~ Welcome to The L.J. Skaggs and Mary C. Skaggs Foundation Web site.  I hope you find the contents informative and enjoyable to read.  We update the Website in April and November of each year and wish to incorporate suggestions to make the site more "user friendly" and of service to the philanthropic community, our grantees and applicants for grants. Please contact us with any comments and observations you may have.

 ~ For 2003 funding the Foundation Board of Directors has awarded 47 grants for a total of $900,000.00.  Thirty-two of these grants are previously committed multi year grants or additional grants to current projects being supported by the Foundation. A complete list of the 2003 grants can be found on this site.  In addition, the Board authorized $100,000.00 for discretionary grants during the year 2003.  Discretionary grants are made upon the recommendation of the Foundation Directors.

 ~ I have been asked how many requests a small family foundation such as ours with a very narrow focus for grants process during the year.  Some statistics for the 2003 grant season may be interesting.  We received a total of 382 contacts by phone, e-mail, fax and letter. Of these, 117 were deemed to be within the interests of the Foundation and files were opened for analysis and review and recommendation to the Directors as to action.  For 2003, there are 15 new grantees and 8 files are being held over for consideration for the possibility of a 2004 grant.  The grant amounts awarded ranged from $2,500.00 to $125,000.00. 

 ~ One of the Foundation traditions which I most enjoy is the selection of the "Offbeat" Grant of the Year Award. The award is made by the Directors at the conclusion of the November meeting awarding grants and is for an unusual grant that is out of the mainstream grant funding normally expected from foundations.  For 2003, the Directors selected the University of Iowa for their development of a documentary video, The Devil's Rope that traces the development of a truly original American invention — barbed wire — from a technology of animal control, to one of human control, from the colorful western frontier, to the trenches and death camps of Europe.  The grant is described in the section of this Website relating to our Offbeat grants and I invite you to read the details of the grant, as well as details of Offbeat grants from previous years.

 ~ The Foundation's investment portfolio fell considerably in 2002, by reason of the stock market actions.  The Directors, with the help of our financial consultants, recast the 2003 and 2004 grants budget to take into account revised anticipated returns from the investment portfolio.  The Directors are now scheduled to meet in the Summer of 2004 for a review and examination of the status of the Foundation, and its financial resources, and to adopt a five-year plan (2005 through 2009) for the Foundation.  

Mary C. Skaggs
November 15, 2002