In his new book on American foundations, Joel Fleishman, head of a foundation-research program at Duke University, provides several case studies as a way to show grant makers and scholars why some projects have made more of a difference to society than others.
Mr. Fleishman and two research assistants at Duke, Scott Kohler and Steven Schindler, drew up analyses of 100 significant foundation programs started from 1901 to 2002. Mr. Fleishman included a dozen of them in his book, The Foundation: A Great American Secret — How Private Wealth Is Changing the World (PublicAffairs).
While all of the case studies examine successful or promising foundation programs, Mr. Fleishman’s book discusses some failed efforts as well, although in less detail.
Rockefeller Foundation (New York)
The Green Revolution
The Rockefeller Foundation drove the work of the “green revolution,” which developed new varieties of wheat, corn, and rice that significantly increased yields and alleviated world hunger. The foundation sent scientists to Mexico in the 1940s to help the government improve farm productivity through research, training of scientists, and development of new wheat varieties, then helped to start similar projects across Latin America and in India. It also collaborated with the Ford Foundation to create four agricultural-research and training centers in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
What difference it made: High-yield agriculture is credited with saving at least a billion lives since the mid-1960s. While famine is still a threat in many places, particularly Africa, food production has essentially kept up with population growth.
Key lessons: Foundations can play a role as a “driver” of significant change. Rockefeller succeeded by appointing to its staff a large group of people devoted to solving a single problem, and sticking with the project for more than 20 years.
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (Princeton, N.J.)
Anti-Smoking Programs
From 1991 to 2003, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation spent $408-million on programs to discourage young people from smoking, help smokers quit, and publicize tobacco’s harmful effects. The money helped state coalitions run programs designed to educate youngsters about the dangers of smoking; supported the Center for Tobacco-Free Kids, a national advocacy organization; paid for research programs; helped recruit professional athletes to discourage smoking; and educated pregnant women and single mothers about smoking’s harmful effects on unborn children and infants.
What difference it made: Since 1995, smoking rates among adults have declined by 12.6 percent and among teenagers by 18 percent, the book says. While Robert Wood Johnson was not the sole influence, it “served as a private center of power in the interest of the public” and an effective counterweight to tobacco companies that promote smoking.
Key lessons: By thinking strategically, foundations can help change public attitudes and behavior. Robert Wood Johnson succeeded by seeking out partners and engaging coalitions to orchestrate national change on a state-by-state basis.
Julius Rosenwald Fund (Chicago)
Schools for Rural African Americans
The philanthropist Julius Rosenwald and his foundation, the Julius Rosenwald Fund, provided money to build nearly 5,000 schools for black students in the rural South from 1913 to 1932. Noted for their modern architectural designs, by 1928 the schools enrolled one of every three Southern black pupils. Mr. Rosenwald provided only some of the money needed to build the schools, challenging local officials to raise the rest from other sources.
What difference it made: The school-building program was a countervailing force in an environment that gave short shrift to educating black students, prompting school districts in the South to provide more money to schools attended by black children.
Key lessons: Donor passion can be a critical ingredient to success. Mr. Rosenwald pursued his goal of improving education for Southern black children relentlessly, orchestrating cooperation from the thousands of towns in which his schools were built.
Carnegie Corporation of New York
Children’s Television Workshop and Sesame Street
The Carnegie Corporation in 1966 paid for a study to see if television could be used effectively to educate young children. It then provided $1.5-million to create the Children’s Television Workshop to produce educational television programs in partnership with the Ford Foundation, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and the U.S. Department of Education. The workshop’s first effort, public television’s Sesame Street, premiered in 1969.
What difference it made: Sesame Street immediately caught on with parents and children, its ratings far surpassing those expected by its creators (almost 1.5 million homes tuned in during its first week). Despite criticism that it has not benefited disadvantaged children as much as hoped, it now airs in more than 120 countries and “is widely understood to be one of the most successful television ventures ever.”
Key lessons: Foundations can build models to bring about change if they are alert to opportunities and have experienced program officers who can seek out promising ideas. The idea for the Children’s Television Network was sparked during a dinner-party conversation between Lloyd Morrisett, a vice president of Carnegie, and Joan Ganz Cooney, a documentary television producer who then conducted the study.
Twentieth Century Fund and Markle Foundation (New York)
National News Council
The Twentieth Century Fund (now the Century Foundation) started an effort in 1971 to create a National News Council to hear complaints about error or bias in news coverage, a project later taken over by the Markle Foundation. The council was created, but eventually folded. Lloyd Morrisett, then Markle’s president, says the project was “doomed from the start” because The New York Times refused to participate.
Key lessons: Foundations can go astray if they do not persuade key players to participate before starting a project.
Annenberg Foundation (Radnor, Pa.)Public-School Improvements
The Annenberg Foundation started the $500-million “Education Challenge” in 1993 to set up projects to improve public schools across the country, with additional money coming from businesses, foundations, universities, and individuals. However, foundation staff members interviewed by Mr. Fleishman considered it “one of the major failures in foundation history.”
Key lessons: The results were unimpressive because the project encompassed a set of “disjointed and inconsistent programs, guided by no overarching strategy,” according to the book.
Ford Foundation (New York)United Nations Reorganization
The Ford Foundation awarded a grant designed to get the United Nations to improve its organizational structure and promote U.S. global engagement. Anthony Romero, the program officer responsible for making the grant (now executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union), says his program produced great reports about making the Security Council more egalitarian, but “there isn’t much to show for what we were able to accomplish.”
Key lessons: Mr. Romero says he did not think carefully enough beforehand about how to achieve the results the foundation wanted.