HEALTH CARE FUNDERS

Health Care Funders
July 6, 2010

Funding for health care has long been a major priority for foundations. According to the Foundation Directory, 10,006 foundations have, collectively, made nearly 97,000 grants to "health care" since 2003. What's more, the nation's largest foundations regularly put substantial amounts of funding into the field. A 2009 survey of 1,339 large foundations showed that they pumped some $4,910,707,000 into health care grants in 2007 alone – making health the second largest giving area, next to education.

Public media has increasingly been securing a portion of these funds for its projects. While there are many foundations that are currently supporting health care initiatives in public media, some of the largest grants in recent years have come from:

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: This Foundation is one of the nation's leading health care funders. It has supported several media grants aimed at informing Americans about health care issues, especially as they affect diverse and/or underrepresented populations. Most of the time, the Foundation issues Calls for Proposals, but it does accept some unsolicited requests. The Foundation supports both national projects and locally-based projects that have potential for replication or are models for learning. Some of its media grants include:

• $1,860,000 over three years to WETA – Greater Washington Educational Telecommunications Association for a news collaboration with the Health and Health Policy Unit of NewsHour with Jim Lehrer (2008).
• $1,500,000 over three years to National Public Radio for health and health care reporting (2005).

The California Endowment: The California Endowment is a private, statewide health foundation that was created in 1996 as a result of Blue Cross of California's creation of WellPoint Health Networks, a for-profit corporation. Its grants to media include:

• $1,000,000 to KCET Community Television of Southern California for public health policy programming on California Connected (2006).
• $988,000 to National Public Radio for coverage of health care issues affecting underserved populations in California (2005).
• $241,950 to Youth Radio for youth-created media content on mental and physical health issues and to strengthen youth advocacy at the local and state levels (2009).

Amgen Foundation: Amgen is one of the world's leading biotechnology companies. This company-sponsored foundation focuses its giving primarily on health and science education. In 2008, the Foundation gave:

• $560,604 to WGBH Educational Foundation for Teachers' Domain: Biotechnology, an extensive library of free digital media resources produced by public television, designed for classroom use and professional development.

Rhode Island Foundation: This community foundation makes discretionary Strategy Grants in health and other focus areas. Primary health care is a big priority. The Foundation makes grants for projects statewide. In 2007, the Foundation gave:

• $150,000 to Rhode Island Public Radio (WRNI) to develop local programming, especially in the areas of education and health care.

In addition, public media outlets and producers are successfully securing grants for health journalism, as well as for outreach initiatives focused on health.

To find health care grant opportunities, click here.