The American Foundation: About Us: Charitable Giving

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Charitable Giving

Charitable Giving The American Family of Foundations supports a wide variety of charitable organizations.

Photo provided by the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra.

The American Foundation is also a grantmaking foundation. In addition to grants for specific charitable projects, we give grants to charities to assist in their efforts to establish better governance and organizational structure, and to improve their operations and human resources.

Governance and Organizational Structure

We believe the control and direction of charities and foundations most appropriately belong in the hands of those who make it happen. We have developed organizational structures that secure and preserve greater direction in the hands of donors who fund foundations and visionaries who create charities. This structure can also ensure that future leaders are those who demonstrate a loyalty to the organization's original vision and mission. Processes can be established that also ensure greater direction and cooperation among governing bodies, while eliminating many problems that often accompany the "Board of Directors" or "Multiple Trustee" style of governance.

Operations

Most charities operate with hand-me-down equipment and facilities. We make grants to selected charities for the specific task of improving their equipment and facilities. When charities are able to make use of sophisticated, modern business technology, they increase their chances of success. As it is, many charities go out of business because they can't compete with more competent and efficiently-run operations.

Also, incompetent and inefficient operations do not attract donations from the general public. No one likes to give money to a charity when there is a high risk of the charity losing the money through mismanagement, excessive overhead, or inadequate facilities and equipment.

In our efforts to help charities in their operations, we are also developing programs that provide skills training to charity staffs and volunteers. For example, we will provide grants or direct assistance and training to charities in business management, computer use, marketing techniques, and other areas that will help them be more efficient and effective.

Human Resources

The success of any operation is directly related to the skills of its personnel. We provide grants to charities to improve their human resources. We promote, persuade, and give financial assistance to charities to employ more competent individuals to carry out their programs. Higher-quality personnel working for charities will result in more successful charities. We help charities in their efforts to locate the best talent available to implement their programs.

Who has received grants from the American Foundation

4518 North 32nd Street, Phoenix, AZ 85018
Telephone: (602) 955-4770 Fax: (602) 955-4707
E-mail: info@americanfoundation.org
Tech Support: karen@americanfoundation.org