EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION OF AMERICA

Contact information:
35 Church Lane
Westport, CT 06880
Phone: 203-226-6498

Website: http://www.efaw.org/

Type of foundation: Independent

Types of grants: Matching/challenge support; program development; seed money.

Description: The Educational Foundation of America was founded in 1959 by Richard Prentice Ettinger and his wife, Elsie P. Ettinger. Ettinger was co-founder of Prentice-Hall Publishing. The Foundation’s three distinct grant program areas are: Arts & Education, Environment and Sustainable Population.

The Foundation has a particular tradition of promoting public awareness and participation in the restoration and defense of the environment. Since 1959, EFA has awarded over $70 million in grants to protect the environment. The Environment program aims to reduce climate change pollution by funding projects focusing on policies and practices which will result in the reduction of greenhouse gases. The environmental focus of the Foundation for the next few years will be in these areas: coal waste, ocean acidification and cement plants. The Foundation is particularly interested in work that encompasses the following strategies: litigation, building constituencies, grassroots organizing and policy/advocacy work.

The Foundation is no longer accepting unsolicited letters of inquiry.

Sample Grants:

• $200,000 to American Documentary, New York, NY, for Community Engagement and Education Project (2006).
• $200,000 to American Documentary, New York, NY, for community engagement expansion project (2005).
• $200,000 to American Documentary, New York, NY, for community engagement expansion project (2003).
• $180,000 to Media and Policy Center Foundation of California, Santa Monica, CA, for Edens Lost and Found, a television production concerning practical solutions to improve urban environment and quality of life (2007).
• $150,000 to Center for Media and Democracy, Madison, WI, for Green, Clean Media Collaboration Project (2006).
• $150,000 to Hudson Opera House, Hudson, NY for their community arts program (2008).
• $150,000 to Project Vote - Voting for America, Washington, DC, for their 2008 Voter Registration Program (2008).
• $150,000 to ReThink Media, Berkeley, CA, for Building Media Response Capability in the Peace and Security Sector, over 2 years. (2009).
• $150,000 to World Media Foundation Somerville, MA, for Living on Earth Climate Change Initiative: Reliable Information for a Changing World (2005).
• $120,000 to University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, for Media Giraffe Project (2006).
• $120,000 to Witness, Inc., Brooklyn, NY, for In Plain Sight: A Video Human Rights Education Program (a project with Amnesty International USA) (2006).
• $110,000 to WAMC, Albany, NY, for Youth Media Project's Student Town Meetings (2007).
• $100,000 to Arts Engine, New York, NY, for Media That Matters Educational Outreach (2009).
• $100,000 to Educational Broadcasting Corporation New York, NY, for Planet H20 (2005).
• $100,000 to Point of View, New York, NY, for POV Community Engagement and Education (2009).
• $100,000 to WAMC Albany, NY, for Youth Media: Student Town Meetings, radio program for high school students to critically analyze and articulately discuss social and political issues affecting them with recognized specialists in community (2005).
• $75,000 to Cine Qua Non, New York, NY, for Sacred Choices, a film on abortion and reproductive issues (2006).
• $75,000 to Center for Investigative Reporting, Berkeley, CA, for Blackout (2009).
• $75,000 to Center for Investigative Reporting, Berkely, CA, for Blackout (2008).
• $75,000 to ReThink Media, Berkeley, CA (2010).
• $60,000 to Grist Magazine, Seattle, WA (2010).
• $60,000 to Kindling Group, Chicago, IL, for Do No Harm (a film), over two years (2009).
• $50,000 to Habitat Media, San Rafael, CA, for Lost Art of Tea Tossing, a film exploring the state of democracy in America today (2007).
• $30,000 to BRIC Arts Media Bklyn, Brooklyn, NY, for BRIC Rotunda Gallery Education Program (2009).
• $30,000 to Open Eye Pictures, Sausalito, CA, for Under Our Skin: The Untold Story of Lyme Disease (2007).
• $25,000 to University of North Carolina School of the Arts Foundation, Winston-Salem, NC, for PBS series, The Simple Living (2003).
• $23,000 to League of Professional Theater Women, New York, NY, for Women in Theater DVD Distribution/PBS Television Broadcast (2005).
• $20,000 to BRIC Arts Media Bklyn, Brooklyn, NY (2010).
• $20,000 to Upstate Films, Rhinebeck, NY (2010).
• $15,000 to WAMC, Albany, NY (2010).
• $10,000 to Educational Broadcasting Corporation, New York, NY (2010).
• $10,000 to ETown, Boulder, CO (2005).
• $10,000 to Women Make Movies, New York, NY (2010).
• $5,000 to WMHT Educational Telecommunications, Troy, NY (2007).
• $5,000 to Women Make Movies, New York, NY (2007).
• $5,000 to WAMC, Albany, NY (2007).

Fit for public broadcasting: The Foundation has a strong history of support for media initiatives that focus on topics of key interest. While the Foundation is no longer accepting unsolicited inquiries, it remains a prospect for media outlets that have or can find a contact.

Eligibility: Giving limited to the U.S. No grants to individuals, annual fundraising campaigns, capital or endowment funds or loans.

Deadline: None.

How to apply: The Foundation does not currently accept any unsolicited Letters of Inquiry.

Giving range: $20,000 - $100,000. Most grants are below $200,000.

Assets: $163,948,351 (year ending December 2010).

Total giving: $10,061,046 (2010).

View past Annual Reports here.