Chapter 1 - Greater Milwaukee Foundation

Transcription

CHAPTER 1
WHO WE WERE
AT T HE BEGINNING
The Milwaukee Foundation’s founding
fathers were an impressive coterie
of city power brokers representing
industry, banking and the law. As
Milwaukee edged into the 20th
century, it was already a bustling
community making a definite mark
on the world with its broad range
of breweries, foundries, factories,
packing plants, lending institutions,
transportation and related high-power
commercial endeavors. There was
strength in this town, economic power.
Pabst building in downtown Milwaukee
Photos courtesy of the Milwaukee County Historical Society
GREATER TOGETHER 1915-2015
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CITY HALL AND FIRST
WISCONSIN BUILDING:
Both Milwaukee City
Hall and the First
Wisconsin Bank
building have long
been symbols of
Milwaukee’s political
and economic muscle.
Photos courtesy of Milwaukee
County Historical Society
Citizens pointed with pride at Milwaukee City Hall, their civic symbol of
power. The structure, completed in 1895, soared 15 stories and reached
393 feet. It was the tallest habitable building in the world when finished.
To the locals, the presence of that massive Flemish-style landmark,
with its tower and giant clock high above the streets, said something
indeed about Milwaukee’s civic might. However, the new First Wisconsin
Building, home of the First Wisconsin Trust, surpassed Milwaukee
City Hall as both the tallest building in Milwaukee and the state. The
structure was topped off Aug. 29, 1972, at 601 feet and 42 stories tall
and finally completed in 1973.
The greater Milwaukee area also was exploding with an influx of
immigrants, many from Eastern Europe eager to fi d stability in the
New World. Adding to the city’s vibrant mix of German, Irish, Yankee
and French influences were newcomers from Russia, Italy and other
countries. By 1899, more than 30,000 Poles had moved to Milwaukee, a
figure growing to 100,000 by 1915. This made the city one of the largest
Polish communities in the country. Like other earlier arrivals, many took
low-paying, entry-level jobs, and in time, all these hard workers and their
offspring contributed greatly to Milwaukee’s élan.
ITALIAN AND POLISH IMMIGRANTS
Proud, hard-working Italian and Polish immigrants
were among the many new Milwaukeeans in the early
20th century.
Photos courtesy of the Milwaukee County Historical Society
2
| GREATER TOGETHER 1915-2015
At the end of the 19th century, the fi st suburbs were born, greatly
expanding the business clout of the entire area. Bay View was an
independent village from 1879 to 1886. In 1892, Whitefis Bay, South
Milwaukee and Wauwatosa were incorporated. Next came Cudahy
in 1895 and the village of North Milwaukee in 1897. East Milwaukee
(Shorewood) arrived on the scene in 1900. Almost immediately after,
West Allis was organized in 1902 and West Milwaukee in 1906. These
“inner-ring” suburbs provided a newly emerging middle class that was
able to move up and out of the rough and tumble Third and Fifth wards
where they originated. The upper crust had it even better, with their
fi e mansions creeping outward along the northern lake frontage from
downtown and west along Grand Avenue (Wisconsin Avenue) and in the
Concordia neighborhood.
SUBURBAN SCENE (SHOREWOOD)
Empty lots in 1924 Shorewood were
quickly filling in as hundreds of new
homes were built.
Photo courtesy of Milwaukee County Historical Society
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BIRTH OF THE MILWAUKEE FOUNDATION
As greater Milwaukee was growing, it was obvious there were pressing community needs, particularly
in the areas of health care, child welfare, education, housing and worker safety. In 1914, Cleveland had
launched the nation’s fi st community foundation as a “means of intelligent charity.” Under the plan
devised by banker/attorney Frederick Goff, “a competent administration” would ensure perpetual use
of donated funds for the good of the community.
Goff’s idea was a way to overcome the limitations of charitable trusts
and foundations at the time. He wanted to do away with the “dead
hand of charity,” whereby the uses of charitable bequests became
obsolete. His concept pooled together charitable resources of local
residents into a single trust, and the distribution of the income was
overseen by a committee of community members. That committee
had the power and the wisdom to research a community’s needs and
distribute the money accordingly.
The following year, The Chicago Community Trust, California Community
Foundation, The Boston Foundation, Greater St. Louis Community
Foundation and the Minneapolis Foundation were launched.
MAYOR EMIL SEIDEL
Milwaukee Mayor Emil Seidel was
in office when the first meetings
of the Milwaukee Foundation
were held.
Photo courtesy of Milwaukee County
Historical Society
His administration received national kudos for its concern for public
welfare and its efficient management.
Milwaukee took notice.
At this time, the city also was poised to shake off the mayoral scandal
and city council corruption of past administrations, as well the memory
of bloody labor unrest in the late 1800s. These challenges, contributing
to the growing pains of the burgeoning urban scene, were already being
tackled following the 1910 elections in which Mayor Emil Seidel and
many like-minded aldermen and other public officials secured office.
Seidel, the country’s fi st Socialist mayor of a major city, soon raised the
minimum wage and passed an eight-hour day standard for city workers.
WHAT WE DID
GREATER MILWAUKEE FOUNDATION CENTENNIAL MILESTONES
4
Yet even Seidel and his forward-thinking cohorts, nicknamed the “Sewer
Socialists” who sought to improve day-to-day services for the citizenry,
were hard pressed to keep up with the demand for charitable assistance.
Although the bureaucrats created parks, repaired roads and generally
enhanced the quality of life for residents of all income levels, numerous
challenges remained. Subsequently, several of the community’s power
elite gathered to seriously discuss how to help. Considering the Cleveland
model, their evolving thought was to create a Milwaukee Foundation to
channel philanthropic resources.
4May 24, 1915: Led by the efforts of Oliver C. Fuller,
president of the Wisconsin Trust Company, a Declaration
of Trust is signed and adopted to create the Milwaukee
Foundation
Leading these captains of commerce was Oliver Clyde Fuller, president
of Wisconsin Trust Company and founder of the First Wisconsin
National Bank. He knew of the Cleveland plan and was eager to try a
similar idea locally.
Fuller was joined by the Irish-born Patrick Cudahy, whose long list
of business accomplishments included being president of Patrick
Cudahy Family Company, a real estate powerhouse; president of
Cudahy Brothers Company meat packing empire; and director of First
Wisconsin National Bank.
Another friend involved in these early discussions was Adolph Finkler,
who had been an architect prior to becoming secretary and treasurer of
the Albert Trostel & Sons Company tannery. Called a noted “Wisconsin
man of progress” by those with whom he worked, Finkler married Ida
Trostel, Albert Trostel’s daughter. Long active in civic affairs, Finkler would
go on to become a five-term president of the Milwaukee Art Museum.
Trostel Received Frye Award
In 1987, Kim Trostel,
wife of Albert Trostel
Jr., received the
William C. Frye Award.
A noted Milwaukee
philanthropist and
community activist,
she died at age 100 in
2009. The Frye Award
was named for the late
William C. Frye, former
president of Rex Chainbelt Company and chair of the
Foundation Board in 1954. The award, first given
out in 1957, honors individuals who, through their
volunteer work, have made Milwaukee a better place.
Photo courtesy of Greater Milwaukee Foundation
6
Then there was Isaac D. Adler, a director of Wisconsin Trust Company
and a noted wholesaler of men’s clothing. His father, David, had
founded the David Adler & Sons company, then one of the oldest fi ms
in Milwaukee. Isaac’s son, also named David, would become one of
the country’s greatest architects. Among other gracious homes, he
designed Milwaukee’s Villa Terrace, built in 1924 for the Lloyd R. Smith
family. Isaac Adler knew Cudahy through their many business dealings.
The entire Adler family was noted for its support of Jewish causes,
particularly in supporting orphanages.
Fred S. Hunt was secretary for the Milwaukee Dustless Brush Co., which
was founded in 1897 and received a gold medal at the 1904 St. Louis
World’s Fair for its versatile products. As of 2013, the fi m was still
manufacturing a wide range of brushes. Hunt was a prominent member
of the Merchants and Manufacturers Association of Milwaukee, serving
on the organization’s membership committee. Consequently, he knew all
the players in the city, a handy affi iation when the time would come to
seek out big time donors for the cause.
A sixth member of the group was distinguished former Judge Paul
D. Carpenter of the Milwaukee County Circuit Court’s First Division,
who was then an assistant U.S. attorney. He was a lecturer at
Marquette University Law School and gave its commencement speech
in 1912. Carpenter also was well known in political circles, being
the son of the formidable U.S. Sen. Matthew Hale Carpenter who
represented Wisconsin in the late 1860s through the early 1880s.
While in the Senate, the elder Hale was president pro tempore during
the 43rd Congress and was considered one of the nation’s leading
constitutionalists. With this family background and connections, it was a
plus to involve such a figure as the younger Carpenter.
Ohio-born Clement C. Smith, president of First National Bank Milwaukee
and head of the Evanston Railway Company, started his career as a civil
engineer. The Wisconsin Home and Farm School in Dousman, with its
headquarters in Milwaukee, was already a favorite charity when Smith
and the others talked about expanding their philanthropic endeavors.
Smith, as well as the Albert Trostel & Sons Company, donated funds
and purchased acreage for the farm as part of a communitywide effort
WORLD WAR I MILITARY IN
DOWNTOWN MILWAUKEE
CELEBRATING THE END OF WAR
World War I was raging when
the Milwaukee Foundation was
established in 1915, and there
was joy in the streets when the
war finally ended.
Photos courtesy of Milwaukee County
Historical Society
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to secure tillable space where boys would learn farming skills. One of
its missions was to “make the misfit boy fi in some useful place in the
great fabric of the community” as well as to rescue those “who were just
starting on the road to crime and ruin.”
With this wealth of talent, legal and business skills and existing track
records of philanthropy, it wasn’t difficult to formally organize the
Milwaukee Foundation. The group met officially for the fi st time at the
Wisconsin Trust Company on Wednesday, Aug. 4, 1915 at 11:30 a.m. On
that auspicious day, however, their founders’ enthusiasm as reported in
The Milwaukee Sentinel was dampened by other headlines.
German troops were rapidly advancing on Warsaw in the bloody Gorlice–
Tarnów offensive, and civilians were being evacuated from the city.
Outside the staid rooms of the Trust building where the founders were
gathered, Milwaukee’s large German and Polish populations were swept
up in war fever, arguing and fighting each other.
Despite what was happening on Milwaukee’s streets and overseas, the
founders forged ahead with their plans. The initial configuration was a
charitable trust called the Milwaukee Foundation, with an organizational
structure similar to other foundations at the time. The Wisconsin Trust
Company was the original trustee and was principally responsible for
managing the Foundation’s investments. The Milwaukee Foundation
Committee consisted of community leaders appointed by public
officials, the trustees and existing Board members. The committee was
responsible for the administration of the Foundation and grantmaking
decisions. Members were to serve five-year terms.
Adolph Finkler was named fi st chairman, with the governing body made
up of Adler, Hunt, Carpenter and Smith, who replaced Cudahy when the
latter decided not to serve after being appointed by the trust company
directors. Wisconsin Trust Company was represented by its president,
Oliver C. Fuller, and its secretary, Fred C. Best.
The first gift recorded was made at that fi st meeting in 1915 by Fuller
in the amount of $1,000, with $500 designated as donor directed and
$500 for operating expenses of the Foundation. The balance was to be
4
4August
August 4, 1915: Fuller makes fifirst
st gift to be divided evenly between
operating expenses and “among organized, charitable associations in
the city of Milwaukee,” subject to his approval
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WISCONSIN UNIVERSITY SETTLEMENT
The Wisconsin University Settlement was one of the
first social service agencies to receive Milwaukee
Foundation financial assistance.
distributed at the committee’s discretion. It wasn’t long before the fi st
grant was approved. Six days later, $50 from the Oliver C. Fuller Fund,
per his recommendation, was given to Wisconsin University Settlement.
Founded by sociologist Herbert Jacobs, the settlement’s managing
association fought the city’s social and economic problems. The
settlement was geared toward helping underprivileged neighborhoods
and providing needy families with clubs and classes in English literature,
arithmetic and sewing. After a long relationship with the Milwaukee
Foundation, the settlement association closed its doors in 1931.
At the time, The Milwaukee Journal reported that “the main idea of the
plan is a perpetual community trust through the medium of which a
multitude of charitable bequests may be combined into one fund which
will be large enough . . . to be of great benefit to the community.”
Additional 1915 grants from the Oliver C. Fuller Fund included $25
each to the Wisconsin Home and Farm School Association, a project
favored by Foundation director Smith, and to Volunteers of America. This
national group still actively serves veterans, victims of abuse and those
with other social and family issues.
4August
4
August
August 10, 1915: First grant of $50 made to Wisconsin University
Settlement per Fuller’s request
MILWAUKEE CHILDREN’S FREE HOSPITAL
Milwaukee Children’s Free Hospital was one
of the first institutions to receive financial
assistance from the Milwaukee Foundation.
Reprinted with permission of Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin
Word of the Foundation’s work spread quickly through Milwaukee’s
philanthropic community as committee members got out and around,
vigorously praising the value of supporting local causes. It was noted
in the meeting minutes of Sept. 8, 1915, that “the trustee had been
informed that the Milwaukee Foundation had been named as beneficiary
in several wills.”
through subsequent donations for education, medicine, the dispossessed
and children. Among those receiving grants were the Associated
Charities, $50; Wisconsin University Settlement, $50; Wisconsin Home
and Farm School, $25; Volunteers of America, $25; Boys’ Busy Life Club,
$25; Home for Friendless, $50; Milwaukee Infants’ Home, $50; and $50
to the Milwaukee Children’s Free Hospital.
By the next year, the Foundation was already hitting its stride. The fi st
slate of grants approved in 1916 totaling $325 was again from the Oliver
C. Fuller Fund. These early grants set a precedent that would continue
The committee sought to obtain a broader list of charitable
organizations in Milwaukee County by reaching out to the Merchants and
Manufacturers Association of Milwaukee.
4November 16, 1915: Patrick Cudahy creates fi st permanent public fund with a $25,000 gift, directing the income be paid in equal
portions to Associated Charities, Little Sisters of the Poor, St. Rose’s Catholic Orphan Asylum and St. Vincent’s Catholic Infant Asylum
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This effort could be considered the Foundation’s fi st request for
proposals. After sending out 56 inquiries, the committee received
responses from the St. Aemilian’s Orphan Asylum in St. Francis; Mother’s
Aid Society of the Milwaukee Maternity Hospital; Our Big Sisters Home
Association; St. Joseph’s Orphanage; The Big Brothers and Big Sisters;
Children’s Home Society of Wisconsin and Marie Institution for Infants
and Children. While some of these organizations have faded into history,
others have survived to contemporary times. For example, in 2013, the
Foundation awarded a three-year, $450,000 grant to SaintA (formally St.
Aemilian’s) to support its efforts toward improving children’s welfare.
Aware of the need for transparency in its transactions, the Foundation
worked with Price, Waterhouse & Company to conduct the first audit
of the ledger sheet in 1916. Also, toward the end of the year, Fuller
directed the Foundation to make a grant of $50 “to a Jewish charitable
organization or aid society.” Subsequently, the committee forwarded that
amount to the Jewish (aka Hebrew) Relief Fund on Dec. 13, 1916.
ST. AEMILIAN ORPHAN ASYLUM
(Top) St. Aemilian’s was one
of the early recipients of a
Milwaukee Foundation grant.
(left) Youngsters at St. Aemilian’s
play on the institution grounds.
Photos courtesy of SaintA
41916: Inventor and Chain Belt Company founder Christopher Warren Levalley and his wife, Helen, make the fi st documented deferred gift
through a remainder interest in a $100,000 trust
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At the Jan. 8, 1917 meeting, the committee included the following in
the minutes, noting one of the fi st documented deferred gifts to the
Foundation.
S P O T L IGH T ON E A R LY S UP P OR T E R S
CHARLES FRIEND
“The Committee charged with the administrative distribution of the
Milwaukee Foundation has considered with deep sympathy the
specific trust created by the generous gift of Christopher Warren
Levalley, and his wife, Mrs. Helen Pitkin Spencer Levalley, as defi ed
in their trust indenture dated December 20, 1916. The humane,
enlightened and far sighted objects graciously expressed by the
donors, no less than their munifi ent provision for the execution
of those objects, must make a potent appeal to the respect, the
gratitude and the emulation of the community they have taken (sic)
order so effectively to serve. The Milwaukee Foundation is gratifi d
to be permitted to cooperate in its sphere toward the fulfillment
in perpetuity of the object which the donors have wisely and
beneficently prescribed and believes the future generations will do
honor to the founders of the Levalley Trust.”
The committee, knowing the extensive array of needs in Milwaukee, drew
up a list of charitable organizations as a guide in distributing grants.
Ensuring the success of the Foundation over the next 16 years, Cudahy
gave $75,000 to the cause. The gift constituted most of the Foundation’s
earliest assets. The need to reach out to others was obvious, as attested
by Foundation trustee George Luhman in the 1920s, who urged a
stronger effort in educating Milwaukee as to the value of the trust.
This outreach did bring in other important gifts, especially when the
Henry Harnischfeger Fund was set up by the president and founder of
the Harnischfeger crane manufacturing fi m. He provided a bequest
of $50,000 to establish his fund, emphasizing education. Marie E.
Harnischfeger remained interested in the fund, even after her husband’s
death in 1930. In 1934, the Harnischfeger Fund joined the Cudahy Fund
within the Foundation’s folds.
Charles Friend was president of the
Hebrew Relief Association in 1916
when the organization received a
major grant from the Foundation. He
was typical of the era’s concerned
professionals who ensured that
Foundation contributions would be
put to good use.
Photo courtesy of Jewish
Museum of Milwaukee
HENRY HARNISCHFEGER
Cofounder of the Harnischfeger
Corporation, German-born Henry
Harnischfeger is credited with
inventing the first gasolinepowered dragline after World War
I and developing numerous other
heavy equipment products. Many
of the firm’s ideas came from
Photo courtesy of the
Alonzo Pawling, Harnischfeger’s
Milwaukee County Historical
engineering partner. Pawling died
Society
in 1914 and was an inductee
into the National Mining Hall of Fame in 2009. Harnischfeger
carried on the company, becoming one of Milwaukee’s leading
industrialists and philanthropists. By 1922, the Harnischfeger fi m
was making upwards of $7 million a year and employing more than
1,600 workers. Among his causes was the Associated Charities
of Milwaukee. The Harnischfeger Corporation is now part of Joy
Global Inc., which markets surface mining equipment worldwide
through its P&H Mining Equipment division. Joy Global’s corporate
headquarters in Milwaukee still offers significant charitable financial
support to local organizations working on education, as well as
urban renewal and human services issues.
41917: Cudahy makes $50,000 gift, saying while he “prefers not to make any splash about the gift, as at this particular time everybody and everything is
pointed toward helping to win the war. . .” he understands “you would like to do a little advertising in order to awaken some interest in the Foundation”
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12
THERE WAS
HARDLY A MORE
NEEDY TIME
IN MILWAUKEE’S
HISTORY
Prohibition had a deleterious effect on Milwaukee during the 1920s
and 1930s by impacting the brewery industry, one of the city’s major
industries. Next, the Great Depression, a horrific economic catastrophe,
resulted in tens of thousands losing their jobs. There was hardly a more
needy time in Milwaukee’s history. Help from the Foundation saved
many a charitable group from collapsing during this troubled time.
Despite hard times, two additional funds – the Hummel, Gregg and Wells
Fund and the Howard E. Mitchell Fund – joined the Foundation in this
era. Soon, six more funds joined them, helping boost the Foundation’s
assets to $715,000-plus by the mid-1930s. Around this time, the Emil
Blatz Fund, James D. Shaw, Wenthe-Davidson Engineering Co. and
Malcolm F. Rogers funds were started.
During World War II, the Foundation continued its charitable outreach.
By 1954, it had become a metropolitan resource, especially with the
addition of the William A. Wasweyler Fund. Wasweyler designated 21
organizations to benefit from his fund, two of them based in Waukesha
County. Today, the Foundation includes 365 funds created by Waukesha,
Ozaukee and Washington County donors. Grantmaking to organizations
in these three counties is expanding as their populations increase.
HOOVERVILLE IN MILWAUKEE
Destitute Milwaukeeans during the Great Depression
lived in camps called “Hoovervilles,” a derisive nod to
President Herbert Hoover.
Photo courtesy of the Milwaukee County Historical Society
| 13
SOBERING CHANGE FOR BREW CITY
A crowd assembled around a gushing beer
keg as Prohibition began.
14
In 1956, the Foundation finally reached $1 million in assets with a
$200,000 bequest establishing the Edith C. and J. Oscar Greenwald
Fund. Oscar Greenwald was the grandson of Adam Gimbel who had
founded a major department store chain. Greenwald became manager of
the Milwaukee department store in 1910 and then became president of
Gimbels Midwest. He was on the Foundation Board from 1925 to 1941
and was also a member of the Foundation’s distribution committee.
Greenwald died in 1941.
41945:
4
1945: Foundation’s first
fi st scholarship fund is created thanks to
$100,000 from bequest from Emil Blatz, the son of Blatz Brewery
founder Valentine Blatz, “to purchase scholarships for worthy
young men and women”
BRING BACK BEER
A sign about bringing back beer told the story of
Prohibition’s impact on Milwaukee.
41956:
4
1956: Foundation reaches $1 million in assets, thanks to a fund
created through a bequest of the widow of Oscar Greenwald, grandson
of the founder of Gimbels
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A SHIFT IN THE TAX CODE – FOR THE BETTER
In 1967, attorney Andrew Lauritzen returned to his hometown after
receiving his law degree from Harvard University. He accepted an
opportunity to join Dudley Godfrey Jr. and Gerald Kahn, who had
founded one of the city’s most notable business law fi ms, Godfrey
& Kahn. Prior to Lauritzen, Godfrey was the Foundation’s major legal
adviser. Lauritzen fi st began providing legal services to the Milwaukee
Foundation in 1970, following the enactment in 1969 of numerous
changes to the Internal Revenue Code, which affected community
foundations and other 501(c)(3) organizations.
investment returns and required community foundations to meet annual
public support tests to retain public charity status. The 1969 tax law
also clarified the requirements for donor advised funds and authorized
the creation of supporting organizations. Many of these code provisions
exist today and continue to influence the structure and operation of the
Greater Milwaukee Foundation and other community foundations.
41969:
4
1969: Tax Reform Act of 1969 passed with some provisions that add
a number of constraints on private foundations, making community
foundations more advantageous as a vehicle for charitable giving
4
4Foundation
Foundation opens fi st office at the Pabst Building, 110 E. Wisconsin Ave.
When Lauritzen initially became involved with the Foundation, the
First Wisconsin Trust Company (which ultimately became Firstar Trust
Company and then a part of U.S.
Bank) managed the greatest
percentage of the Foundation’s
assets. Donald Buzard, executive
ANDY LAURITZEN
vice president of the First
Attorney Andrew Lauritzen was a longtime
Wisconsin Trust Company, was
legal adviser to the Milwaukee Foundation,
an influential member of the
beginning in 1970 when he assisted the
trustees’ committee and one
Foundation in complying with various
of the principal influences on
tax law changes affecting community
the operation of the Milwaukee
foundations and other charitable
Foundation Trust. He took
a personal interest in the
organizations which were enacted in 1969.
Foundation throughout his
Photo courtesy of Andrew Lauritzen
career. Buzard died at age 86 on
April 15, 2012, with suggested
donations in his name going to
the Foundation’s DSB Fund, an
This was a watershed moment for the Greater Milwaukee Foundation
Acorn Fund he created in 1993.
and other community foundations because, among other things, the tax
changes required all component funds to be subject to a variance power.
Buzard was aware of the changes in the tax laws made in 1969 and
This gave the Board the ability to modify any restriction or condition of
contacted Dudley Godfrey and asked if there was anyone at Godfrey
a fund if, in their sole judgment, such restriction or condition became
& Kahn who could help the Foundation comply with the new tax code
unnecessary, obsolete or inconsistent with the charitable needs of the
requirements. William D. Vogel, chairman of the Milwaukee Foundation
community or area served. For example, a donor could wish to support
Board, was also acquainted with Dudley Godfrey and asked Godfrey &
a particular agency, but if that nonprofit went out of business, the
Kahn to serve as counsel to the Foundation.
Board could use the power to reallocate the funds to support a similar
nonprofit.
Godfrey requested Andy Lauritzen, one of the firm’s bright young
attorneys, to work on Foundation matters. Before long, Lauritzen was
The new tax code also required community foundation boards to
handling all of the Foundation’s legal work. Although Lauritzen was only
have the power to replace trustees for inability to produce reasonable
30, he had a good working relationship with Buzard, who had a great
16
sense of humor and was businesslike and easy to work with. As a result,
among Lauritzen’s initial endeavors on behalf of the Foundation was
amending the organizational documents of the Milwaukee Foundation
Trust to meet the requirements of the new tax law.
Perhaps one of the most transformative actions taken in the
Foundation’s fi st 50 years occurred when its leadership met with the
leaders of two private foundations, the Faye McBeath Foundation and
the Walter and Olive Stiemke Foundation.
GODFREY AND KAHN
Dudley Godfrey Jr. (left) and Gerald (Jerry) Kahn met
as undergraduates at the University of Wisconsin
and remained friends throughout law school. In
1957 they formed the firm of Godfrey & Kahn, which
was the primary legal adviser to the Foundation for
many years.
MILWAUKEE FOUNDATION FORGES AHEAD
With attorney Andy Lauritzen’s assistance, the Foundation
engaged in several major initiatives over the years, some of which
were precedent-setting for community foundations nationally.
These included the following:
•
In 1989, the Foundation organized a corporation now
known as the Greater Milwaukee Foundation Inc. to operate
as a corporate community foundation in tandem with the
original Milwaukee Foundation Trust. The IRS subsequently
ruled that the original Milwaukee Foundation Trust and the
new Milwaukee Foundation Corporation could be treated
as a single community foundation for tax purposes. One
of the principal reasons for organizing the corporation was
to permit the Foundation to engage investment managers
independent of the trustees.
•
Another IRS ruling, a first, made it acceptable for the
Foundation to establish various investment pools in which
donated funds could be invested and to permit donors to
designate the particular pools to which their funds would be
allocated.
•
Over the years, the Foundation has assisted in the
establishment of several supporting foundations, which
are independent 501(c)(3) organizations set up exclusively
to carry out one or more of the purposes or functions
of the Greater Milwaukee Foundation. Such supporting
organizations have been established to operate as
geographic partners of the Greater Milwaukee Foundation,
including the West Bend Community Foundation,
Oconomowoc Area Foundation and the Greater Cedarburg
Foundation, and also by some private donors who preferred
to maintain their own independent foundation to support
the geographic areas they serve.
Photo courtesy of Godfrey & Kahn
41970:
4
1970: Hiring of David Huntington, Foundation’s fi st full-time executive
director and staff member; also serves as administrator for Stiemke and
McBeath foundations
4Attorney
4Attorney Andrew Lauritzen, with Milwaukee’s Godfrey & Kahn law fi m,
begins 40-year career of providing legal guidance to the Foundation
| 17
Together, the three foundations decided to establish an office and
employ staff to give professional assistance to their boards in fulfilling
their charitable purposes. The three shared an association with the First
Wisconsin Trust Company, a focus on the Milwaukee community and a
real wish to handle their affairs more efficiently.
Under the guidance of Paul F. Meissner, an attorney on the McBeath
board, the three foundations created Foundation Studies Inc. in 1968
and the following year hired A.T. Kearney, a Chicago executive search
fi m, to fi d someone to run the operations. The fi m brought in David
Huntington, former director of placement at the University of Chicago
Graduate School of Business, to meet with Vogel, First Wisconsin Trust’s
Catherine Cleary, Herbert Mueller of the Stiemke Foundation and Faye
McBeath Foundation head Howard Tobin. After extended conversations,
the leaders determined that New Englander Huntington fi the bill and
offered him the job. For Huntington, it was “a chance to jump to the
other side of the fence” and to accept additional challenges, although he
wasn’t that familiar with the Milwaukee charitable or development scene.
He began his new job on Jan. 1, 1970.
Initially, the two private foundations contributed $7,000 each toward the
1970 budget, and the Milwaukee Foundation, $6,000. The Foundation
later got help in the form of grants from the Stiemke Foundation beyond
what it paid for services. In 1975 and 1979, for example, the Steimke
Foundation contributed $10,000 toward “developing and operating a
community trust.” A $15,000 grant in 1984 aided the “development and
public awareness program of the community trust.”
The IRS soon determined that Foundation Studies would not qualify for
tax exemption, suggesting instead that it would be most appropriate
for those functions to be handled by the Milwaukee Foundation itself.
That change was speedily made: the Foundation leased office space and
from then on simply charged the two private foundations for executive
services. That assistance from Stiemke was an important resource for
the fledgling foundation.
Huntington was subsequently made administrator of the Stiemke
Foundation, a position he held until 1984, and was secretary of the
McBeath Foundation through 1986 and executive director and secretary
of the Milwaukee Foundation until 1992. Among his duties, Huntington
composed all the agendas, minutes, agency contacts, correspondence
and handled grants management for each foundation, as well as
prepared and distributed printed annual reports.
18
DAVID M.G. HUNTINGTON
David M.G. Huntington was executive director
and secretary of the Milwaukee Foundation from
1970 to 1992. Over those 22 years, the Milwaukee
Foundation grew from a 55-year-old shell of a
foundation, unstaffed with some $4 million in total
assets, to an entity of about $125 million with
a staff of 10. It was ranked among the top 20 of
about 400 community foundations then in place
around the country.
When Huntington was picked to head the
Foundation, he had two Harvard degrees and
three years’ experience in customer relations with
a large Wall Street bank. He had been through
infantry training in the Army and served in the
Philippines and Korea at the end of WWII before
successfully managing administrative posts at two
major universities.
Huntington was instrumental in taking the Foundation to new heights.
A Harvard man, he had a long career in fund development, from banking
to academia. He had spent about seven years in development work at
the University of Chicago, fi st as assistant director of development
for the university during a major campaign and then as director of
development for the division of biological sciences, then the largest
component of the university, including both its hospitals and medical
school. The position put him in contact with foundations of all sizes, a
valuable experience from which he learned a lot. In addition to these
skills, he was outgoing, friendly and concerned about his adopted city
and its residents.
CATHERINE CLEARY
Northwestern Mutual Life
Insurance Company archives
Huntington immediately began developing grant programs, working
out of a small office at 110 E. Wisconsin Ave. He was helped by Colette
Carlson, a part-time secretary on loan from First Wisconsin Trust. During
this time, the Huntington-Lauritzen team brought the Foundation’s
organizational documents into compliance with the tax code. The young
attorney then took on additional assignments, including drafting gift
acceptance policies, standardizing donor agreements and gift forms, and
fie ding general questions relating to the operation of the Foundation,
donor relations and various legal issues.
With Gardner Friedlander, principal of the Gardner Foundation,
Huntington convened a luncheon group now known as the Donors
Forum of Wisconsin to share information and interests with other
foundations in the area. The forum was instrumental in establishing a
foundation reference collection called the Funding Information Center at
the Marquette University Library. The collection keeps tax returns on all
local private foundations available to help local agencies and institutions
in their search for support. The group held regular grantseeker sessions
at the Foundation’s office, talking with agencies about the Milwaukee,
McBeath and Stiemke foundations and the policies, practices and
procedures used in applying for grants.
Blaine Rieke started with the First Wisconsin Trust Company in 1973
as a senior executive after being invited to join the staff by Catherine
Cleary, then First Wisconsin Trust president and the first woman in the
country to hold such a high office. When Cleary retired in 1976, Rieke
became president and CEO. He worked closely with senior trust officers.
Don Buzard and Rieke directed policy issues for the trust company.
Others involved were trust vice presidents Lee Wolcott and Max Grefig.
Attorney Dick Gallagher was also a great support because of his interest
in philanthropy and knowledge of estate planning. After his retirement
from First Wisconsin Trust, Rieke maintained a supportive interest and
served on the Foundation Board from 1996 to 2006.
BLAINE RIEKE
Northwestern Mutual Life
Insurance Company archives
FOUNDATION FORUM OF WISCONSIN
Incorporated on April 1978, the Foundation Forum of
Wisconsin, under the able leadership of Richard Yeo, began
the networking, peer-to-peer education and professional
development that became the organization’s mission. Yeo was
a director of the Patrick and Anna Cudahy Fund. In 1991, the
Foundation Forum changed its name to the Donors Forum of
Wisconsin. Connie Bach, executive director from 1987 to 1999,
expanded services to include site visits, hosted regional and
national speakers, and joined the Forum of Regional Association
of Grantmakers. During its 25th year in 2003, the forum was
led by Doug Jansson, as chair of the Donors Forum board, and
Deborah Fugenschuh as president.
| 19
MANY FIRSTS MARKED
EDITH FINLAYSON
JOSÉ OLIVIERI
FRED GUTIERREZ
Edith Finlayson was the fi st African
American on the Foundation Board. Moving
to Milwaukee in 1958 with her husband,
William, she became the fi st African
American nurse at Milwaukee’s Veterans
Administration hospital. A “professional”
volunteer, she was a presence locally and
nationally. A founding member of the National
Organization for Women, Finlayson died in
2001. Finlayson was Board vice chair under
Milwaukee Journal publisher Irwin Maier
from 1973 to 1974 and Board chair from
1974 to 1976. She was replaced on the
Board by community activist Gwen Jackson,
chair emeritus of the American Red Cross in
Southeastern Wisconsin and its fi st African
American Board chair.
The first Latino Board member was José
Olivieri, a partner with Michael Best &
Friedrich LLP, who was appointed by the
Milwaukee Bar Association in 1994. He
became chair of the firm’s Labor and
Employment Relations Practice Group and
co-chair of the Government and Public Policy
Group. A native of Puerto Rico, Olivieri was
the Foundation’s Board vice chair (with Polly
H. Van Dyke) from 1996 to 1997 and chair
from 1997 to 1999.
In 1991, Fred Gutierrez was the fi st Latino
on the Foundation’s staff and was still
working there in 2014 as a senior program
officer. The late Sarah Ford was the fi st
African American on staff.
Photo by Jim Moy
41972: Edith Finlayson, appointed by the senior judge of the U.S. District
Court for the Eastern District, is Foundation’s fi st African American
Board member
20
41976: Milwaukee Brewers create the Hank Aaron Youth Fund at the time
of his retirement as a tribute to the home run king. The fund provides
scholarships to help talented young people ages eight to 12 pursue their
dreams
.
POWER PLAYERS
FAYE MCBEATH
WALTER AND OLIVE STIEMKE
HERBERT J. MUELLER
The Faye McBeath and the Walter & Olive
Stiemke foundations added clout and financial
muscle early on to partner with the Milwaukee
Foundation on many causes. The three
foundations always acted independently and
separately, yet regularly compared notes.
Walter and Olive Stiemke also were
important players on the city’s charitable
scene. Stiemke had been president of the
Trackson Company and general manager of
the Caterpillar Company plant in Milwaukee
for many years. When he died in 1967, he
left an estate worth $7 million, and his wife,
Olive, succeeded him as chair of the Walter
and Olive Stiemke Foundation, which acquired
most of his estate. The foundation had
awarded more than $2 million in grants to
numerous organizations since its beginning in
1964. Sharing staff, it joined forces with the
Milwaukee Foundation in 1970. Olive Stiemke
died in 1982. The Stiemke’s philanthropy
included support of the Stiemke Studio, one of
three theaters within the Milwaukee Repertory
Theater complex on East Wells Street.
Herbert J. Mueller, a local estate planning
attorney, was instrumental in helping the
Stiemkes establish their foundation. By the
time of his death in 2001 at age 91, Mueller
had helped start more than a dozen such
Greater Milwaukee Foundation funds with
gifts totaling nearly $50 million. In recognition
of his efforts, the Foundation formed the
Herbert J. Mueller Society, honoring other
advisers who have been helpful to the
Foundation or have recommended starting
a fund to their charitably minded clients.
Hundreds of planners have subsequently been
recognized from A to Z, from John A. Affeldt
to Nate Zastrow.
Faye McBeath graduated from the University
of Wisconsin in 1913 and taught school
until 1916 when her uncle, Lucius W.
Nieman, founder of The Milwaukee Journal,
encouraged her to join the Journal Company,
where she worked for the next 20 years.
When Nieman died in 1935, McBeath
inherited one-fourth of his holdings in the
publishing company, a substantial amount of
which was used to establish the Faye McBeath
Foundation. She became one of the city’s
greatest philanthropists, supporting programs
addressing education, assistance for the blind
and the arts. She died in 1967, and the bulk
of the McBeath Foundation was due to be
paid out by 2014.
| 21
Stiemke and Mueller were closely involved in
the motivation behind and the transition of
the Foundation to a multi-trust community
foundation. When Stiemke wanted to initially
set up a private foundation, Mueller was the one
who suggested that he consider transferring his
assets to a community trust.
Health Department and Community Health
Concepts. The latter had received grants from
both the Foundation and the Faye McBeath
Foundation, so Huntington knew of her work.
Moore was hired as a program officer and
eventually became the director of research and
development before retiring in 2009.
Stiemke, after looking into the Milwaukee
Weeks after hiring Moore, Jim Marks and Doris
Foundation, thought it wasn’t as strong as
Heiser were hired. After receiving his master’s
it could have been at the time and decided
degree from University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
instead to create his own private foundation.
in 1971, Marks took a planning position with
However, he didn’t dismiss the idea of joining
what was then called the Mental Health Planning
the community trust later on. In fact, one of the
Committee, later the Planning Council for Health
purposes of Stiemke’s private foundation was
and Human Services. As director of the Planning
to encourage the development and effective
Council, he learned how to work with a nonprofit
JIM MARKS
operation of Milwaukee’s community trust.
board and nonprofit budgeting and financial
Photo
courtesy
of
Greater
Milwaukee
Stiemke met with officials from the Council
management. In late 1974, he was appointed
Foundation
on Foundations, dutifully researched other
executive director, a position he held until joining
community foundations at the time – including
the Foundation in 1984.
Cleveland and Chicago – and ventured around the country to get a firsthand account of how they operated. Through his research, he found that
While at the Planning Council, Marks applied to the Milwaukee
community foundations had greater strength and faster growth if they
Foundation for a grant related to mental health services, a Foundation
had more than one financial institution as a trustee.
priority area at the time. In 1984, Gwen Jackson, who was on both the
Foundation and Planning Council boards, suggested to Huntington that
Hoping to build the Milwaukee Foundation into a more substantial force
he contact Marks to see if the Planning Council could help with proposal
within the community, Stiemke worked with Mueller to encourage First
reviews. Marks assigned his associate director to this project on a
Wisconsin to modify the declaration of trust. They drew inspiration from
time-limited contract basis but was hopeful that the Foundation would
other trust agreements and the model declaration of trust proposed by
continue to contract with the council longer term rather than hiring its
the council. Sadly, Stiemke didn’t live to see his efforts bear fruit. He died
own staff. Huntington didn’t agree, however, and eventually hired Jane
in early 1967 before the declaration of trust was modified later that year.
Moore for the program officer position.
M&I Marshall & Ilsley Bank and Marine National Exchange Bank agreed
to be added as trustees. As part of the amended declaration, all of
the Foundation trustees had to approve of any major policy changes
within the organization, including expanding the Board and naming an
independent investment adviser.
In 1984, it quickly became obvious that with the size of the job,
Huntington could use additional help. Among his fi st hires in 1984
was Jane Moore, former Peace Corps volunteer who had experience
in planning, evaluation and research with the City of Milwaukee
In the meantime, Marks learned that the Foundation was looking to hire
someone with finance and budgeting experience in anticipation of the
Stiemke Foundation being folded in as a fund by the end of the year.
That got Marks to thinking that it might really be interesting to work for
a foundation, although the position they originally were looking for was
an administrative assistant. He subsequently proposed to Huntington
that he make the opening an assistant administrator position, basically
second in command. Huntington liked the idea and presented it to his
board, which agreed.
41983: Shaw Scientist program begins, thanks to bequest from Dorothy Shaw, widow of
Milwaukee attorney James D. Shaw. University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Michael M. Cox
and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Peter J. Wejksnora are fi st recipients
22
41984: Jim Marks, Doris Heiser and Jane Moore hired to
assist the rapidly growing Foundation
FOUNDING FATHERS
JUDGE PAUL D. CARPENTER
ADOLPH FINKLER
CLEMENT SMITH
OLIVER C. FULLER
FRED S. HUNT
PATRICK CUDAHY
Photos courtesy of Milwaukee County Historical Society
| 5
Once hired, Marks’ biggest challenge was preparing financial statements.
In fact, he was the fi st staff person to compile such documents for the
Foundation. Prior to that time, auditors did this work. As the Foundation
grew in size and complexity, it became clear that it needed someone
with more accounting expertise to manage its finances on a full-time
basis. At that time, Marks transitioned into his role as director of grant
programs.
Later in his tenure, Marks took on the responsibility for the Foundation’s
largest individual fund – the Ceres Foundation – a $16 million supporting
organization with a primary focus on sustainable agriculture. This was
extremely time intensive, given the size of the fund and the passion of
the donor for the cause. Marks managed all aspects of the fund, from
soliciting proposals to gathering basic organizational information, as well
as following up with the grantees and the donor.
Next hired was Doris Heiser, who had attended the Donors Forum
as a representative of the Junior League of Milwaukee. Early in 1984,
Huntington told Heiser about a half-time position at the Milwaukee
Foundation working with donors. Heiser thought about the job and
called Huntington a couple of weeks later saying she would like to apply
and asked if the position was still open. It was. Compared to the hustle
and bustle of work at the Foundation a few years later, the environment
was quite low key when Heiser began.
DORIS HEISER
Photo by Jim Moy
CERES FOUNDATION SUPPORTS ORGANIC AGRICULTURE
Demonstrating its diverse funding opportunities, the Foundation
has assisted the Ceres Foundation, named after the ancient
goddess of agriculture. The Ceres Foundation provides grants
to support organic agriculture initiatives primarily in western
Wisconsin, eastern Iowa and Minnesota. It has also been a
leading supporter nationally of research and advocacy efforts
to preserve pollinators and natural environments as well as to
remove toxins from food sources.
JANE MOORE
Photo by Jim Moy
41985:
4
1985: Foundation’s Walter and Olive Stiemke Fund makes $750,000 grant
to the Milwaukee Repertory Theater toward the construction of the Stiemke
Studio in the Milwaukee Center Complex
| 23
DOROTHY SHAW
Photo courtesy of Greater
Milwaukee Foundation
The Foundation was always eager to help
recognize community leaders. It created
the Shaw Scientist Award in 1982 with
a bequest from Dorothy Shaw, widow of
James D. Shaw, a prominent Milwaukee
attorney. Her $4.3 million gift endowed
the James D. Shaw and Dorothy Shaw
Fund within the Foundation. She directed
that the fund be used to advance the
fie ds of biochemistry, biological science
and cancer research at UW–Madison and
UW–Milwaukee. Since then, the asset value
of the Shaw Fund has grown to more than
$15.5 million, even as it has distributed
millions of dollars in grants over the years.
SCHOOL OF FRESHWATER SCIENCES
Each young Shaw Scientist receives $200,000 in unrestricted research
support. Since its launch, in addition to $2 million in special grants,
Shaw’s fund has awarded more than $12.5 million in grants to 65
scientists from both universities. Huntington always pointed out that the
awards were perfect examples of what a community foundation could do.
Another example of the program’s impact came in 1985, when veteran
researcher Dr. Kenneth H. Nealson became the Shaw Distinguished
Professor at the Center for Great Lakes Studies, predecessor of the School
of Freshwater Sciences, a key player in Milwaukee’s efforts to establish
itself as an international leader in water research and innovation. The
position allowed him to continue his studies on metals and microbes.
THE FIRST SHAW SCIENTIST RECIPIENTS:
University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Michael M. Cox
(left) and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Peter
J. Wejksnora (right)
Photos courtesy of Greater Milwaukee Foundation
24
KENNETH H. NEALSON, PH.D.
Photo courtesy of the J. Craig Venter Institute
REBECCA KLAPER
Shaw Associate Professor at University of WisconsinMilwaukee’s Great Lakes Water Institute
Photo by Jim Moy
HARRY ANDERSON, TREE PLANTING
On June 4, 1980, Harry Anderson, executive director of the Milwaukee County
Historical Society, presented a major speech at the 65th annual meeting of the
Milwaukee Foundation. After the formal business meeting, the attendees toured a
Historical Society exhibit featuring the work of the Milwaukee Foundation over the
years and were then invited outside for a tree planting. The ceremony, according
to Foundation Board Chair William C. Messinger, was to commemorate “our roots,
past, present and future.” On hand to provide an historical link to the past were
Michael Cudahy, great-grandson of a Foundation founder Patrick Cudahy; George
Chester, nephew of Clement C. Smith, another founder; and Douglas E. McKey, son
of Douglas F. McKey, secretary pro tem for the Foundation in 1915.
| 25
BUILDINGS WE’VE CALLED HOME
The Foundation has migrated to several office buildings over the years. It fi st had a room and a half in the
Pabst Building, 110 E. Wisconsin Ave., before moving to the Plankinton Building, 161 W. Wisconsin Ave.
After 25-year sojourn to larger quarters at the German-English Academy Building, 1020 N. Broadway, next
led to the current locale in Schlitz Park, 101 W. Pleasant St.
Pabst Building,
110 E. Wisconsin Ave.
1969-1975
26
Plankinton Building,
161 W. Wisconsin Ave
1975-1984
German-English Academy Building,
1020 N. Broadway
1984-2009
Schlitz Park,
101 W. Pleasant St.
2009-present
| 27
SHARON LOXTON
Photo by Jim Moy
Another team member was Sharon Loxton, hired from Arthur Andersen
& Co., where she was an auditor. In 1988, the Foundation was looking for
a fiscal officer, and Huntington sent a note with a position description
to Steve Graff, the office managing partner at Andersen. Loxton’s
background in auditing financial institutions and nonprofits was a good
fi for the Foundation, which at that time had only seven employees.
She became the Foundation’s fi st controller in 1989, the fi st fiscal
officer of any type at the Foundation. By then, the Foundation had
about 180 funds and just over $71 million in assets. There weren’t any
comprehensive systems available that integrated financial, grantmaking
and contribution activities at the time.
Loxton’s fi st task was to understand the fi ancial records and begin
preparation for the audit. In addition, she staffed the Investment
Committee, which selected a corporate investment manager, and set
up the accounting for the Foundation’s new investment pool. As part
of that process, the Foundation’s investment policy was rewritten.
Capitalizing on a trend beginning in the endowment fie d at the time, the
Foundation’s payout practices for grants were converted from “spend
actual income earned” to one that spent a percentage of growth. An
extensive study calculated and projected the impact of the change,
and presentations were made to donors to convey the benefit. Colonial
Consulting from New York was hired to help and eventually became the
Foundation’s regular investment consultant. Loxton also prepared tax
returns in house rather than sending them out to the accounting fi m.
The Foundation staff had its work cut out for it. In the 1980s, it received
70 to 100 proposals every quarter, each requiring Board committee
review. This time-consuming system resulted in declining 90 percent of
the requests for various reasons. This was onerous to grant applicants
after all their hard work preparing submissions. By instituting a letter-
41986: Creation of Journal Foundation funds, a cluster of
permanent funds that represents contributions from more than
33 active and retired employees of Journal Communications
28
of-inquiry process, however, the staff could readily review up to 100
concepts and invite the most promising to submit full proposals.
Everyone agreed this system was a great improvement, made at
relatively no cost.
Over time, the Board and staff also felt that grantmaking was
fragmented and disconnected. Many small, one-year grants were being
made, and it was difficult to measure their impact. Eventually, for the
most promising projects that demonstrated measurable results, the
Foundation and its funding partners made larger grants over multiple
years. As a result, grantmaking became more strategic, synergistic and
collaborative. It was also important that the Foundation’s story was
spread by a variety of means, from newspaper ads to annual reports.
The first promotional piece was a slim pamphlet put together by
Catherine Cleary at the First Wisconsin Trust in 1969. When Stan Hack
was Board chair in 1975, he asked Milwaukee public relations specialist
Robert Zigman to help get out the word about the Foundation. Former
newsman Bob Riordan, initially a volunteer and eventually a paid
consultant, was also instrumental in helping publicize the Foundation.
In those days, foundations supported collaboration among nonprofit
organizations but did not often collaborate with other foundations. The
Faye McBeath Foundation office was adjacent to Jane Moore’s. When
Sarah Dean became executive director of the McBeath Foundation, the
two began discussing common issues and concerns. This led to more
discussions with Robin Mayrl at the Helen Bader Foundation. In turn, the
three organizations began to collaborate in earnest, bringing in other
donors and public-private funders. By partnering with other foundations
and Foundation donors, discretionary dollars expanded to develop and
sustain projects that had a greater impact on the Milwaukee community.
Among these were the Sponsor-A-Scholar program, Compass Guide,
Nonprofit Management Fund (a coalition of local foundations,
corporations and United Way of Greater Milwaukee), UWM Helen Bader
Institute for Nonprofit Management, Connecting Caring Communities,
economic development in transitional neighborhoods, redevelopment
of Menomonee Valley and Project Lead the Way. Moore played a pivotal
role in helping these organizations work together.
41989: Foundation hires Sharon Loxton as its fi st controller
MENOMONEE VALLEY
COMPASS GUIDE
By partnering with other foundations and Foundation donors, discretionary dollars expanded
to develop and sustain projects that had a greater impact on the Milwaukee community.
HEALTHY NEIGHBORHOODS INITIATIVE
SPONSOR-A-SCHOLAR
Having been “on the other side of the table,” Moore wanted to make
the grant process and experience more transparent by creating
“Grantseeker” sessions for anyone interested in knowing how the
Foundation reviewed grants, what questions to anticipate and how
to “make the case.” Later, she focused her experience and developed
a graduate course at Marquette titled “Nonprofit Organizations,
Management and Trends in the Third Sector.”
Among many executives who lent their expertise to the Foundation at
this time was Brent Rupple, former chairman, president and CEO of
Robert W. Baird. Rupple served the Foundation in various capacities,
including as a Board member for 10 years and as a member of the
Investment Committee for 24 years.
By its 75th birthday in 1990, the Foundation included 200 funds with
total assets of $83 million. It launched the fi st of several grantmaking
initiatives, including the Neighborhood and Family Initiative, focusing on
the economic revitalization of Milwaukee’s Harambee and near North
Side neighborhoods. It was the fi st of many Foundation initiatives that
combined grants from several funds to leverage grant commitments
from other foundations.
One of the highest-profile successes was the Foundation support in
establishing Riverworks Development Corporation, a nonprofit 501(c)3
organization formed in 1992 after the closing of the sprawling American
Motors Corporation complex in Milwaukee’s northeast industrial corridor.
Riverworks focuses on helping train and place Milwaukee residents into
jobs while providing benefits and financial coaching at the same time.
When David Huntington indicated he was considering retirement in
1992, the Foundation conducted a national search for his replacement.
Gene Struckoff, a headhunter hired by the Foundation who wrote the
defi itive handbook on how to start community foundations and was
skilled in providing technical assistance to new community foundations,
found an attractive candidate in Douglas Jansson.
After receiving a master’s in public administration from the Maxwell
School at Syracuse University and spending years leading a relief
program in Nigeria following that country’s civil war, Jansson became an
analyst in the Governor’s Offi e of Policy Research in Columbus, Ohio.
The office was funded largely by the Ford Foundation to provide the
governor with nonpolitical research on issues facing the state such as
alternatives to incarceration, how to regulate the new cable television
industry and related issues.
TAKING THE INITIATIVE
Foundation donor Dorothea Mayer, a bus tour attendee,
and former Foundation Board chair Gwen Jackson take
part in the Milwaukee Foundation Associates tour of
the Harambee neighborhood, supported through the
Foundation’s Neighborhood and Family Initiative.
Photo by Frank Miller
41988: Wisconsin AIDS Fund is established to support
programs directed at the prevention and further spread
of AIDS, as well as care and treatment services
30
41990: Development of the Neighborhood and Family
Initiative for Milwaukee’s Harambee neighborhood
with funding from the Ford Foundation
Three things motivated Jansson to accept the position at the
Foundation. First, he knew the Foundation did not need to be
“fixed.” Huntington had assembled a terrifi staff, and the Board
was highly motivated to see Jansson take the Foundation to the
next level. Second, Jansson was impressed with the beauty of
Milwaukee – the lakefront, its cultural facilities, its local and
state parks and its strong civic organizations. Third, he said,
“It just felt right for me to be back in the Midwest.”
THE CALATRAVA ON THE MILWAUKEE LAKEFRONT
After a few years in Columbus, Jansson became a program officer with
the Chicago Community Trust before heading up the Rhode Island
Foundation for roughly 12 years, during which time the foundation’s
assets had grown from $25 million to nearly $200 million. By then,
Jansson was ready for a new challenge.
Jansson had fi st gotten to know Huntington when he worked for the
Chicago Community Trust. He was invited to meet with the board of the
Faye McBeath Foundation, which Huntington also staffed early on, to
discuss how the Trust approached its grantmaking in the area of children
and youth services.
DOUG JANSSON
Greater Milwaukee
Foundation president
and CEO from 1993 to
2010.
Photo by Jim Moy
Under Jansson’s leadership from 1993 to 2010, the Foundation enjoyed
one of the most successful periods in its long history. Assets more than
quadrupled, more than $300 million in grants were made to nonprofits,
and the Foundation launched the partner foundation concept.
| 31
GEOGRAPHIC PARTNERS
Demonstrating the Foundation’s outreach into the broader community,
the first regional affi iate to become a philanthropic partner with the
Foundation was the West Bend Community Foundation. The idea for its
creation came from two West Bend civic leaders, the late Cliff Nelson
and Douglas Ziegler. After much research, they determined that it
made more sense to create a foundation as an affi iate of the Greater
Milwaukee Foundation rather than a new, freestanding community
foundation. By doing so, they could benefit from the Foundation’s staff
resources and investment pools. Together, Nelson and Ziegler personally
pledged $1 million in unrestricted contributions to jumpstart the West
Bend Community Foundation.
The Oconomowoc Area Foundation was launched through the efforts
of Jim Marks and Fred Gutierrez. Together, they assembled community
leaders, presented the idea and provided the ongoing staff support.
The Foundation also agreed to rely on the board of the Oconomowoc
Area Foundation to make grants from the Hilbert Scherffius Fund, a
substantial fund created by the donor to benefit that community.
The Greater Cedarburg Foundation was also launched and over time,
the founders determined that it could operate more economically and
effectively as a Foundation affi iate. Particular credit in this partnership
went to Mal Hepburn, a local entrepreneur and philanthropist. Overall,
these three geographic affi iates have demonstrated that they will
continue to grow as essential partners with the Foundation.
West Bend
Community
Foundation
Greater
Cedarburg
Foundation
Oconomowoc
Area Foundation
32
BLUE CHIP REGATTA IN OCONOMOWOC
SCIENCE LAB IN WEST BEND
Wider community outreach was made possible by creating Foundation affiliates,
which could benefit from Foundation staff resources and investment pools.
MUSEUM OF WISCONSIN ART IN WEST BEND
CEDAR CREEK IN CEDARBURG
OCONOMOWOC IMAGINATION STATION
COINVESTMENTS
In 2006, the Foundation started a concerted effort to engage donors as
co-investors, and since that time has secured more than $10.2 million
in coinvestments from donor advisers for a wide range of programs and
projects. For the Foundation, community leadership and co-investment
are symbiotic, providing donors with exciting opportunities. As a
result, donors contribute more and have a feeling of ownership. In its
various reports, the Foundation has viewed co-investment as a multipronged strategy that (a) builds and solidifies relationships throughout
the community, (b) strengthens the Foundation’s reputation as a
philanthropic leader, (c) increases the number of people and institutions
involved in and knowledgeable about an issue and (d) increases the
potential magnitude and sustainability of impact.
One of the most exciting programs developed at the Foundation under
her watch was Match Day, when community members united to raise
funds for area food and shelter agencies.
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, a good friend of the Foundation, called
the organization a partner in strengthening the city. He explained that
by advancing important initiatives, the Foundation provides financial
resources, but its role is so much more. The people, the energy
and the ideas it brings make a huge difference in the outcomes of
these initiatives.
There are numerous examples of what such coinvestments have helped
fund over the years. They allowed Urban Ecology Center to purchase
30 microscopes; supported the Museum of Wisconsin Art’s capital
campaign for its new building in West Bend; supported the food pantry
at the AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin; helped Milwaukee children
attend summer camp; backed UWM’s LGBT Film Festival; supported
Metropolitan Milwaukee Fair Housing Council’s fair lending program to
prevent predatory lending and mortgage rescue scams; and promoted
the Women in Science program at the Medical College of Wisconsin.
More than 1,100 grants have been awarded since the idea of coinvesting
took off.
With Doug Jansson’s retirement, Ohioan Ellen M. Gilligan joined the
Foundation in 2010 as its leader. She previously spent 12 years at the
Greater Cincinnati Foundation where, as vice president of community
investment, she directed and oversaw all of its grantmaking programs
for an eight-county service area. She also served as president and
secretary of The HealthPath Foundation of Ohio, a $21 million
supporting organization of the Greater Cincinnati Foundation.
Experienced in building coalitions and partnerships to address critical
needs and issues including education, neighborhood and community
development, race relations and safety net services, Gilligan eagerly
plunged into the Milwaukee charitable scene. She brought new and
innovative ideas with her to immediately leverage the Foundation’s
charitable assets to address areas of vital concern in the community.
41994: Camps for Kids scholarship program created by the Foundation,
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and a number of youth-serving agencies to
give central city children a chance to attend summer camps
34
The fi st Match Day was held in 2012 as an online event, and a total
of $1.8 million was raised in less than 24 hours by Foundation donors
and the greater Milwaukee community in support of 19 nonprofits.
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, Milwaukee County Executive
Chris Abele and Waukesha County Executive Dan Vrakas
Photo by Jim Moy
41996: Foundation awards fi st $1 million grant (thanks to the Walter
and Olive Stiemke Fund, Halbert and Alice Kadish Fund 1 and Elinor
Gallun Pritzlaff Fund); Milwaukee Art Museum is recipient
Through its leadership and generous support of its donors, the Foundation has helped develop and nurture projects
such as the Mequon Nature Preserve (above), the Urban Education Fellows Program (below left) and the Healthy
Neighborhoods Initiative (below right), among many others. Overall, 30 percent of the total grants made in 2013,
or about $11.9 million, supported health- and human services-related programs. Education was the second-largest
funding area, with nearly 19 percent, or $7.3 million, in grants awarded to education-related projects and programs.
Jeff Monday and Jennifer Morris, Urban Education Fellows Program
4
41996:
1996: Foundation reaches $200 million in assets
41997:
4
1997: Foundation and YMCA of Metropolitan Milwaukee
join together to create Sponsor-A-Scholar mentoring
program for low-income high school students
| 35
A good example of the Foundation’s evolving role in the community is
Milwaukee Succeeds, a communitywide collaboration launched under
Gilligan’s direction, which aims to improve educational outcomes for
every child in Milwaukee. As Barrett said, “[The Greater Milwaukee
Foundation] has unique reach, influence and drive to accomplish this
goal.” Milwaukee Succeeds is an expansive partnership with more than
300 community and educational organizations involved in varying
aspects of the work. With a focus on every child – cradle to career – the
program helps bridge the gaps among different school systems and
provides a holistic perspective on strategies that will make a difference
in the lives of Milwaukee’s children and their families.
Echoing the mayor, Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele noted
that in the 20 years he has lived in Milwaukee, he has watched the
Foundation grow the number of grants it gives and the amount it is
able to give, but, more importantly, he has watched it increase its
professionalism, demand for outcomes and the degree to which it
strategically makes decisions. He pointed out that the Foundation
leadership “is fantastic and getting better” under Gilligan, saying that
she “is great to work with, and her vision is an excellent addition to
our community. I’m looking forward to seeing the impact I know the
Foundation will continue to have for the next 100 years.”
With this support and encouragement, the Greater Milwaukee
Foundation is eagerly moving into its next century, looking forward to
many more years of civic involvement, emphasizing ongoing concern for
its donors, accepting and overcoming challenges and continuing to care
for the area’s citizenry.
MILWAUKEE SUCCEEDS CO-CHAIRS
John Schlifske, Jacqueline Herd-Barber and Mike Lovell
Photo by Jim Moy
36
| 37

Chapter 1 - Greater Milwaukee Foundation

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