Foundation Annual Reports

NORD FAMILY FOUNDATION
347 Midway Boulevard, Suite 312
Elyria, Ohio 44035
(800) 745-8946
http://www.nordff.org

Period covered: Year ending December 31, 2001.

Purpose and areas of support: The foundation is the successor to a charitable trust established in 1952 by Walter G. Nord, president of the U.S. Automatic Corporation, and his wife, Virginia. Reorganized under its current name in 1988, the foundation primarily awards grants for projects that benefit residents of Lorain County, Ohio. It also makes some grants in Cuyahoga County, Ohio; Columbia, S.C.; Denver; and Boston, all communities of interest to the children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren of Walter and Virginia Nord.

Grants are allocated in four program areas: health and social services, which received grant dollars totaling $1,200,737; civic affairs, which received $890,700; education, $538,772; and arts and culture, $406,400. Within those areas, the foundation gives high priority to programs that assist low-income families and address the root causes of social problems.

Although the health and social-services program has no strict giving priorities, past grants have included support for early-childhood development and education, the elderly, and youth development. For example, $83,000 went to the Linden School, in Elyria, Ohio, for general operating support and for child-care scholarships for low-income families.

The civic-affairs program seeks to advance public understanding of issues and practices that affect community growth and quality of life. Allocations included $15,000 to Cleveland’s Working for Empowerment Through Community Organizing for a program that matches funds that low-income people save for education, homeownership, or other goals that add to their long-term stability.

Education grants focus on restructuring and improving public education and on promoting successful alternatives to existing educational models.

Through its arts and culture program, the foundation stresses support for visual- and performing-arts groups. Allocations included $5,000 to the Longy School of Music, in Cambridge, Mass., to provide music instruction to disadvantaged children in Boston, Cambridge, and Somerville.

Application procedure: The foundation has no formal application form. Interested applicants should send one copy of a proposal with the following: a cover letter signed by the organization’s executive director or board president; a one-page abstract of the proposal; a detailed description of the proposed project with background information about the problem or need to be addressed, a clear statement of the project’s goals and objectives, a description of a plan to evaluate the impact and effectiveness of the project, an organizational budget with anticipated income and expenditures, and a project budget, if applicable; proof of the organization’s nonprofit status under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code; a list of board members; and a copy of the organization’s most recent financial statements. The deadlines for submitting proposals are April 1 for a June decision, August 1 for an October decision, and December 1 for a February decision.

Key officials: John Mullaney, executive director; Joy L. Anderson and Karen E. Cook, program officers; Sharon D. White, controller; Joseph N. Ignat, president of the Board of Trustees.

PEW CHARITABLE TRUSTS

2005 Market Street, Suite 1700
Philadelphia, Pa. 19103-7077
(215) 575-9050
http://www.pewtrusts.com

Period covered: Year ending December 31, 2001.

Purpose and areas of support: The seven charitable funds that make up the Pew Charitable Trusts were incorporated between 1948 and 1979 by two sons and two daughters of the Sun Oil Company founder, Joseph N. Pew, and his wife, Mary Anderson Pew. Although the funds are separate legal entities, they share the same set of program priorities and are managed and governed collectively.

In 2001, the trusts received more than 3,700 proposals and made 222 grants totaling $230,135,400. Grant making supports activities in these program areas: the environment, which received 18 percent of grant dollars; the Venture Fund, 15 percent; health and human services, 14 percent; public policy, 13 percent; culture, 11 percent; religion, 9 percent; and education, 6 percent. Special distributions outside those programs accounted for the remaining 14 percent.

Geographically, 68 percent of grant dollars went for projects nationwide, 30 percent for projects in the Philadelphia area, and 2 percent for international projects. Of the 222 new grants, 99 were under $250,000; 33 were in the $250,000-$499,999 range; 29 were in the $500,000-$999,999 range; and 61 were $1-million or more.

The environmental program advocates policies and practices that conserve living marine resources, protect old-growth forests and wilderness areas, and address global warming and climate change. Awards included $4,997,000 to Pace University, in White Plains, N.Y, for efforts to reduce harmful emissions from U.S. power plants through advocacy, litigation, and public education.

The Venture Fund allows the trusts to respond to opportunities that fall outside the clearly defined goals of its other programs. For example, $500,000 went to CARE, in Atlanta, for emergency-relief efforts for Afghan refugees, and $3-million over three years went to Yale University, in New Haven, Conn., for the Business Plan Competition for Nonprofits.

The program in health and human services awards a limited number of grants on a national basis for projects in alcohol abuse, bioethics, biomedical research and training, and public health. It also supports local projects through the Pew Fund for Health and Human Services in Philadelphia.

Public-policy grants focus on campaigns and elections, civic engagement, and government performance. Allocations included $1,284,000 over two years to Brigham Young University, in Provo, Utah, to monitor campaign-spending patterns in the 2002 federal elections.

The culture program supports Philadelphia-area artists and cultural institutions. Some grants are also made elsewhere through the Optimizing America’s Cultural Resources program. Awards included $1,850,000 over two years to Drexel University, in Philadelphia, to strengthen the management of local arts institutions, and $475,000 to Arts International, in New York, for the Fund for U.S. Artists at International Festivals and Exhibitions.

The religion program awards grants in three areas: religion and public life, religion and academic life, and urban and Hispanic ministry. For example, the University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia, received $500,000 over five years to include additional questions on religion in a longitudinal survey of recent legal immigrants to the United States.

Application procedure: The trusts make grants only to organizations classified as tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, and do not make grants to individuals or to for-profit organizations. Potential applicants should first review the guidelines for the specific program whose interests most closely match the proposed project. The guidelines describe concisely each program’s goals and objectives and the kinds of activities it will and will not consider. If, after reviewing the guidelines and related information, the potential applicant feels that there is a match, they should submit a brief letter of inquiry, preferably less than three pages long. Visit the trusts’ Web site for additional information on what should be included in the letter of inquiry. The trusts will respond to all specific letters of inquiry but not to general solicitations for funds.

Key officials: Rebecca W. Rimel, president and chief executive officer; Catherine T. Murphy, chief of staff; Laura Shell, chief officer, operations and board relations; Mary Ann Stover, chief officer, program administration; Henry B. Bernstein, director of finance; Michael J. Dahl, director of planning and evaluation; Joy A. Horwitz, director of legal affairs and general counsel; James A. O’Hara III, interim director of public affairs; Sarah C.A. Armour, Suzanne M. Kho, and Jacquelin Sufak, officers, program administration; Patricia K. Szuhaj, officer, operations; Garth B. Seidel, controller and manager of grants administration.

Program directors: Maureen K. Byrnes (health and human services), Michael X. Delli Carpini (public policy), Marian A. Godfrey (culture), Donald Kimelman (the Venture Fund), Luis E. Lugo (religion), Joshua S. Reichert (environment), and Susan K. Urahn (education).

SURDNA FOUNDATION

330 Madison Avenue, 30th Floor
New York, N.Y. 10017-5001
(212) 557-0010
http://www.surdna.org

Period covered: Year ending June 30, 2001.

Purpose and areas of support: The foundation was established in 1917 by John Emory Andrus (1841-1934), a New York businessman, investor, and politician. It makes grants in five program areas: the environment, community revitalization, effective citizenry, the arts, and nonprofit-sector support.

In its fiscal year 2001, the largest proportion of grant dollars — $12,910,000 — went to the environmental program, which makes grants in four areas: biological diversity and its relation to human communities, human systems, transportation and urban and suburban land use, and energy. Through the special Surdna Initiative on Smart Growth and Community Livability, the foundation is working to create duplicable “smart growth” models in Maryland, New Jersey, New Mexico, and the Salt Lake City region.

Revitalization grants emphasize comprehensive approaches to rejuvenate neighborhoods, including affordable housing and homeownership, community-development financial institutions, efforts that link neighborhood residents with living-wage jobs, and high-quality family child-care networks.

In collaboration with the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Surdna created the Talented Students in the Arts Initiative, an invitational program that supports the performing-arts programs and endowments of leading national arts-training institutions and public performing-arts high schools.

The goal of the effective-citizenry program is to help young people take positive direct action to solve problems in their schools and neighborhoods and in broader society. Allocations included $75,000 to the Youth Empowerment Center, in Oakland, Calif., to train organizers and develop youth-led groups capable of tackling important policy issues in the Bay Area.

Nonprofit-sector grants concentrate on strengthening the sector’s role in American public life and in public-policy creation; promoting the study of such overlapping issues as tax exemption and public funding; galvanizing philanthropic activity and stewardship; and enhancing nonprofit organizations’ management, finance, leadership, and use of technology. For example, $100,000 went to eGrants.org, in San Francisco, to develop and market an online giving service tailored to small and mid-sized nonprofit groups.

The foundation committed $1-million to New York City relief and recovery efforts following the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Application procedure: The first step is to submit a letter of inquiry containing: information on the organization’s purpose and specific activities; a brief description of the program for which funds are being sought and the estimated length of time the funding would cover; the expected outcomes; program and organizational budgets; the amount requested; funding already received and other potential sources of support; the names and qualifications of key project personnel; the most recent audited financial statements of the group and any subsidiaries; proof of the organization’s 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status; and an e-mail address for the contact person at the organization. The foundation generally does not award grants to individuals or for capital campaigns, building construction, or projects that are internationally based or focused. More-detailed information may be found at the foundation’s Web site.

Key officials: Edward Skloot, executive director; Marc de Venoge, chief financial and administrative officer; Hooper L. Brooks, program director for environment; Ellen B. Rudolph, program officer for arts; Camilla Seth, program officer for environment; Robert Sherman, program officer for effective citizenry; Carey Shea, program officer for community revitalization; Vincent Stehle, program officer for nonprofit-sector support; Jonathan Goldberg, grants administrator and information specialist; Elizabeth H. Andrus, chairperson of the Board of Directors; John E. Andrus III, chairman emeritus.