Success Stories

Issues: Housing

A FEW WORDS WITH Shannon McNeely Whitaker, McNeely Foundation

In this A Few Words With, SmartLink speaks with Shannon McNeely Whitaker about strategic giving. McNeely Whitaker is the Chairperson of the McNeely Foundation, founded in the early 1960s by Harry G. McNeely, Sr. and his wife, Adelaide Frenzel McNeely. Over the years, the Foundation has supported a broad range of giving throughout the Twin Cities (MN): education, neighborhood development, environment, community institutions, the arts and individual and family sustainability. Harry's company, St. Paul Terminal Warehouse Company, a pioneering warehousing, logistics and real estate business, provided initial funding for the foundation; today, the family business is known as Meritex Enterprises. In 2002, the Foundation began to focus on strategic giving with a concentration on the East Side of St. Paul, Minnesota, a culturally diverse neighborhood where, historically, new immigrants came to learn a trade, get a job in one of the many booming manufacturing and industrial corporations, and make new lives for themselves and their families.

Hugh J. Andersen Foundation: quiet philanthropy bucks trends and credit

Created in 1962 “to better people's lives and strengthen communities”, the Hugh J. Andersen Foundation does pretty much the opposite of what many foundations do. “The Hugh J. Andersen Foundation is not about making a huge, immediate impact and leveraging big dollars; we’re about doing many small, good things in our area,” says program director Brad Kruse.

Created by Andersen Family members, founders and owners of the Bayport, Minnesota-based Andersen Corporation, the Hugh J. Andersen Foundation's primary geographic area of focus is the St. Croix Valley, a mix of rural, suburban and urban communities that span the Minnesota/Wisconsin border just east of the Twin Cities. The Foundation primarily supports nonprofits in Washington County in Minnesota, and Pierce, Polk and St. Croix Counties in Wisconsin.

A Few Words with Regina McGraw - March 2009

Each month, SmartLink introduces a leader from a SmartLink issue or foundation.  In this series of brief, candid interviews, the leader offers his or her advice for donors looking to make a difference in a particular field or in response to a particular circumstance.

This A Few Words With offers reflections and advice from Regina McGraw, executive director of the Wieboldt Foundation in Chicago.  Among other things, SmartLink asked Regina:  How do donors and foundation leaders, especially those committed to working in low-income communities, regroup after their own philanthropic dollars are dramatically reduced?

SmartLink and Willary Foundation make a difference in Scranton

Peter Scranton believes that sometimes, a little serendipity goes a long way in bringing people together to make lasting community change.  The Foundation is especially interested in projects that promote leadership, and can have a ripple effect in a community. “We try to be innovative, to fund projects in seed mode that could lead to more money from other donors,” explains Peter. “We focus on the arts, the environment, and community development.” Like many small family foundations, with great intentions, the Willary Foundation just needed a bit of direction and sound advice -- and a bit of serendipity.

Frances Hollis Brain Foundation provides for human needs, while bolstering family ties

When David Brain established the Frances Hollis Brain Foundation, his intention was to help people who had not been as lucky as he had.  He sought to help others get the “step-up” they needed to improve their own lives. Established after selling a company that provides dental care as an employee benefit, the founder's intentions were broad, but impassioned.

“My father spent his whole life in the insurance field, and late in his career, devised a means to provide low-cost quality dental care using a managed care model.  The company prospered; and by the time he sold it, managed care had become a very hot idea.” David's daughter Nancy explains.

“My father is a very hard worker, who feels there are a lot of people who work hard, but aren’t as fortunate as he was,” explains Nancy Brain, who with her sister, Diane Bryant, administers the family foundation.  Together, Nancy and Diane have translated their father’s desire to provide people with a “step up” to a giving strategy focused on organizations that provide for “basic human needs.” 

By focusing on human needs, the foundation's support has run the gamut from service organizations like Literacy Volunteers and Habitat for Humanity to making bets on new initiatives, aimed at helping disadvantaged people.

Helping donors achieve impact

You have questions, when it comes to your community giving.  All over the country, your fellow donors have similar goals and face similar challenges. Learn how other donors are navigating their way to effective, satisfying community giving.

From the Trenches: A Philanthropic Experience Following Katrina

At 11 p.m. on September 7, 2005, just as I was shutting down my computer, an e-mail arrived asking whether I would be willing to go to Louisiana to help create a foundation to receive and distribute private funds for disaster relief. 

Nine days after Hurricane Katrina had hit, and with flood waters still inundating New Orleans, the Kennedy School of Government had been approached by the governor's office to send a team to join with philanthropic professionals from around the nation to plan the Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation.  I jumped at the opportunity to be helpful. 

Over the next day and a half, I found it difficult enough to get confirmation of our participation, clear schedules, and coordinate flights with other Kennedy School members (Baton Rouge via Detroit), let alone gather good information from Louisiana about the particulars of our assignment and the situation on the ground. 

I packed a pillow in case I ended up sleeping on the floor of a shelter.  One of my peers brought iodine tablets for purifying non-potable water.

The Gulf Coast: Lessons on Community Building and Re-building

Hurricanes and subsequent levy breaks and flooding devastated the Gulf Coast in August 2005.  This natural and man-made disaster was particularly destructive in low-income communities.  Years later, communities continue to re-build and engage all residents in envisioning a new future for the region.  Donors like you, from the Gulf Coast region and around the country, have made a real difference in shaping a brighter, more equitable future for the Gulf Coast.  Along the way, lessons have been learned which can help instruct community building efforts all over the United States.

Melville Charitable Trust sees giving as venture capital

Charged by his dying mother to discover a mission for the fledgling Melville Charitable Trust, Frank Melville agreed, with one stipulation: he wasn't interested in supporting “horse shows and bad art.” With little background in philanthropy, Mr. Melville wondered how his small family foundation could truly have an impact in his community.

To Bill Zimmerman, giving is both professonal and personal priority

Bill Zimmerman's family instilled in him from a young age that giving back to one's community is a critical part of keeping one's self and one's community strong.  Today, as a resident of Peaks Island, Maine, and a principal owner of a successful computer technology business, Zimmerman puts this value into practice.  When a senior housing project came to his attention, Zimmerman relied upon his trust in the project's leaders and responded to his community's resourcefulness and "logic."

Wilson Foundation's Future Builds Upon Bold Past

Having transformed his father's small photographic paper company into the international corporation Xerox, Joe Wilson earned a reputation in Rochester, NY, as a thoughtful leader known for meeting challenges head-on. Since 1963, the Marie C. and Joseph C. Wilson Foundation has embodied Joe Wilson's vision and spirit. 

As a new generation of Wilsons emerged, the foundation found itself poised for new challenges and change. Recently, the Wilson Foundation revisited its goals and the role it hopes to have in Rochester's future.

Wilson Foundation chooses strategy with lasting impact

Having shepherded his father's company from a small photographic paper manufacturer to the international corporation Xerox, Joe Wilson knew how to turn vision into reality.  Together with his wife, Peggy, Joe Wilson started the Marie C. and Joseph C. Wilson Foundation to make a difference in the lives of struggling families in Rochester, New York.

Wilson Foundation makes lasting impact

In 1984, the Wilson Foundation took the greatest risk in its 20-year history by initiating Wilson Commencement Park with grants of $2 million – 20% of its total endowment. 

A multidimensional housing facility, Wilson Commencement Park provides long-term shelter and services to low-income, single-parent families in Rochester, NY. 

Wieboldt Foundation helps neighborhoods organize for change

The Wieboldt Foundation was established to support "charities designed to put an end to the need for charity.”  This was the goal of William and Anna Wieboldt, owners of Chicago area department stores, when they established the Wieboldt Foundation in 1921.  For over 75 years, the foundation has worked to end poverty in Chicago. 

Influenced by the Civil Rights Movement, Weiboldt's current generation supports efforts to organize low-income people to participate in public policy and programs affecting their struggling neighborhoods.

Butler Family Fund Brings Attention, Success to New Housing Strategy

In 1999, the Butler Family Fund awarded a $20,000 grant to the Southern California Association of Non-Profit Housing (SCANPH) to help launch Housing L.A., an advocacy campaign to create an affordable housing trust fund in the city of Los Angeles. 

At the time, a housing trust fund was an untested idea in Los Angeles.