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Foundations Supporting Early Childhood Care and Education
Depending on their individual missions, foundations support child care in many different ways and in various geographic areas. Support can include funding activities in individual programs, supporting a systems approach to early care and education, or funding research that demonstrates the efficacy of particular strategies. Target audiences can range from individual children and families to early care and education professionals to low-income communities to society at large. Some foundations have child care and early education as their major focus, and others have a much larger or more specific focus that includes fostering democracy or providing equal opportunities for children with special needs. The following is a sample of private foundations that support early childhood care and education.
- The J.A. & Kathryn Albertson Foundation
P.O. Box 70002
Boise, ID 83707-0102
208-424-2600
World Wide Web: http://www.jkaf.org
The J.A. & Kathryn Albertson Foundation is a family foundation committed to be a catalyst for positive educational change, reform and improvement in Idaho. It focuses primarily on one area —Idaho education. The Foundation has given support to projects such as Parents as Teachers (PAT) and The Open Book Initiative, a Statewide prekindergarten through 8th grade reading improvement effort based on professional development. - Bank of America Foundation
World Wide Web: http://www.bankofamerica.com/foundation/index.cfm?template=overview&statecheck=CA
The Bank of America Foundation operates with one of the largest philanthropic budgets of any financial institution in the United States. In 2001, it contributed more than $85 million in cash to nonprofit organizations across the country. It concentrates funding on pre-K through grade 12 education and supports programs in early childhood development, economic and financial education, and teacher development. Community revitalization is another focus for funding nonprofit organizations. In 1998, the Bank of America Foundation made an unprecedented 5-year commitment of $50 million to build United Way of America’s capacity to expand the Success By 6 early childhood network. In 2000, with the support of the Bank of America Foundation’s grants, United Ways leveraged more than $16 million in additional support for Success By 6®. Bank of America has a long-term commitment to Smart Start in North Carolina of $2,000,000. - The Benton Foundation
Connect for Kids
1800 K Street NW, 2nd Floor
Washington, DC 20006
202-638-5770
World Wide Web: http://www.benton.org
Since 1981, the Benton Foundation has worked to realize the social benefits made possible by the public interest use of communications. Through its projects, the Foundation seeks to shape the emerging communications environment in the public interest. Bridging the worlds of philanthropy, public policy, and community action, Benton demonstrates and promotes the use of digital media to engage, equip, and connect people to alleviate social ills. The Foundation hosts Connect for Kids, which brings together the power of the Internet, public service advertising, and original journalism to engage and equip Americans to act on behalf of children and families, from volunteering to voting. Connect for Kids is on the Web at http://www.connectforkids.org. - Blandin Foundation
100 North Pokegama Avenue
Grand Rapids, MN 55744
877-882-2257
World Wide Web: http://www.blandinfoundation.org/
The Blandin Foundation is focused on the economic viability of rural Minnesota communities, as part of their mission to help strengthen rural Minnesota and the Grand Rapids area. In 2004, the Foundation awarded a $1.5 million grant to underwrite the Invest Early program. The grant was awarded to the Family Services Collaborative, composed of eight Itasca County, Minnesota school districts, agencies and community groups dedicated to the development of a comprehensive early care and educational system. The Foundation also supports the Children First! Initiative, a grass-roots effort initiated by community members that specifically focuses on children from birth to age 5 in Itasca County. - Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation
Grants Program
P.O. Box 510860
Milwaukee, WI 53203-0153
World Wide Web: http://www.bradleyfdn.org/welcome.html
The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation is devoted to strengthening American democratic capitalism and the institutions, principles and values that sustain and nurture it. In addition to funding grants to child care programs, it supported the Wisconsin phase of the Assessing the New Federalism project by the Urban Institute. - The Bridgeport Public Education Fund (BPEF)
446 University Avenue
Bridgeport, CT 06604
203-331-0551
World Wide Web: http://www.bpef.org
BPEF develops programs and mobilizes the community for quality public education in Bridgeport, Connecti. Its goals are to increase the community’s involvement in and support for the Bridgeport public schools; strengthen communication between the educational, civic, and business constituencies; deepen awareness of excellence in community schools; encourage and reward teacher’s outstanding efforts through support for classroom projects; and develop programs and opportunities which will enrich and improve public education in Bridgeport. BPEF has put more than one million dollars into the hands of parents, teachers, students and school administrators to improve the local school system during its two decades of existence. The Build Initiative
5313 Pamela Circle
Cross Lanes, WV 25313
304-776-2940
World Wide Web: http://www.buildinitiative.org/fundersadvisory.htmlThe Build Initiative was created by the Early Childhood Funders’ Collaborative (ECFC), a consortium of national and local foundations that have substantial grantmaking programs in early childhood care and education. The Collaborative provides networking, information sharing and strategic grantmaking opportunities to its members. The 12 ECFC members who have chosen to fund the Build Initiative comprise the Funders’ Advisory Council. The foundations hope that private funds will stimulate public investment for durable early learning systemic change. The Council also provides broad strategic oversight of the initiative. Foundations sponsoring the Build Initiative include: the George Gund Foundation, the Irving Harris Foundation, the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Lucent Technologies Foundation, the A.L. Mailman Family Foundation, the Robert R. McCormick Tribune Foundation, the McKnight Foundation, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the Caroline and Sigmund Schott Foundation, and the Schumann Fund for New Jersey. For additional information, contact the Build Initiative Project Director, Barbara Gebhard, at 304-776-2940 or e-mail BGebhard@BuildInitiative.org.
Bush Foundation
332 Minnesota Street, Suite East 900
St. Paul, MN 55101
651-227-0891
World Wide Web: http://www.bushfound.orgThe Bush Foundation is a private grantmaking organization fostering vibrant communities and vital leadership. Established in 1953 by 3M executive Archibald Bush and his wife, Edyth, the Foundation supports organizations in the areas of arts and culture, health and human services, education, and ecological health in a region that includes Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. Since the early 1990s, the Bush Foundation's Infant/Toddler Development Program has supported the development of Statewide training for infant/toddler caregivers in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota that uses a train-the-trainer model with intensive preparation in the Program for Infant/Toddler Caregivers. In addition, the foundation has supported both the Minneapolis, Ready 4 K program and the State of South Dakota, Department of Social Services' work in early childhood education.
- Carnegie Corporation of New York
437 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10022 USA
212-371-3200
World Wide Web: http://www.carnegie.org/index.html
The Carnegie Corporation has taken a leadership role in promoting early childhood research and developing education policy for early childhood; its previous work highlighted the importance of early learning and its impact on the later success of children in school, including support for the Starting Points initiative. The Corporation has now concluded grantmaking that focuses primarily on parenting, health care for young children, or resource access by families; the current emphasis will complement urban school reform and the critical role of literacy in the upper grades. - Annie E. Casey Foundation
701 Saint Paul Street
Baltimore, MD 21202
World Wide Web: http://www.aecf.org
The Annie E. Casey Foundation awards grants to initiatives that have significant potential to demonstrate innovative policy, service delivery, and community support for children and families. Most grantees have been invited by the Foundation to participate in these projects. KIDS COUNT, a project of the Annie E. Casey Foundation, is a national and State-by-State effort to track the status of children in the U.S. By providing policy-makers and citizens with benchmarks of child well-being, KIDS COUNT seeks to enrich local, State, and national discussions concerning ways to secure better futures for all children. Information about KIDS COUNT is available on the Web at http://www.aecf.org/kidscount/. -
The Edna McConnell Clark Foundation
415 Madison Avenue. 10th Floor
New York, NY 10017
212-551-9100
World Wide Web: http://www.emcf.org/The Edna McConnell Clark Foundation pursues its mission by helping a select group of high-performing nonprofit organizations increase their capacity to serve more young people from low-income backgrounds (ages 9-24) with quality programs during out-of-school time. The foundation has invested in the growth plans of the youth development organizations that are implementing business plans designed to strengthen and expand their operations, which will enable them to better server more young people with high-quality programs that are demonstrating results for the youth they serve. Information about its youth development grants is available on the Web at http://www.emcf.org/programs/youth/index.htm.
- Dekko Foundation
1208 Lakeside Drive, P.O. Box 548
Kendallville, IN 46755
219-347-1278
World Wide Web: http://www.dekkofoundation.org
The Dekko Foundation is dedicated to improving the quality of child care and early childhood education available to families in the areas it serves. The Foundation has chosen to focus its grantmaking on child care centers. Among centers, the board has chosen to support those which: have chosen a certified curriculum, such as High/Scope or the Montessori Method of Education, are working toward National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) accreditation, have staff who are attending Child Development Associate (CDA) classes, and whose director is receiving training in center management. The Foundation will consider supporting projects that provide for a healthy start for children; the development of high-quality, early childhood education and quality child care centers; projects that foster positive, responsible family development; education about child development to people who influence children’s lives; and curriculum training in child care centers. The Dekko Foundation will consider grant proposals from the following geographic areas: Limestone County in Alabama; DeKalb, Kosciusko, LaGrange, Noble, Steuben and Whitley Counties in Indiana; Clarke, Decatur, Lucas, Ringgold and Union Counties in Iowa; and portions of Lincoln and Giles Counties in Tennessee. -
The Dollywood Foundation
Dolly Parton's Imagination Library
1020 Dollywood Lane
Pigeon Forge, TN 37863
865-428-9604
World Wide Web: http://www.dollywoodfoundation.comDolly Parton's Imagination Library, developed in 1995 for her hometown of Sevier County, Tennessee, has been replicated in communities across the United States. All children in the community are enrolled at birth or when they move into the community. Each month, from the day the child is born until his or her 5th birthday, a selected book arrives at the mailbox. The Dollywood Foundation has developed the delivery system, negotiated price, selected the publisher and the individual titles, and created registration and promotional materials. Local champions finance the cost of the books and the mailing. Local champions are businesses, individuals, United Way organizations, school systems, local and State governments, foundations, and nonprofit organizations.
- Doris Duke Charitable Foundation
650 Fifth Avenue, 19th Floor
New York, NY 10019
212-974-7000
World Wide Web: http://fdncenter.org/grantmaker/dorisduke/index.html
The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation supports national organizations and initiatives that develop or enhance the capacity of existing systems to prevent child abuse and neglect, specifically home visiting programs, early care and education programs, and primary healthcare providers. The Foundation supports national efforts to create and test new tools, knowledge, and skills for practitioners and parents that address the critical early years of a child’s development.
A grant to the Free to Grow program, run by the Joseph L. Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University, helps to provide direct support to 15 Head Start centers across the country to expand their family services, to fund training and technical assistance to sites on child abuse prevention, and support documentation and dissemination of the Free to Grow strategy. Additional information is available on the Web at http://www.freetogrow.org. - The Early Childhood Initiative Foundation
3250 SW Third Avenue
Miami, FL 33129
305-646-7230
World Wide Web: http://www.teachmorelovemore.org/ECIF.asp
The Early Childhood Initiative Foundation was formed to work toward an early childhood education and development initiative in Miami-Dade County, population 2.2 million, which is Florida’s largest county. The initiative aims toward “universal readiness”—that is, making available and affordable high-quality health, education and nurturing for all of this community’s 158,000 children between birth and age 5. In doing so, the initiative promotes the social, physical, emotional, and intellectual growth of all children so that they are ready and eager to be successful in the first grade and in life. - The Enterprise Foundation
10227 Wincopin Circle, Suite 500
Columbia, MD 21044
410-964-1230
World Wide Web: http://www.enterprisefoundation.org
The Enterprise Foundation and its more than 2,200 Network members work together to provide low-income people with affordable housing, safer streets, and access to jobs and child care. Members include nonprofit, community-based organizations; public housing authorities; and Native American Tribes from around the country. Together, they create powerful partnerships to rebuild communities and empower people in neighborhoods nationwide. The Enterprise Foundation believes that supporting quality and affordable child care in low-income communities is critical to the growth and health of neighborhoods. Enterprise Child Care’s work relies on collaboration between the community development and child care communities. They support home-based and center-based care, foster community partnerships and advocate for public policy changes to improve the quality, supply, and affordability of child care in low-income communities. Partners include: community development corporations; local, State and national child care resource and referral agencies (CCR&Rs); local, State and Federal government agencies; and private foundations. They provide direct support to community-based organizations and CCR&Rs in areas in which they have child care initiatives: Portland; Los Angeles; Central Midwest region; Washington D.C.; Baltimore; the New York City metropolitan area; and Syracuse and Rochester, New York. - Ford Foundation, Education and Research Division
320 East 43rd Street
New York, NY 10017
212-573-5000
World Wide Web: http://www.fordfound.org
The Ford Foundation’s goals are to strengthen democratic values, reduce poverty and injustice, promote international cooperation, and advance human achievement. The School Readiness Indicators Initiative is supported in part by the Ford Foundation. The Foundation also assisted with funding for Assessing the NewFederalism by the Urban Institute. - Foundation for Child Development (FCD)
145 East 32nd Street
New York, NY 10016
212-213-8337
World Wide Web: http://www.ffcd.org
FCD is a national private philanthropy dedicated to the principle that all families should have the social and material resources to raise their children to be healthy, educated, and productive members of their communities. The Foundation seeks to understand children, particularly the disadvantaged, and to promote their well-being. The Foundation supports basic and policy-relevant research about the factors that promote and support the optimal development of children and adolescents; policy analysis, advocacy, services, and public education to enhance the discussion and adoption of social policies that support families in their important child-raising responsibilities; and leadership development activities linked. FCD has awarded a two-year grant of $134,945 to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) to provide information and technical assistance to State legislators on State efforts to coordinate early childhood education and child care systems. - Freddie Mac Foundation
8250 Jones Branch Drive, Mailstop A40
McLean, VA 22102
703-918-8888
World Wide Web: http://www.freddiemacfoundation.org
The Freddie Mac Foundation supports strategies that both strengthen families and develop youth. To support their effort to share early childhood resources with counties, Freddie Mac has awarded a grant to the National Association of Counties (NACo) to promote Healthy Families. Freddie Mac’s major support is for programs in the Metropolitan D.C. area. -
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
P.O. Box 23350
Seattle, WA 98102
206-709-3100
World Wide Web: http://www.gatesfoundation.org/The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is committed to promoting greater equity in global health, education, public libraries, and support for at-risk families in Washington State and Oregon. Working with public and private partners, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will invest in demonstration early learning communities, promising models in other communities, and Statewide efforts to build and support the necessary infrastructure so all children have access to quality early learning opportunities and the greatest chance at success in school and life. In 2006, the foundation pledged to invest up to $90 million over the next 10 years to improve the quality of child care and early learning for children from birth to age 5. The plan is to create a model child care center in Western Washington and in Eastern Washington that will offer highly trained teachers and excellent care.
- Governor’s Books from Birth Foundation
710 James Robertson Parkway, 11th Floor
Nashville, TN 37243
615-253-3600
World Wide Web: http://www.governorsfoundation.orgThe Governor’s Books from Birth Foundation was created in Tennessee in May 2004, to partner with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library Foundation to help make her prekindergarten literacy program available to all Tennessee children regardless of family income. The Foundation serves as a catalyst and tangible resource to local leaders seeking to establish their own countywide Imagination Library initiatives. The Foundation staff is charged with raising Statewide funds; administering the Imagination Library Statewide rollout; and providing support, training, and resources to county efforts. The Foundation is striving to partner with all 95 Tennessee counties by April of 2006 in order to reach all 375,000 Tennessee children under the age of 5. The cost of the program is $27.00 per child, per year, which includes 12 hardcover, age-appropriate books, postage, shipping, and handling. Additional information is available on the Web at http://www.governorsfoundation.org/index.html.
- William T. Grant Foundation
570 Lexington Avenue, 18th Floor
New York, NY 10022-6837
212-752-0071
World Wide Web: http://www.wtgrantfoundation.org
The goal of the William T. Grant Foundation is to help create a society that values young people and enables them to reach their full potential. It invests in research and in projects that use evidence-based approaches. The Foundation’s primary focus areas are youth development; systems affecting youth; and the public’s view of youth. It has funded research such as Impacts on Young Children and Their Families Two Years after Enrollment: Findings from the Child Outcomes Study. - William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund
One Hamden Center
2319 Whitney Avenue, Suite 2B
Hamden, CT 06518
203-230-3330
World Wide Web: http://www.wcgmf.org/code/home.html
The mission of the William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund is to improve the effectiveness of education in fostering both personal development and leadership. Connecticut’s children are the focus of the Graustein Memorial Fund’s grantmaking. The Fund’s intent is to work with rural, urban, and suburban communities, and both public and private schools. The Foundation aims to develop working partnerships with communities interested in focusing on improving outcomes for young children. The Memorial Fund has invited 46 Connecticut communities and the Charter School Network to apply for Discovery grants. - The George Gund Foundation
1845 Guildhall Building
45 Prospect Avenue, West
Cleveland, OH 44115
216-241-3114
World Wide Web: http://www.gundfdn.org
The George Gund Foundation funds programs that enhance an understanding of the physical and social environment and increase the ability to cope with its changing requirements. The Foundation prioritizes support for disadvantaged populations and emphasizes public policy advocacy as a grantmaking strategy. Grants are awarded quarterly in the areas of education, human services, economic and community development, environment, arts, and civic affairs. It has awarded grants in the Cleveland area to encourage quality child care and to promote government investment in early childhood education. - Handspring Foundation
189 Bernardo Avenue
Mountain View, CA 94043
World Wide Web: http://www.handspring.com/company/foundation
Handspring’s philosophy and commitment to community investment takes many forms, with special attention to prekindergarten–12 education and issues directly related to Children/Youth at Risk. They donate cash and equipment, share their expertise, and encourage community involvement where Handspring employees live and work. Handspring grants include cash grants and product grants. For additional information, e-mail Handspring Foundation at foundation@handspring.com. - The Irving Harris Foundation
The Faculty of Social Sciences
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Jerusalem, Israel 91905
World Wide Web: http://micro5.mscc.huji.ac.il/~harris/index.html
The Irving Harris Foundation is a private family foundation that takes a strategic approach to funding programs, policies, research, and organizations that support and advocate for optimal early childhood development, with an emphasis on the prenatal period through the first three years of life. The Foundation also supports the arts and humanities and Jewish philanthropy. The Harris Foundation funds primarily in the Chicago region but does fund special training and early childhood initiatives across the United States and in Israel. - Heinz Endowments
30 Dominion Tower, 625 Liberty Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15222-3115
412-281-5777
World Wide Web: http://www.heinz.org/index.asp?loc=home
The Heinz Endowments comprise two private foundations, the Howard Heinz Endowment and the Vira I. Heinz Endowment. Their shared mission is to help southwestern Pennsylvania thrive as a whole community—economically, ecologically, educationally, and culturally—while advancing the state of knowledge and practice in the fields in which they work. The Heinz Endowments approved over $70 million in grants to nonprofit organizations in 2002. In 1996, the Heinz Endowments organized the business, corporate, agency, and foundation sectors in an ambitious effort to expand quality early care and education programs and options for nearly 8,000 unserved children in 80 high-risk neighborhoods. They have also provided funding to expand programs such as the Beginning with Books Center for Early Literacy. - The F.B. Heron Foundation
100 Broadway, 17th Floor
New York, NY 10005
World Wide Web: http://fdncenter.org/grantmaker/fbheron/
The F.B. Heron Foundation is a private, grantmaking institution dedicated to supporting organizations with a track record of building wealth within low-income communities. The Foundation provides grants to and investments in organizations that promote the following five wealth creation strategies for low-income families in urban and rural communities: increasing access to capital; supporting enterprise development; advancing home ownership; reducing the barriers to full participation in the economy by providing quality child care; and employing comprehensive community development approaches with a strong focus on the wealth creation strategies noted above. - Joyce Foundation
70 West Madison Street, Suite 2750
Chicago, IL 60602
312-782-2464
World Wide Web: http://www.joycefdn.org/index.html
The Joyce Foundation supports efforts to protect the natural environment of the Great Lakes, to reduce poverty and violence in the region, and to ensure that people have access to good schools, decent jobs, and a diverse and thriving culture. The Foundation is especially interested in improving public policies, as demonstrated in its support of Assessing the New Federalismby the Urban Institute. The Joyce Foundation announced in 2003 that it will commit approximately $6 million over the next three years to support policy initiatives aimed at securing universal access to preschool for children in the Midwest. - The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation
4801 Rockhill Road
Kansas City, MO 64110-2046
816-932-1000
World Wide Web: http://www.emkf.org
The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation is a private foundation that looks beyond need to identify and develop pivotal opportunities for improving the education of children and helping create successful business in Kansas City and nationwide. Through a series of grants, the Ewing Marion Kauffman will invest $10 million over five years in demonstration projects designed to improve the quality of early education for children in Kansas and Missouri. The projects are designed to promote positive outcomes for young children and their families by linking professional development, quality of early education and increased teachers’ compensation. The Foundation has supported publication of major resources in early childhood education, including From Neurons to Neighborhoods: The Science of Early Childhood Development (January 2000), ed. Jack Shonkoff and Deborah Phillips, published by the National Research Council Committee on Integrating the Science of Early Childhood Development, and a public policy report, Financing Child Care (2002). Funding for the initial research and planning phases for The Finance CIRCLE concept and funding for the School Readiness Indicators Initiative is supported in part by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. The Foundation is currently helping to support the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child. - The W.K. Kellogg Foundation
One Michigan Avenue East
Battle Creek, MI 49017
World Wide Web: http://www.wkkf.org
Since 1930, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation has worked to improve the lives of youth through education and healthy development. Using a holistic and child-centered approach, the Foundation’s Youth and Education Programs address the continuum from birth through age 24. The overall programmatic goal is to increase the learning of youth, especially those most vulnerable to poor achievement. The strategies are to mobilize communities to change systems and policies that affect learning; and to foster partnerships between communities and educational institutions to promote achievement and workforce development. The Kellogg Foundation helped support Assessing the New Federalismby the Urban Institute. In 2002, it awarded $750,000 to build the capacity of the National Economic Development and Law Center to act as a national resource on the economic impact of child care and provide technical assistance and research on the child care industry in key States.
The foundation's "Supporting Partnerships to Assure Ready Kids" (SPARK) initiative seeks to create a seamless transition into school for vulnerable children ages 3 to 6. SPARK supports partnerships of selected communities, schools, State agencies, and families to ensure that they work together effectively for children's early learning. Additional information about SPARK is available on the Web at http://www.wkkf.org/Programming/Overview.aspx?CID=168.
In collaboration with the Early Childhood Institute at Mississippi State University, The Day Foundation and the W.H. Kellogg Foundation, the Barksdale Reading Institute (BRI) is conducting an early childhood pilot project in West Point, Greenville and in Jackson, Mississippi, designed to enhance language skills of children from birth to 4 years of age. The pilot project will last 18-24 months and will focus on licensed child care centers and Head Start centers that serve children who will attend BRI schools. If the pilot proves beneficial, BRI will work to obtain approval of the Mississippi Legislature for publicly-funded implementation of a similar program. Additional information is available on the Web at http://msreads.org/glance/glance.html. - Libra Foundation
Three Canal Plaza
P.O. Box 17516
Portland, ME 04112
207-879-6280
World Wide Web: http://www.librafoundation.org
The Libra Foundation is a private operating foundation. The Foundation limits its grants to charitable organizations, activities, operations or other initiatives that only take place within the State of Maine. The Libra Foundation’s Raising Readers program recognizes the importance of early childhood literacy and has been designed to reach Maine children by taking advantage of the strong relationship between parents, children, and their health care providers. - Lilly Endowment
P.O. Box 88068
Indianapolis, IN 46208
317-924-5471
World Wide Web: http://www.lillyendowment.org/
Lilly Endowment was established in 1937 by members of the Lilly family as a vehicle by which to pursue their personal philanthropic interests. The Lilly Endowment is completely separate from Eli Lilly and Company and the Eli Lilly and Company Foundation, and is independently managed. The Lilly Endowment assisted Indiana Child Care Fund with CAPE grants for coordination and alignment of all financial resources going into the Community Child Care Initiative counties. - The Lucent Technologies Foundation
600 Mountain Avenue, Room 6F430C
Murray Hill, NJ 07974
908-582-5522
World Wide Web: http://www.lucent.com/news/foundation/home.html
The Lucent Technologies Foundation is the charitable arm of Lucent Technologies. Its primary philanthropic focus is to help young people around the world meet the challenges of our changing global society. Efforts are directed toward education reform, youth development, innovative work at the college and university level, and programs that enhance opportunities in science and engineering for under-represented minorities. In 2000, Lucent funded the Lucent Universal Preschool Initiative, a $1 million grant program to encourage universal access to quality early childhood education. The Lucent Foundation provided funding for programs in Alabama, Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina. In addition, the Foundation supports a diverse set of projects in communities around the world where Lucent employees live and work. - John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
140 South Dearborn Street
Chicago, IL 60603-5285
312-726-8000
World Wide Web: http://www.macfdn.org/index.htm
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is a private, independent grantmaking institution dedicated to helping groups and individuals foster lasting improvement in the human condition. The Foundation seeks the development of healthy individuals and effective communities; peace within and among nations; responsible choices about human reproduction; and a global ecosystem capable of supporting healthy human societies. The Foundation pursues this mission by supporting research, policy development, dissemination, education and training, and practice. The MacArthur Foundation has helped support Assessing the New Federalismby the Urban Institute and the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child. - The A.L. Mailman Family Foundation
707 Westchester Avenue
White Plains, NY 10604
914-683-8089
World Wide Web: http://www.mailman.org
The A.L. Mailman Family Foundation’s mission is to enhance the ability of families and communities to nurture their children. Its primary program goal is to assure quality early care and education experiences for all young children. During the past 20 years, the Foundation’s work has shifted from support for innovative projects and model programs, to experimentation with replication strategies, to an emphasis on policy, research and systemic approaches. Organizations that have received recent grants include the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), USA Child Care, the National Women’s Law Center, and the National Lekotek Center. The A.L. Mailman Family Foundation also helped fund the report, Promising Practices: New York State Universal Prekindergarten (1999), by Susan A. Hicks, Kristi S. Lekies, and Mon Cochran. - The Robert R. McCormick Tribune Foundation
435 North Michigan Avenue, Suite 770
Chicago, IL 60611
312-222-3512
World Wide Web: http://www.rrmtf.org
The Robert R. McCormick Tribune Foundation supports grantmaking in four areas: promoting local philanthropy through its communities program; working to improve early childhood education in the Chicago area; supporting journalism and a free press in the Americas; and encouraging active citizenship and volunteerism. In 1993, responding to new research in brain development and its effect on early learning, the Foundation’s board of directors changed the direction of the Education Program to focus on the needs of Chicago’s youngest children. The Education Program seeks to improve the quality of early care and education programs serving children from birth to age 5 in Chicago’s low-income communities. They work to meet this goal through their Focus on Quality initiative, a multi-faceted program that supports quality-enhancement activities that give children the best possible start in life. They provided some of the funding for the initial research and planning phases for The Finance CIRCLE concept. In 2003, McCormick Tribune has announced grants totaling $6.2 million to support early childhood learning initiatives in Chicago and Illinois. The Foundation provided funding for the report, Who’s Caring for the Kids? The Status of the Early Childhood Workforce in Illinois (2001), by Valerie Dawkins Krajec, Paula Jorde Bloom, Teri Talan, and Douglas Clark. - McGregor Fund
333 West Fort Street, Suite 2090
Detroit, MI 48226-3134
313-963-3495
World Wide Web: http://www.mcgregorfund.org
The McGregor Fund is a private foundation, which was organized to relieve misfortune and promote the well-being of humankind. The Fund’s primary activity is providing support to Detroit metropolitan area nonprofit organizations, which operate in five program areas that are of particular interest to the Fund’s Board of Trustees: human services, education, health care, arts and culture, and public benefit. The McGregor Fund awarded a grant to High/Scope researchers to test the efficacy of a systemwide approach to achieving these same beneficial findings of the Training for Quality evaluation with multiple early childhood agencies serving the Detroit area. - The McKnight Foundation
710 Second Street South, Suite 400
Minneapolis, MN 55401
612-333-4220
World Wide Web: http://www.mcknight.org
The McKnight Foundation supports efforts to strengthen communities, families, and individuals, particularly those in need. They contribute to the arts, encourage preservation of our natural environment, and promote research in selected fields. The Foundation fulfills a dual role as a responsive grantmaker that supports grassroots action, and a strategic grantmaker that encourages larger systems and policy reform. They have identified early childhood care and education as a “Hot Issue.” Their efforts center in Minnesota. The McKnight Foundation helped support Assessing the New Federalismby the Urban Institute. - The J.P. Morgan Chase Foundation
World Wide Web: http://www.jpmorganchase.com/cm/cs?pagename=Chase/Href&urlname=jpmc/community
The J.P. Morgan Chase Foundation concentrates on three focus areas: community development and human services; precollegiate public education; and arts and culture. In addition to general operating support, they maintained their support for signature programs in these areas, including the Faith-Based Community Development Program, the ON_DEC Technology Project in Education, the Child Care Initiative, and the Arts Impact Grant Program. The J.P. Morgan Chase Foundation’s Financial Literacy Grants Program awards grants ranging from $10,000 to $100,000 for the development of materials for distribution to schools, after-school programs, youth organizations, and workforce development programs. The Foundation gives priority to applications from nonprofit organizations in Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, and Texas. Organizations outside these States may apply if they collaborate with an organization in one of these States and can demonstrate distribution to these areas. - Charles Stewart Mott Foundation
503 South Saginaw Street, Suite 1200
Flint, MI 48502-1851
810-238-5651
World Wide Web: http://www.mott.org/index.asp
The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation is a private philanthropy based in Flint, Michigan. Through four programs, they make grants in the United States and selected regions internationally. In 1997, the Mott Foundation and the U.S. Department of Education entered a multi-year public-private partnership in support of 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC). The Mott Foundation helped support Assessing the New Federalismby the Urban Institute. - The David and Lucile Packard Foundation
300 Second Street
Los Altos, CA 94022
650-948-7658
World Wide Web: http://www.packard.org
The David and Lucile Packard Foundation is a private family foundation that provides grants to nonprofit organizations in the following broad program areas: conservation, population, and science; children, families, and communities; the arts; and organizational effectiveness and philanthropy. The Foundation makes grants at the national and international level, and also has a special focus on the Northern California counties of San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, and Monterey, and the community where David Packard was born, Pueblo, Colorado. The Foundation has helped support the initial research and planning phases for The Finance CIRCLE concept; Smart Start’s National Technical Assistance Center; The School Readiness Indicators Initiative; National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL)’s provision of information and technical assistance to State lawmakers; NGA Center for Best Practice’s initiative to support seven States in their efforts to build public and political will for improving access to affordable, quality, early care and education; and National Economic Development & Law Center (NEDLC)’sChild Care Program. The Foundation is exploring ways to help create a free universal preschool system in California that would put the State at the forefront of national efforts to teach all 3- and 4-year-olds the skills they need to succeed in school. It also helped finance Assessing the New Federalismby the Urban Institute. - William Penn Foundation
Two Logan Square, 11th Floor
100 North 18th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103
215-988-1830
World Wide Web: http://www.wpennfdn.org
The William Penn Foundation supports nonprofit organizations working in the Philadelphia region. A 2004 Funding Priority is “School Readiness: Promote the Opportunity to Learn.” Within this funding priority, the overall objective is to promote a comprehensive system of effective early care services that includes quality child care and family support. Over the course of six years, the William Penn Foundation awarded $13,500,000 to United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania toward Child Care Matters, a collaborative effort to demonstrate how to improve the child care system and to move policy toward increased support for quality child care that is available and affordable to families in need. - The Pew Charitable Trusts
2005 Market Street, Suite 1700
Philadelphia, PA 19103-7077
215-575-9050
World Wide Web: http://www.pewtrusts.com/index.cfm?image=img1
The Pew Charitable Trusts support nonprofit activities in the areas of culture, education, the environment, health and human services, public policy, and religion. Based in Philadelphia, the Trusts make strategic investments that encourage and support citizen participation in addressing critical issues and effecting social change. The Trusts’ support in the early education area is helping to create a research base and stimulate an informed discussion that will contribute to State and Federal policies to provide universal access to high-quality early education for children from age 3. The Pew Charitable Trusts has awarded a grant of nearly $4 million to create an advocacy center for early education, The Trust for Early Education. This Washington-based nonprofit organization will work at the Federal level to expand support for education for all 3- and 4-year olds. In addition, Pew created the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) at Rutgers University. The institute supports new research and provides fact-based information to the Trust for Early Education and policy-makers in Federal and State governments. Both initiatives are part of Pew’s commitment to attaining voluntary access to high-quality early education for all. The executive summary of the Trusts’ early education strategy, Starting Early, Starting Strong: Investing in Early Education is available on the Web at http://www.pewtrusts.com/pdf/edu_strategy_paper.pdf. - PNC Financial Services Group, the PNC Foundation
PNC Grow Up Great
Two PNC Plaza
620 Liberty Avenue, P2-PTPP-25-1
Pittsburgh, PA 15222
412-762-7076
World Wide Web: http://www.pnc.com/aboutus/growupgreat/
In September 2003, the PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. announced “PNC Grow Up Great,” a new 10-year, $100 million program that is a corporate commitment to improve school readiness among millions of children from birth to age 5. PNC intends to improve school readiness, a central issue affecting society today, through unprecedented partnerships that involve nationally renowned early education experts, including Sesame Workshop, PBS member stations, and Family Communications, Inc., the producers of “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.” A first-year pilot program will involve Head Start centers throughout Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio, Kentucky, and Delaware to immediately impact millions of children, families and educators - Rockefeller Brothers Fund
437 Madison Avenue, 37th Floor
New York, NY 10022-7001
212-812-4200
World Wide Web: http://www.rbf.org
The Rockefeller Brothers Fund (RBF) is dedicated to promoting the well-being of all people in the transition to global interdependence. One of the goals of the Fund’s Education Program is to promote universal, quality education and care for pre-kindergarten children with a comprehensive approach to their development, including concerns for health, safety, and readiness to learn. Strategies include supporting the development of public policies that promote universal access to early childhood programs and advancing the professional development of early educators. The Fund helped support Assessing the New Federalismby the Urban Institute. - Rosie’s For All Kids Foundation
P.O. Box 1001
New York, New York 10108
World Wide Web: http://forallkids.org
Rosie’s For All Kids Foundation, founded by Rosie O’Donnell in 1997, has raised over $50 million in donations in the past four years. The Foundation targets 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organizations that are dedicated to helping children and families. The Foundation focuses on child care, with programs that provide services to low-income and urban residents. The Foundation awards about 100 grants per funding cycle and 200 grants per year. Grant awards for program support typically range between $5,000 and $10,000. - The Caroline and Sigmund Schott Foundation
678 Massachusetts Avenue, Suite 301
Cambridge, MA 02139
617-876-7700
World Wide Web: http://www.schottfoundation.org
The Schott Foundation’s mission is to develop and strengthen the movement for equity in education and child care. The Foundation focuses on universal, high-quality early care and education, public school excellence in underserved communities, and gender-healthy public schools. The Schott Foundation works in partnerships with parents, educators, advocates, policy- makers, community, labor and business leaders, funders, and other friends of children to make high-quality education a reality for every child, beginning at birth. The Schott Foundation’s Early Care and Education Program focuses on Massachusetts in the following ways: strengthening child care advocacy through developing leadership, fostering collaboration and providing technical assistance; researching and publicizing effective and successful models for universal child care and the mechanisms by which it is organized, governed, financed, and delivered; and supporting media campaigns and other constituency-building efforts to create public support for universal and accessible early care and education. - The Schumann Fund for New Jersey
21 Van Vleck Street
Montclair, NJ 07042
973-509-9883
World Wide Web: http://fdncenter.org/grantmaker/schumann/
The Schumann Fund for New Jersey makes policy grants throughout New Jersey, and program grants in Essex County. Its funding priorities are early childhood development, environmental protection, and school innovation. Itsupports efforts to heighten the chances of academic and social success for young children, especially the urban poor, by supporting programs and policies that provide good quality early childhood education and care to children from birth to age 8. Examples of recent grants include grants to help Bank Street College focus on professional development and certification for teachers in school and community-based preschool centers; to help Bloomfield College establish an early childhood education major and expand its P–3 certification program; and to provide a second year of support to a public-private accreditation initiative designed to double the number of NAEYC accredited early childhood programs in New Jersey. Three-quarters of these newly accredited programs are to be in Abbott or Early Childhood Program Aid districts. - The Spencer Foundation
875 North Michigan Avenue, Suite 3930
Chicago, IL 60611-1803
312-337-7000
World Wide Web: http://www.spencer.org
The Spencer Foundation is intended to investigate ways in which education, broadly conceived, can be improved around the world. The Foundation is dedicated to the belief that research is necessary to the improvement of education and is thus committed to supporting high-quality investigation of education through its research programs and to strengthening and renewing the educational research community through its fellowship and training programs and related activities. The Foundation has given small grants for research in child care. - Staples Foundation for Learning™
500 Staples Drive, 4 West
Framingham, MA 01702
World Wide Web: http://www.staplesfoundation.org/foundhome.html
Staples Foundation for Learning™ has a mission to teach, train, and inspire people from all walks of life by providing educational and growth opportunities. Staples Foundation for Learning™ has contributed to over 150 nonprofit groups across the nation. - W. Clement and Jessie V. Stone Foundations
P.O. Box 29255
San Francisco, CA 94129-0255
415-561-6691
World Wide Web: http://www.wcstonefnd.org/
The W. Clement and Jessie V. Stone Foundation’s mission is to create a better world by supporting programs in early childhood development, youth development, education and scholarships. The Foundation has also supported “Partnering with Parents: Preventing Abuse and Neglect,” which is a collaborative project between ZERO TO THREE and the National Association for Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (NACCRRA)—the nation’s network for child care resource and referral. - Trio Foundation
1563 Solano Avenue, Box #174
Berkeley, CA 94707
510-527-4605
World Wide Web: http://fdncenter.org/grantmaker/trio/focus.html
The Trio Foundation funds organizations that serve young children and their families in the San Francisco East Bay Area (Alameda and Contra Costa counties.) The primary focus of the Trio Foundation is to provide opportunities for young children of all cultures, who are growing up in poverty, to achieve their fullest and brightest potential. It is especially interested in projects that strengthen low-income families with young children and that enhance the ability of caregivers to foster children’s innate gifts and talents across the early childhood years. They support organizations that maximize local community participation and management and provide accountability to the population being served. Trio’s secondary focus is to fund projects sponsored by Jewish organizations that serve Jewish children in need or that serve a multi-cultural clientele. - Verizon Reads
877-483-7323
World Wide Web: http://www.verizonreads.net/about_verizon.asp
Verizon Reads is the umbrella organization for Verizon’s national literacy platform. Established in 1999, Verizon Reads is dedicated to the fight for a more literate America through meaningful programs that create awareness, raise funds, and encourage collaboration among literacy providers. The Verizon Literacy Network is a collaboration among the leading literacy organizations. The mission of the Network is to become the resource for all literacy inquiries, linking literacy providers to the general public via the Internet. - Wachovia Foundation
World Wide Web: http://www.wachovia.com/inside/page/0,,139_414_430,00.html
The Wachovia Foundation is a private foundation that is funded annually by Wachovia Corporation. It provides grants to eligible 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organizations in three primary areas: education, community and economic development, and quality of life. Priority is given to programs that improve academic standards, student achievement, teacher quality, and availability of educational resources. Contributions in early childhood education support early childhood literacy and school readiness. Wachovia Foundation has a long-term commitment to Smart Start in North Carolina of $2 million. For additional information, e-mail Community Relations at contact.community@wachovia.com. - The Wallace Foundation
Two Park Avenue, 23rd Floor
New York, NY 10016
World Wide Web: http://www.wallacefunds.org
The Wallace Foundation concentrates on three areas: developing effective educational leaders for schools and districts to improve student learning; providing high-quality informal learning opportunities for children and families, especially in low-income communities; and promoting new standards of practice that enable arts and cultural institutions to diversify, broaden, and deepen relationships with their audiences. The Out-of-School Learning initiative builds on the Foundation’s long legacy in supporting youth development, after-school, urban parks, libraries, literacy, and other cultural programs. Together with city leadership, the Foundation seeks to capture the lessons about using public and private resources effectively to sustain high-quality out-of-school systems and disseminate those lessons nationally to a rapidly growing field. Additional information about the Out-Of-School Learning initiative is available on the Web at http://www.wallacefunds.org/WF/GrantsPrograms/FocusAreasPrograms/Out-Of-SchoolLearning/. - Weingart Foundation
1055 West Seventh Street, Suite 3050
Los Angeles, CA 90017-2305
World Wide Web: http://www.weingartfnd.org/
The Weingart Foundation has focused its grantmaking on programs that address the needs of the underserved in the general community. During the past 28 years (1972–2000), the Foundation authorized grants of almost $500 million to support a variety of Southern California social services, educational, and community programs. The Foundation helped support Assessing the New Federalism by the Urban Institute. - Welborn Foundation
Twenty-one Southeast Third Street
Evansville, IN 47708
812-437-8260
World Wide Web: http://www.welbornfdn.org/WFHomePage.htm
During 2001, the Foundation granted in excess of $4 million to organizations that work to benefit the health, well-being and qualify of life of local and area residents. In 2002, we anticipate granting an additional $2.5 million to community agencies. The Foundation Board has selected five (5) targets, into which at least 80 percent of annual funding will be directed. Those five targets include: school-based health and service centers, early childhood development, healthy adolescent development, promotion of healthy lifestyles and improvements to community health status. All applicant organizations must be located and operate within the geographic area previously served by Welborn Baptist Hospital in Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky. - Joseph B. Whitehead Foundation
50 Hurt Plaza, Suite 1200
Atlanta, GA30303
404-522-6755
World Wide Web: http://www.jbwhitehead.org/
The grant program of the Joseph B. Whitehead Foundation reflects a strong emphasis on basic human services, particularly organizations and programs that benefit children and youth in Metropolitan Atlanta. Recently the Foundation has sought ways in which it can help achieve improvement in public education and in family, children, and youth services. Traditionally, preference has been given to one-time capital projects. The Foundation has given significant support to Smart Start Georgia [formerly Georgia Early Learning Initiative (GELI)]. - Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
P.O. Box 2316
College Road East and Route 1
Princeton, NJ 08543-2316
888-631-9989
World Wide Web: http://www.rwjf.org/index.jsp
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation seeks to improve the health and health care of all Americans. To achieve the most impact with their funds, they prioritize their grants into four goal areas: to assure that all Americans have access to quality health care at reasonable cost; to improve the quality of care and support for people with chronic health conditions; to promote healthy communities and lifestyles; and to reduce the personal, social and economic harm caused by substance abuse. The Foundation recently awarded a grant to the Task Force for Child Survival and Development in Decatur, Georgia on “Promoting child well-being in home, pediatric health care, and early care and education settings.” In addition, the Foundation helped support Assessing the New Federalismby the Urban Institute.
National Organization
- Coalition of Community Foundations for Youth (CCFY)
15639 Leavenworth Road
Basehor, KS 66007-9768
800-292-6149
World Wide Web: http://www.ccfy.org/
CCFY is a network of over 230 community foundations in communities across the United States dedicated to securing improved conditions for children, youth, and families. Launched a decade ago with support from the Rockefeller Foundation, CCFY is now supported by more than a dozen national foundations and over 100 members. Over the last decade, CCFY has awarded over 440 grants totaling more than $5.3 million to 133 different community foundations.
Additional Resources
- “Private Foundations and the Move Toward Universal Preschool” (Summer 2004), in “Early Childhood Programs and Evaluation,” The Evaluation Exchange Vol. X, No. 2, by Lisa Klein, reveals how private foundations are spending their money in the emerging arena of universal preschool. This resource is available on the Web at http://www.gse.harvard.edu/hfrp/eval/issue26/spotlight2.html.
- Child Care and Development Fund Report of State Plans FY 2002-2003 (December 2002), Child Care Bureau, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has the following information about support for child care by foundations.
Section 2.3 – Public-Private Partnerships
Describe the activities, including planned activities, to encourage public private partnerships that promote private-sector involvement in meeting child care needs. (658D(b)(1),§98.16(d))
California is addressing professional development through two public-private partnership initiatives. The Program for Infant/Toddler Caregivers trains a minimum of 240 new trainers per year and provides graduate seminars for endorsed trainers every two years, using monies from three private foundations. (pp. 31-32)
In Illinois, the Chicago Accreditation Partnership assists Head Start and other child care programs that serve low-income families to become accredited. The McCormick Tribune Foundation, the American Business Collaborative, the Harris Foundation, and the Prince Charitable Trusts support the project. (page 32)
In Minnesota, the McKnight and Bush Foundations have each pledged $1 million as a match to public funds to begin the T.E.A.C.H.® initiative. (page 32)
Two initiatives focus on quality improvement in Pennsylvania. Child Care Matters is a collaboration of five advocacy groups to increase quality in the southeastern part of the State. The William Penn Foundation and United Way fund this effort. In the second initiative, funding from the Howard D. Heinz Endowment and the Pew Charitable Trusts enabled the York Foundation to recruit the United Way and Penn State to become partners in a community-wide initiative to increase quality, affordability and accessibility of child care for families with children under age 6. (page 33)
In 1997, South Dakota was awarded $3.3 million from the Bush Foundation to improve the quality of infant/toddler care in the State. The WestEd curriculum is used to educate trainers throughout the State. Since late 1998, over 752 training sessions have been conducted across the State. (page 33)
The District of Columbia implemented three health initiatives. Healthy Kids, D.C. is funded by the Office of Maternal and Child Health, the World Bank, the Pan American Health Organization, and the Head Start Program. The purpose is to develop an informational, integrated health and child care system. The Asthma and Allergy Foundation funds a second initiative, training to child care providers and parents on asthma allergies. The Asian American Lead Initiative is funded by private foundations and the Office of Refugee Resettlement. The goal of this initiative is to nurture and develop a more holistic approach to strengthening parents’ abilities to support their children’s healthy development. (page 34)
In Massachusetts, the Lead Agency obtained 21,000 books from a private foundation. The books are distributed to children who receive care in the trial court child care program and to children enrolled in the child care assistance programs. (page 35)
In Pennsylvania, the Lead Agency and the Heinz Foundation piloted the Heads Up! Reading initiative in 35 sites. During 2001-2002 funding will be made available for up to 65 new sites. The initiative provides a distance-learning, satellite-delivered course for child care providers to help young children improve reading skills and to promote school readiness. (page 35)This resource is available on the Web at http://dev.nccic.org/pubs/stateplan2002-03/index.html.
- The Foundation Directory and the National Guide to Funding for Children, Youth and Families, by the Foundation Center, provide descriptions of private, philanthropic organizations and how to access available funds. Supplementary materials and services in areas useful to grant seekers can also be accessed through the Foundation Center’s Cooperating Collections in major libraries and agencies around the country. For additional information on collection locations, publications available, and other services, contact the Foundation Center at 800-424-9836 or on the Web at http://fdncenter.org.
Updated March 2006
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NCCIC is a service of the Child Care Bureau (CCB), Office of Family Assistance (OFA), Administration for Children and Families(ACF), U.S. Department of Health & Human Services