The Foundation Center

The Foundation Center was founded in 1956 and "is the nation's leading authority on philanthropy and is dedicated to serving grantseekers, grantmakers, researchers, policymakers, the media, and the general public." It's "mission is to strengthen the nonprofit sector by advancing knowledge about U.S. philanthropy." They:

"Collect, organize, and communicate information on U.S. philanthropy

"Conduct and facilitate research on trends in the field

"Provide education and training on the grantseeking process

"Ensure public access to information and services through our Web site, print and electronic publications, five library/learning centers, and a national network of Cooperating Collections."

Leadership

• as of February 2008

Board of Directors

• Audrey R. Alvarado
• Melissa A. Berman
• M. Christine DeVita, Chairman
• Susan Lajoie Eagan, Vice Chairman
• Robert C. Elliott
• Sara L. Engelhardt, President
• Michael F. Hayes
• Nancy S. Kami
• George Penick
• Nancy Roberts
• Ralph R. Smith
• Maureen H. Smyth
• Barron M. Tenny
• Thomas E. Wilcox

Top 50 Recipients of Foundation Grants for Community Improvement and Development, circa 2003

The top 50 recipients of Foundation Grants for Community Improvement and Development, circa 2003:

1	Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH)	$146,622,007
2	Moody Gardens	$115,963,494
3	Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering	$107,433,160
4	Johns Hopkins University	$99,793,096
5	Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation	$82,916,199
6	Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion	$79,533,495
7	Armenia, Government of Armenia	$79,477,242
8	Harvard University	$70,867,494
9	Columbia University	$69,773,253
10	International Partnership for Microbicides	$66,391,263
11	Duke University	$55,032,451
12	University of California	$51,518,694
13	Stanford University	$48,878,122
14	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	$48,036,950
15	University of Michigan	$47,822,220
16	University of Pennsylvania	$43,796,077
17	Scholarship America	$43,789,354
18	Emory University	$42,709,977
19	University of Washington Foundation	$42,297,978
20	Medicines for Malaria Venture Switzerland	$42,100,000
21	Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center	$37,567,894
22	New Visions for Public Schools	$34,910,888
23	Institute of International Education	$34,806,628
24	Conservation International	$34,261,250
25	Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI)	$31,991,422
26	University of Chicago	$31,966,099
27	Northwestern University	$31,838,516
28	United Way of Central Indiana	$31,119,185
29	University of Texas	$30,438,870
30	California Institute of Technology	$30,288,727
31	United Way of America	$29,854,319
32	University of California	$29,327,619
33	Independent Colleges of Indiana	$29,114,827
34	Population Services International	$28,653,000
35	Weill Medical College of Cornell University	$26,973,045
36	Brigham and Womens Hospital	$26,145,579
37	Peninsula Open Space Trust	$25,564,800
38	International Food Policy Research Institute	$25,110,960
39	E3: Employers for Education Excellence	$25,085,000
40	University of California	$24,869,000
41	NewSchools Venture Fund	$24,789,786
42	Princeton University	$24,754,148
43	The Nature Conservancy	$24,454,467
44	Transitional Learning Center	$24,407,817
45	New York University	$23,612,446
46	University of North Carolina	$23,546,640
47	Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics Switzerland	$23,300,000
48	Carter Center	$22,923,591
49	Children's Scholarship Fund	$22,652,524
50	University of Washington	$21,414,823

Statistics on grantmakers and grantees

Source: http://fdncenter.org/findfunders/statistics/

Publications

• 2005 Annual Report

Contact

Web: http://fdncenter.org/

Books critical of foundations

• Robert F. Arnove (ed.), [Philanthropy and Cultural Imperialism: The Foundations at Home and Abroad], Boston: G. K. Hall, 1980).
• Edward Berman, The Ideology of Philanthropy: The Influence of the Carnegie, Ford, and Rockefeller Foundations on American Foreign Policy, (SUNY Press, 1983)
• Irene L. Gendzier, [Development Against Democracy: Manipulating Political Change in the Third World], (Hampton, CT: Tyrone, 1995).
• Mark Dowie, Losing Ground: American Environmentalism at the Close of the Twentieth Century, (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1995).
• Mark Dowie, American Foundations: An Investigative History, 2002.
• Joan Roelofs, Foundations and Public Policy: The Mask of Pluralism, (Albany: State University of New York Press, 2003).

Articles critical of foundations

• Joan Roelofs, "The Third Sector as a Protective Layer for Capitalism", Monthly Review, 47(4), pp.16-25., 1995.
• Michael Barker, "The Liberal Foundations of Media Reform? Creating Sustainable Funding Opportunities for Radical Media Reform", Global Media Journal, June 2008. (Evolution of the means to manufacture consent.)
• Michael Barker, "The Liberal Foundations of Environmentalism: Revisiting the Rockefeller-Ford Connection", Capitalism Nature Socialism, 19 (2), pp. 15-42. (For full paper email author)

Resources and articles

Related SourceWatch

• Frank Emerson Andrews - founding director
• Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action
• Canadian Centre for Philanthropy
• Council on Foundations
• Foundations and Funders
• Funding Exchange (Progressive foundations)
• Liberal Foundations and the Environmental Movement
• Philanthropy Australia
• Lorie A. Slutsky - former vice chair