The Foundation Center

“The center's form 990 is prepared by the accounting manager under the direct supervision of the controller and the vice president for finance and administration reviews the return. The draft form 990 is then reviewed by members of the tax department of the center's independent accounting firm, kpmg llp, and then by the organization's president. Subsequently, the audit committee of the center's board of trustees and the full board reviews the return. After responding to all inquiries and making any necessary changes, the final form 990 is provided to all members of the board prior to its filing with the irs.”

“A conflict of interest disclosure statement is obtained annually from all trustees, officers, managers and other key employees who are currently serving the center. A report summarizing the disclosure statements is provided to the board of trustees annually. It is the center's policy that in the event of a conflict the following is done: if there is a conflict relevant to a matter requiring action by the board of trustees, the interested person shall call it to the attention of the board of trustees, and the trustee concerned shall not vote on the matter. Moreover, the person having a conflict shall retire from the room in which the board is meeting and shall not participate in the final deliberation or decision regarding the matter under consideration. When there is doubt as to whether a conflict of interest exists, the matter shall be resolved by vote of the board of trustees or its committee, excluding from the room and the vote the person whose situation will be discussed. When a conflict of interest arises for any staff member except the president, that staff member shall report it to the president in writing. A conflict of interest relating to the president shall be reported in writing to the chairman of the board.”

“The center's board of trustees, consisting of independent persons, establishes compensation for the president and reviews the compensation for the other officer(s) and vice presidents on an annual basis. Prior to making compensation decisions, the board, through the use of an independent consultant, obtains information on the compensation of functionally comparable positions for similarly qualified persons at similarly situated organizations and/or benchmark salaries for select positions obtained from salary surveys. Documentation of the deliberations and decisions made are maintained in the minutes in the corporate secretary's office. A full independent compensation review for all staff was completed in the fall of 2013.”

“The center's audited financial statements and annual report for the past five years are posted on its website and are downloadable. In addition, governance and staffing policies are posted, including the code of conduct (which includes the conflict of interest policy), diversity statement and the executive compensation policy.”

“The foundation center's mission is to strengthen the social sector by advancing knowledge about philanthropy in the u.s. And around the world. The center accomplishes its mission by: - operating library/learning centers in five locations - new york city; washington, dc; atlanta; cleveland; and san francisco - that offer free access to information resources and educational programs. - maintaining unique databases of information on more than 110,000 foundations, corporate donors, and grantmaking public charities worldwide and over 3 million of their recent grants. Its foundation directory online subscription service is the most popular means for searching these databases. - providing a content-rich web site with a variety of free search tools, tutorials, downloadable reports, and other information updated daily, including philanthropy news digest, its daily news service, and pubhub, its searchable online collection of thousands of reports published by foundations and nonprofit organizations. - conducting research and publishing reports on the growth of the foundation field and on trends in foundation support of the nonprofit sector. - publishing books ranging from basic primers on fundraising and nonprofit management to comprehensive reference works. - coordinating a network of funding information centers nationwide and around the world - more than 485 funding information network (fin) partners that offer free local access to core center resources and training. Established in 1956, the foundation center is the leading source of information about philanthropy worldwide. Through data, analysis, and training, it connects people who want to change the world to the resources they need to succeed. The center maintains the most comprehensive database on u.s. And, increasingly, global grantmakers and their grants - a robust, accessible knowledge bank for the sector. It also operates research, education, and training programs designed to advance knowledge of philanthropy at every level. Thousands of people visit the center's web site each day and are served in its five regional library/learning centers and its network of more than 485 fin partners located in public libraries, community foundations, and educational institutions nationwide and around the world.”

“Expenses $10,136,293 and revenue $11,550,018 the center maintains unique databases of information on more than 110,000 foundations, corporate donors, and grantmaking public charities worldwide and over 3 million of their recent grants. Its foundation directory online subscription service is the most popular means for searching these databases. This subscription service is made available for free use in over 485 fin partners nationwide and around the world. The center also publishes books ranging from basic primers on fundraising and nonprofit management to comprehensive reference works. Other major data collection and publications program accomplishments in 2013 include the following: partnerships to improve data collection, management, and sharing ----------------------------------------------------------------- the foundation center is cultivating existing partnerships with official aid and philanthropy support networks and forging new partnerships. The center is making significant strides in its decade-long efforts to improve data about foundation giving. In september of 2013, the center announced a partnership with guidestar, an alliance designed to leverage the organizations' unique strengths and complementary missions to support the field in new and innovative ways. This partnership will include efforts to: expand the availability of resources for the field by disseminating training, data tools, and knowledge services; align both organizations' data collections to uncover new insights that will benefit the sector; champion transparency and data sharing so nonprofits and grantmakers are better equipped to make strategic decisions about their work; and empower individuals and organizations to explore, combine, and learn from data in new ways by delivering an increasing amount of information in formats that are accessible, open, or free. New data collection ------------------- in the past year the center successfully implemented a strategy for processing grants data through automation and outsourcing, and has expanded the breadth and quality of its domestic and international data. In order to serve the sector's growing range of philanthropic contributions, the center focused on the need to update its taxonomy so that users could compare their activities or conduct global scale qualitative research. Working with a consultant, the center completed a revised draft of the taxonomy and started implementing smartlogic's semaphore taxonomy tool. The center also focused on tracking philanthropic data relating to current affairs and emerging interests, such as disaster responses for hurricane sandy relief. In total, it added information on 64,568 grants from non-u.s. Funders, and 58,344 new non-u.s. Grantmaker profiles to its database. Electronic grant reporting -------------------------- the foundation center's existing hgrant export formats are now available in fluxx, gifts online, and good done great. In 2013, the center intensified efforts to convert grantmakers into ereporters and at the end of 2013, had 821 egrant reporters. Working in close partnership with the grants managers network and the forum for regional associations, in 2013 the center designed and started delivering a webinar series called beyond the transaction: how to share and benefit from your grants data, about the importance of sharing grants data and generating ereports. The first 4 webinars reached more than 150 participants. Foundation directory online (fdo) -------------------------------- the center continued to update and expand the scope of its searchable grants database, fdo. In 2013, fdo users were able to access: - profiles of 8,828 new u.s. Grantmakers and 15,473 new profiles of non-u.s. Grantmakers, for a total of 133,096 grantmakers; - it added information on 295,352 new u.s. Grants for a total of 3,354,916 grant records. To make it easier for grantmakers to provide the center with current information, it improved foundation center updater [updater”

“Expenses $4,431,614 and revenue $1,193,508 the center operates professionally staffed library/learning centers in five locations - new york city; washington, dc; atlanta; cleveland; and san francisco - that offer free access to the center's online subscription databases and books, other resources on funders and all aspects of philanthropy and nonprofit management and free educational programs. In 2013, the center's libraries were utilized by over 17,861 visitors. The center has an online librarian who responds to reference questions from people who prefer use its resources online. The center's rotation of 22 free, in-person classes gives participants a comprehensive understanding of the grantseeking process. On its website 13 webinars of its free classes, as well as free tutorials and 6 interactive courses and audio/video recordings of its special events, extend training opportunities to those who are unable to attend classroom presentations or who prefer to learn at their own pace in their home or office to 7,255 online participants. These online courses save travel time and costs, and broaden the center's reach into underserved and rural communities. In 2013, approximately 26,803 people participated in the center's free training, both in-person and online. The center also coordinates a network of funding information centers nationwide and around the world - more than 485 fin partners that offer free local access to core center resources, including the foundation directory online professional and training. Other major library/learning center accomplishments in 2013 include the following: grantspace [www.grantspace.org] ------------------------------- this dynamic, interactive site serves nonprofits worldwide, offering access to fundraising and management know-how to anyone, anywhere. Grantspace is an important platform for the center's ongoing relevance, promoting a thriving learning community and reducing training and travel costs by providing free access to the center's resources. - in 2013, grantspace had 1,641,352 unique visitors (a 152% increase over 2012) and 4,352,215 page views. - knowledge base articles remain the most popular grantspace content, with more than 1.8 million unique page views (a 158% increase over 2012). - the center's original multimedia content is integral to its ongoing efforts to enhance the site: in this period, its multimedia archives had 100,000 unique page views and it added over 100 original pieces of multimedia content, including 11 webinar recordings, 79 video recordings, and 3 podcasts. - grantspace also hosted 10 live chat events, hosting 962 participants as well as nearly 29,000 replays. - in september, 2013, the center began sending a monthly "new at grantspace" e-newsletter to alert users to upcoming online events and newly added content. To date, it has more than 14,000 subscribers. Free access to foundation center resources and training courses --------------------------------------------------------------- the center recognizes that at times when there are greater demands for program funding, the first items cut from nonprofit budgets are staff travel and training lines, preventing staff from learning about and accessing the foundation center's capacity-building resources. The center continued to offer online webinars, free trainings on the ground, and scholarships to its fee-based classes to nonprofit representatives. The center expanded access to its resources to empower under-resourced nonprofits to identify collaboration opportunities, fundraise successfully, and manage their organizations efficiently. The center continued adding new programs that address critical sector issues, including non-profit sustainability, collaboration, and earned income. It is also building on the leadership group initiative, bringing a community of nonprofit leaders together to share challenges and strategies for organizational effectiveness; these programs specifically serve executive directors and d”

“Expenses $5,229,141 and revenue $967,870 the center conducts research and publishes reports on the growth of the foundation field and on trends in foundation support of the nonprofit sector. To maximize the impact of its research, it hosts briefings and panels to discuss key findings, and "spreads the word" through social media. To make knowledge accessible to all, it makes its full reports or highlights from them available for free download at its web site. Special efforts in research and other programs in 2013 include the following: grantcraft [www.grantcraft.org] ------------------------------- a joint project of the foundation center and the brussels-based european foundation centre, grantcraft increases the collective knowledge of the field and improves the practice of philanthropy by publishing resources and facilitating the exchange of information among funders around the world. In 2013: - thirty-one guides widely used by grantmakers in the u.s. Were translated into chinese for free distribution, and three guides were translated into portuguese. - grantcraft.org received 62,110 unique visitors from 190 different countries, for a total of 80,704 visits, and the site's resources were downloaded 17,576 times. - sixty-six new content items were produced, including guides, infographics, and translations. - grantcraft launched an interactive collaboration tool finder [www.collaboration.grantcraft.org] to empower funders to identify the most appropriate web-based tools to meet their collaboration needs. This tool was visited 5,126 times within 3 months of its launch by visitors from over 80 countries. - grantcraft produced ten new podcasts in 2013, which were listened to 1,075 times. These included shaping the future of philanthropy: voices from next gen donors, and transparency chat. The foundation registry i3 -------------------------- the foundation registry i3 [foundationregistryi3.org] was created by education funders to support the investing in innovation (i3) program of the u.s. Department of education (ed). Ed provides competitive grants to i3 applicants to expand groundbreaking practices that improve student achievement, close achievement gaps, decrease drop-out rates, increase high school graduation rates, or increase college enrollment or completion rates. The site helps facilitate matches by providing an efficient link between i3 applicants and potential supporters. The foundation center administered foundation registry i3 in 2013, providing outreach and support to applicants and funders. - as a result, all 25 of the 2013 i3 highest-rated applicants (hras) met ed's private-sector match requirements for the first half of the competition. Advanced custom web portals --------------------------- the center is communicating philanthropy's impact on particular areas of interest by curating and centralizing resources and data streams and making them accessible to the general public through its custom web portals. The center's aim is to create new portals on current issues that are not comprehensively supported by existing online resources. In march, 2013, the center launched its most recent web portal, bmafunders.org, which serves as a go-to source for data and information related to black male achievement and is intended to facilitate engagement, catalyze collaboration, and promote strategic decision-making. This portal is intended to strengthen the field of black male achievement by putting up-to-date research, data, information, and insights at the fingertips of funders, nonprofits, policymakers, and other stakeholders. In its first 10 months, bmafunders.org attracted more than 12,000 visitors. In october 2013, washfunders.org celebrated its two year anniversary. The center regularly posts new content to the site, including weekly blog posts, up-to-date grantmaking data, and recently released reports. The center also added several new data streams to the site's funding map and continues to add foundations outside of th”

“Glasspockets is the foundation center initiative that champions philanthropic transparency in an online world, and it remains its primary mechanism for promoting foundation transparency. The site provides critical information about the entire field, gives clear examples of the relevancy of foundations' work to the challenges of our time, and includes a range of tools that identify best practices among foundations in promoting transparency in the digital age. Since its launch in 2010, a growing number of foundations are using the site as a means to benchmark their own transparency efforts including web design and social media practices. The site includes 57 foundation profiles, and attracted a total of 62,638 site visits in 2013. The site was redesigned in november 2013 to improve the way it provides the data, resources, examples, and action steps that help foundations understand the value of transparency and be more open in their own communications. In the first month after the glasspockets.org redesign, traffic to the site increased by 75% to 8,603. Eye on the giving pledge ------------------------ this initiative combines the foundation center's authoritative data on philanthropy with public information to offer an in-depth picture of the giving pledge, an effort spearheaded by warren buffett and bill and melinda gates that encourages the wealthiest americans to commit the majority of their assets to philanthropic causes. In 2013, the center created a landing page on its glasspockets web site to include information on giving pledge participants, their charitable activities, and the potential impact of this collective effort. Content includes: - profiles of the 122 individuals and families that have signed the pledge, with a combined net worth of roughly $600 billion. - each profile details the participant's net worth, primary industry affiliation, giving interests, related foundations, charitable board service, and philanthropic press coverage. - charts reveal demographic trends in participation, including geographic distribution, industry affiliation, net worth, and age of the pledgers. - curated reading lists provide insights and opinion about the giving pledge more broadly. Hgrant reporting ---------------- the 17 largest u.s. Foundations are working with the center to assist in the reporting commitment (hgrant) initiative aimed to advance transparency. Hgrant information is reported at least quarterly (daily in some cases) by each foundation, coded for geographic focus, and made available on glasspockets, which includes an interactive map of the data [glasspockets.org/work/reportingcommitment/map.html] that illustrates the national and global reach of america's largest foundations. All data is completely open and can be downloaded through an api. Local chapters, branches, or affiliates form 990, part vi, line 10a the center maintains and operates a network of 5 professionally-staffed library/learning centers in new york city, san francisco, washington d.c., cleveland and atlanta. These are unincorporated divisions that use the same tax identification number as the center. The library/learning centers are governed by the same written policies and procedures as the center to ensure their operations are consistent with those of the center's.”

“As of december 31, 2013, the $275,949 in other changes in net assets consists of an actuarial gain of $275,949, which represents pension and postretirement changes other than net periodic benefit cost.”