Looking for a specific grant?
Page Tools
2006 Annual Report President's Message: In search of a sound bite
I have been at many social functions where someone asks, "What is the Mott Foundation and what does it do?" Occasionally, I am able to tailor my response because I know what the person is interested in. Most of the time, however, I wish I had a headline or a seven-second sound bite that I could give to them.
Frankly, there is no easy way to describe the Mott Foundation.
At times, we describe the foundation by size — grant budget, assets or number of employees. More frequently, we talk about our grantmaking, which covers four programs including building civil society in Central/ Eastern Europe, Russia and South Africa; reducing poverty in the U.S.; protecting the environment; and working in our hometown of Flint, Michigan.
But these brief descriptions do not do justice to the range or complexity of our work.
While annual reports offer the opportunity to explain ourselves, I am finding this vehicle to be less than satisfactory. Fortunately, like many other foundations, we have a well-developed Web site, so I encourage you to go to Mott.org and search out those areas that are of interest for more in-depth and nuanced information.
One of the problems with an annual report like this one is that it can provide only a brief snapshot of an organization or an issue at a single point in time. But building community, developing capacities and organizations, and nurturing civil society are not one-year, one-time events. Rather, this work can take a long time. Two examples come to mind.
The first is our support to a growing number of afterschool networks, which bring together key decisionmakers within a state to develop comprehensive statewide policies and practices related to afterschool programs for children and youth. The idea for statewide afterschool networks came about in 2001 as it became apparent that responsibility for administering the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program would devolve from the federal government to the states. Today, there are 32 of these effective networks, as we have added about six new grantees each year. This cumulative progress is revealed only if one looks at a body of grantmaking spread over multiple years.
The second example is our work with the seven institutions that are located on the campus of the Flint Cultural Center. In 2006, we provided $2.975 million in grants to them. But our funding for these organizations — for capital improvements, program development and operations — has been ongoing for decades. The high quality of their educational and cultural offerings did not come about in a 12-month period.
And, just when you think everything has been accomplished related to a specific topic or organization, you realize it is yet again time for change. Just drive down a street in any major American city and you realize that what was working quite well several years ago may need to be refreshed and revitalized. So it is with our work.
During 2006, we made 545 grants totaling $107.3 million. Our grants went to nonprofit organizations scattered across the globe, and they reflect the variety of our funding interests.
For example, the majority of our international grantmaking occurs under our Civil Society program in Central/Eastern Europe, Russia and South Africa. Three broad themes unite grantmaking in these diverse areas: strengthening the nonprofit sector and philanthropy, promoting people's rights and responsibilities, and addressing racial diversity and inclusion.
At the same time, we tailor our grantmaking objectives and strategies to the specific circumstances of each geographic region.
For example, in 2006 we made a series of grants to organizations to strengthen community philanthropy in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Romania, Russia and Ukraine. We also acted on opportunities to collaborate with other funders in efforts such as the Trust for Civil Society in Central and Eastern Europe. In South Africa, we continued to fund projects to train nonprofit leaders, promote citizen participation and encourage healing of past differences in a post-apartheid society.
In our Pathways Out of Poverty program, one of our focuses was on improving the quality of afterschool programs, with much of this work being done through state-level networks mentioned earlier. In addition, we supported organizations exploring innovative workforce training options that will help low-income people reach economic self-sufficiency and stability.
Earlier this year, our Board of Trustees approved a new Environment plan that will guide our grantmaking through 2012. Changes to the former plan are best described as evolutionary. We are continuing our previous work in freshwater conservation in the Great Lakes and southeastern U.S., as well as in sustainable development with a focus on international finance.
Two years have passed since hurricanes Katrina and Rita battered the Gulf Coast. For many, memories of the devastation are fading, but we continue to support targeted efforts focused on recovery and restoration. Since 2005, we have provided approximately $13 million in support to nonprofits working in the five-state Gulf region. Of that amount, approximately $5.4 million has been in direct response to the two hurricanes.
Several environmental grantees continue the immense task of providing leadership to restore the Gulf of Mexico's damaged coastal wetlands. Another grantee with expertise in the field of micro-enterprise is helping entrepreneurs whose homes and other assets were destroyed get new businesses up and running.
And finally, Dillard University and Xavier University of Louisiana — two highly regarded historically black institutions — are using large Mott grants for scholarship assistance and for reconstruction of campus facilities.
We wrote about all these post-Katrina efforts in the April 2007 edition of Mott Mosaic, the Foundation's periodic magazine, which can be found online at Mott.org.
These are just a sampling of our funding interests abroad and in the U.S. But, as already noted, during 2006 we continued our strong ties to Michigan and our even more enduring commitment to Flint.
Of the funds granted during the year, slightly more than one-third went to organizations in Michigan or to those whose work primarily benefited Michigan. While the details of all our grantmaking begin on page 5, I would like to spotlight a handful of projects in our home community.
We provided a $2.5-million grant to Bishop International Airport Authority in Flint to further develop the airport's intermodal cargo hub facilities. This $33.7-million project is part of the region’s economic development strategy to diversify the local economy and create jobs. The Foundation could provide up to $10 million in funding for the hub, depending on how the development proceeds.
Another project even closer to the Foundation, both physically and philosophically, is the redevelopment of a portion of Flint's downtown known as the Mott Block. Our headquarters building anchors one corner, and in the 1990s, we began acquiring the adjacent five properties fronting South Saginaw Street. In September 2006, we transferred ownership of these structures and made a $3.5-million grant for their redevelopment to the Foundation for the Uptown Reinvestment Corporation (FURC), a nonprofit organization that is playing a major role in the efforts to redevelop Flint's central business district.
We also provided grants to the Community Foundation of Greater Flint and the Crim Festival of Races to help both relocate their offices to renovated space nearby.
Our grant support is only a portion of the more than $22 million in private capital that has been, or is being, invested in downtown. Our funding has served as a catalyst for new development or as a final piece in the financial package that moved a rehabilitation or reconstruction project to reality.
On the investment side of our operation, we experienced growth in our assets, to $2.63 billion on December 31, 2006, compared with $2.48 billion a year ago. A chart, "Total Assets at Market Value & Total Assets in 2006 Dollars," tracks our asset performance since 1963. (see chart above)
Earlier this year, one of our long-time employees, Judith (Judy) M. Wright, retired. Judy worked as an administrative secretary in several departments during her 34 years with the Foundation. We wish her well in this new phase of her life.
In Memoriam
Ray Murphy |
Finally, I want to note that we at the Foundation were saddened by the untimely passing of Ray Murphy in March 2007 following a long illness. Ray had served for several years as director of our Civil Society program and most recently as senior adviser for the program.
He joined the Foundation on August 2000, with an extensive international background in the nonprofit field. From his base in Cork, Ireland, Ray managed our Civil Society staff in Mott's home office in Flint as well as our international offices.
We remember him as an extraordinary person and colleague. His expertise and passion about philanthropy and the nonprofit sector — especially his international perspective — were invaluable in the development of our grantmaking in this arena. We also will remember Ray for his sense of humor, his fervor for sailing and rugby, and his exuberant love of life.
William S. White
President
View table of contents for the 2006 Annual Report