality of life in the metropolitan Pittsburgh area.

Education grants focused on public-school reform, work-force preparation, arts education, and minority education. Awards included a three-year, $30,000 award to the Pittsburgh Peace Institute to expand the “Making Choices” violence-prevention curriculum into 18 Pittsburgh-area middle schools.

Health and special-needs grants focused on the elderly and disabled, mental-health services, substance abuse, homelessness, health policy, and health-care services for low-income people and families.

The fund’s community-development grants included $75,000 over two years to the Mon Valley Initiative to strengthen the work of its 17 member community-development corporations in Pittsburgh neighborhoods affected by the loss of manufacturing jobs.

Application procedure: The foundation awards grants to non-profit organizations that are tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. For discretionary grants, organizations must be located within Allegheny County, Pa., or demonstrate that a significant majority of their clients are from Allegheny County. Application guidelines may be obtained by calling or writing the foundation. Prior to submitting a full proposal, applicants are encouraged to submit a letter of inquiry that includes a brief statement about the organization, the proposed project and its intended results, and the approximate total cost of the project. Program staff members will review each request and get in touch with the applicant organization if additional information is required. The board meets four times a year to consider grants; letters of inquiry should be submitted by November 3 for consideration at the March meeting, February 2 for the June meeting, May 4 for the September meeting, and August 3 for the December meeting.

Key officials: Alfred W. Wishart, Jr., president and chief executive officer; Thomas S. Hay, vice-president for finance; Gerri Kay, vice-president for program and policy; Barbara E. McGill, vice-president for development and donor relations; Jane A. Downing, Annette Green, Beverly J. Wall Lovelace, and Bill Zlatos, program officers; Elizabeth D. Metzler, grants administrator; William J. Copeland, chairman of the Board of Directors.