| From Barbara L. Goodmon, President, A. J. Fletcher Foundation: January 1, 2004 |
In September 2001, the Foundation made the most far-reaching change in its 50-year history when it created the Fletcher OperaInstitute at the North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem. Since its creation, the Foundation’s primary mission had been to support The National Opera Company, an organization Mr. Fletcher had founded in 1948 under the name “Grass Roots Opera.” His goal had been threefold: to introduce young audiences to opera; to offer performance experience to young professional singers; and to produce opera in English. Over the years, with major support from the Foundation, his opera company achieved those goals admirably. The company gave live performances before an audience estimated at 3,000,000 people nationwide, and it launched the careers of literally hundreds of talented young singers. To insure the success of Mr. Fletcher’s vision in perpetuity, the Foundation forged a unique partnership.With a Foundation pledge of $10,000,000, to be matched dollar-for-dollar by the School of the Arts, the Fletcher Opera Institute is already a focal point for the arts in North Carolina and is expected to become a major national resource in the years ahead. In yet another sign of its commitment to Mr. Fletcher’s vision, the Foundation in 2002 completed a grant to the City of Raleigh for $2,000,000 toward construction of the $16,000,000 A. J. Fletcher Opera Theater. Thus, with an awareness of its origins and a significant investment in the advancement of its founder’s dream, the Foundation is poised to explore other areas of need across North Carolina. |
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| Support for Foundations' Structure |
Among issues the Foundation’s board is considering for future investment, one of the most promising is also one of the most basic: broad support for the strength of the nonprofit sector itself. Strong administrative structure for nonprofit organizations has long been a Foundation interest: over the past 10 years it has committed more than $12,000,000 to “capacity-building” grants for a wide range of agencies. When it launched The Philanthropy Journal of North Carolina in February 2000, the Foundation created a valuable communications tool for nonprofits in all fields of endeavor. The Journal has grown rapidly in readership, and we intend to continue to support and strengthen it as a resource for the entire sector. |
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| Impact of Economic Uncertaintly |
One external factor that has had an impact on these past two years of transition is the turbulent performance of the national economy. Like virtually every other foundation in the country, the A. J. Fletcher Foundation has suffered from a declining stock market and an uncertain outlook. Many of our grants are multi-year commitments pledged three to five years ago; thus we have continued to make substantial grant payments, even as our ability to do so has been diminished. The result of the economic uncertainty has been a frustrating inability to approve the volume of new grants we have typically made in the past. |
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| Foundation Board Suffers Two Losses |
On a more personal level, our transition has been affected by the loss of two longtime directors, Louise (“Scottie”) Stephenson in April of 2002 and Claire Freeman in August 2002. Both Scottie and Claire brought a sense of organizational history, balance and humor to our deliberations, and both provided invaluable insight into a wide range of topics. Their wisdom and guidance are irreplaceable, and their loss will undoubtedly have an affect on the transition we are experiencing. |
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| Changes in Grant Making Policy |
The combined effect of these factors has been to give the Foundation an opportunity for reflection on its past and for discussion about its future. Although the Foundation’s board has not staked out specific issues it intends to support, it has made several fundamental changes in the way grant proposals are handled. First, the Foundation intends to be much more aggressive in seeking out potential grantees to help it tackle chosen issues. While unsolicited requests (by far the majority of past grants) have not been ruled out, they are discouraged. Second, for the foreseeable future the Foundation intends to make few if any new grants; rather, we will continue to fund the multi-year commitments already in place and explore opportunities for effective grant making in the future. The policies represent significant changes for the Foundation. Nevertheless, we believe they will ultimately strengthen the Foundation and its ability to serve the people of North Carolina. Back to the top |
