2000 Annual Report
The mission of the Ben & Jerry's Foundation is to support and contribute to progressive social change in the United States. By progressive social change we mean efforts to change the underlying conditions that create social problems such as racism, sexism, economic disparity, and environmental destruction and injustice. We primarily fund small grassroots organizations and are willing to take risks funding new projects and small organizations struggling to survive.
Each year the Foundation receives for these purposes a portion of the philanthropic dollars set aside by Ben & Jerry's Homemade, Inc. In 2000 the Foundation made 64 grants for a total of $622,050. The average grant was approximately $9,720. The smallest grant was $500 and the largest grant was $15,000.
The company divides its philanthropic pool of funds between the Foundation, employee Community Action Teams (CATs), and Corporate Philanthropy. Each Ben & Jerry's manufacturing and administrative site in Vermont has an employee CAT, which makes small grants (under $1,000) to community organizations within Vermont. The Foundation Grantmaking Committee is also an all employee team with representatives selected from each of the five company sites.
As previously anticipated, Ben & Jerry's Foundation was able to substantially increase the amount of money given away last year over the previous year. This increase in payout represents the growth of the company as well as the ability of the Foundation to more accurately reflect that growth due to our new accounting procedures. Moreover, as part of the agreement Unilever made to Ben & Jerry's at the time of the buyout, the Ben & Jerry's Foundation will continue to enjoy similar levels of funding for at least the next ten years.
2000 was a year of growth for Foundation personnel as well. Rebecca Golden, the Executive Director, took time off to be with her new baby, born in February, and continues to divide her time between work and home. As a result, Lisa Pendolino, the Social Mission Coordinator for Ben & Jerry's, joined the staff of the Foundation part-time as Managing Director. Debby Kessler, the Foundation Administrator, continues to "hold down the fort" as we develop our programs.
In 2001, we are looking forward to providing more opportunities for the Employee Grantmaking Committee to engage with our grantees. We will bring in local grantees to speak with our Committee, as well as go on field trips to see and participate in some of our grantees' work.
The grant application process for the Foundation has not changed. We have a two-step process. The first is to submit a Letter of Interest. The Foundation Executive Director and at least one Committee member review these letters. On average the Foundation receives over 400 Letters of Interest per cycle. Based on their initial letters, approximately 40 organizations are invited to submit a full proposal each cycle.
We look forward to another year reviewing exciting and innovative proposals for social change work.