1995 Annual Report
The Ben and Jerry's Foundation mission 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, poverty and environmental destruction. 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 a portion of the Ben & Jerry's company philanthropic dollars, which is 7.5% of pre-tax profits, for these purposes. The company divides the 7.5% pool of funds between the Foundation, employee Community Action Teams at each site, and corporate philanthropy. Each company manufacturing and administrative site in Vermont has an employee Community Action Team, which gives small community service grants (under $1,000) within a specified area of the state. The Foundation Board is an all employee Board with representatives elected from each CAT.
Because the company posted a loss in 1994, the money the Foundation was allocated in 1995 needed to be offset by the amounts advanced to philanthropy in 1994, before the loss posted in the 4th quarter. We weren't sure how long it would take to offset these 1994 allocations, so we decided to take a conservative approach to grantmaking in 1995. Rather than take a hiatus from grantmaking, the Foundation chose to use some principal from its small endowment for funds. We instituted a more spartan course of grantmaking for the year, making smaller grants, less of them, and making grants in only 3 out of the 4 quarters. In 1995 the Foundation gave away $150,000 in 27 full and 17 small grants. The average grant was approximately $5,000. The smallest grant was $500 and the largest was $10,000.
In June of 1995, our long term Executive Director, Ellen Furnari, resigned in order to take the opportunity to serve as Interim Director of The National Network of Grantmakers, an organization of progressive funders. Rebecca Golden, previously our Administrator, assumed the Director's position. 1995 has been a year of adjustment, settling in, and fiscal challenge. We are pleased to note that the Foundation and CATs will be once again thoughtfully giving away their standard portion of Ben & Jerry's profits in 1996.
The Foundation grant application process will remain the same as it has always been. We have a two step process. The first is to submit a letter of interest. These letters are reviewed by the Foundation Director and at least one board member. On average the Foundation receives over 300 letters of interest per quarter. Based on their initial letters, approximately 30 organizations per quarter are invited to submit a full proposal.
The full proposals are reviewed by the whole Board. Decisions are made at quarterly board meetings. Applicants usually hear the decisions about 10 weeks after they have submitted a full proposal.
Because of the highly selective nature of our grantmaking process, we encourage all potential applicants to review our application materials carefully in order to assess the appropriateness of their project for a Ben & Jerry's Foundation grant. We look forward to another year reviewing exciting and innovative proposals for social change work.