Baton Rouge Area Foundation
.png) |
|
| Founded | 1964 |
|---|---|
| Founder | The Foundation was founded in June 1964 by eleven civic leaders who wanted to use the Foundation as a tool for community development. |
| Focus | Linking donors with nonprofits and conducting civic projects |
| Location |
|
|
Area served
|
South Louisiana |
|
Members
|
~700 |
|
Key people
|
John G. Davies, president and CEO; John M. Spain, executive vice president |
| Endowment | $563 million at year-end 2012 |
|
Employees
|
~20 |
| Website | www.braf.org |
Baton Rouge Area Foundation ("The Foundation") is a community foundation dedicated to enhancing the quality of life in Louisiana's capital region, and is registered with the IRS as a 501(c)(3) tax-deductible nonprofit organization. Over the past 40 years, the Baton Rouge Area Foundation has responded to the wishes of its donors, the concerns of its members, and the community's needs by issuing grants totaling close to $200 million.
In addition to grants, the Baton Rouge Area Foundation has the flexibility to launch community initiatives without politics or other entanglements. Alarmed, for instance, at the rapid rise in new AIDS cases in Baton Rouge in 2002, The Foundation convened key stakeholders who formed the group Baton Rouge Citizens Against HIV and launched an awareness campaign known as Protect Yourself Baton Rouge. Since then, local testing has increased and the number of new reported cases has fallen.
In 1964, a group of 12 Baton Rouge business leaders created the Foundation to raise money and purchase land for the Gulf South Research Institute (GSRI) to locate offices in Baton Rouge. Since then, the nonprofit Foundation has pursued its work in two ways, connecting philanthropists to nonprofits across South Louisiana and some other parts of the world and taking on civic leadership projects, such as health and school reform, reviving downtown Baton Rouge and creating The Water Institute of the Gulf.
In assets, BRAF is now ranked among the top 30 community foundations in the country in an annual survey by the Columbus Foundation.
Highlights of the Foundation's work include:
The Foundation's grant making teams performed hundreds of assessments, identified pressing needs for displaced residents, and issued over $600,000 in emergency grants to aid organizations and shelters within 10 days of the storm. As the recovery process moved forward, The Foundation continued to help displaced residents in the areas of basic human needs, physical and mental health, education, and employment. Further, The Foundation played a key role in the planning process of re-envisioning the state of Louisiana and connecting south Louisiana in more productive ways for all.
...
Wikipedia