’11 giving by Walton Foundation ranks No. 8

— The Walton Family Foundation ranked No. 8 in the nation in total giving in 2011, a ranking arrived at on the basis of tax forms filed Thursday and on figures from The Foundation Center, which touts itself as the leading source for information on philanthropic giving worldwide.

The Bentonville-based foundation paid $488 million in contributions, gifts and grants in 2011, according to its filing with the Internal Revenue Service.

That’s a drop of $1 billion from 2010, when the foundation gave out $1.48 billion in grants and ranked No. 2 nationally in giving. Of that amount, $1.2 billion went to one entity — Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville.

For the museum, 2010 was a year of construction and acquisition.

Opened Nov. 11, 2011, Crystal Bridges was made possible by Alice Walton, daughter of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. founder Sam Walton. During its first year, the museum attracted about 600,000 visitors, which is twice the number officials had predicted.

Buddy D. Philpot, executive director of the Walton Family Foundation, said the 2010 grants to Crystal Bridges were “beyond our typical grantmaking in our home region.”

“Our 2010 investments certainly reflect the extraordinary opportunity to lay a foundation for a cultural amenity in Northwest Arkansas that will benefit generations to come,” he said.

The Walton Family Foundation gave grants to the museum in other years, but they were small compared with the 2010 contributions. The foundation gave the museum $50 million in 2009 and $357,000 in 2011, according to its website, waltonfamilyfoundation.org.

The hefty grants to the museum vaulted the foundation from No. 6 in 2009 to No. 2 in 2010 in total giving, according to The Foundation Center, which is based in New York City. The Walton Family Foundation gave $360 million in grants in 2009.

FOUNDATION HISTORY

Sam Walton started the Walton Family Foundation in 1987. When he died in 1992, Sam Walton left the foundation $172 million through a trust. The family foundation has grown through the years and held $1.7 billion in assets as of Dec. 31, 2011, according to the tax filing.

The foundation was the primary vehicle for giving for Sam and Helen Walton and their children: Alice, John, Jim and Rob.

Helen Walton died in 2007 and John Walton in 2005. The three surviving children and John Walton’s widow, Christy Walton, are among the 10-richest people in the United States, according to Forbes magazine. Their combined assets came to $107.1 billion among the 400-richest Americans on the list the magazine released Sept. 19.

The Walton Family Foundation has been in the top 30 nationally in total giving every year since 2003, when it gave out $107 million in grants. But the foundation didn’t break into the top 10 until 2009.

Since 2003, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation of Seattle has been No. 1 in total giving each year. The Gates Foundation’s total giving has increased from $1.18 billion in 2003 to $2.49 billion in 2010. The Foundation Center doesn’t list 2011 numbers for the Gates Foundation.

The Walton Family Foundation awarded grants in 2011 with a total value of $501 million. That number includes $13 million in program-related investments, which The Foundation Center doesn’t include in its totals. The Foundation Center uses Line 25 from the 990-PF tax form, which lists only contributions, gifts and grants paid that year.

Of the Walton Family Foundation’s 2011 grants, $159 million went for K-12 education changes, $71.4 million to freshwater and marine conservation, $21.5 million for “quality-of-life initiatives” in Arkansas and neighboring states, and $247.2 million for special initiatives. Among the special initiatives was $209.2 million to the Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation, which primarily supports higher education, Philpot said.

The charitable support foundation made two historic gifts to the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville: $50 million to UA’s business college in 1998 and $300 million to the university in 2002. The second gift was the single-largest ever made to an American public university and the fifth-largest to any university, public or private. The charitable support foundation had $186 million in total assets at the end of 2010.

Among the Walton Family Foundation’s quality-of-life initiatives, $8.3 million went for Arkansas education changes, $7.8 million was given to Northwest Arkansas and $5.4 million went to the Delta region of Arkansas and Mississippi.

“Our core strategy is to infuse competitive pressure into America’s K-12 education system by increasing the quantity and quality of school choices available to parents, especially in low-income communities,” according to the Walton Family Foundation’s website.

‘FOLKS BACK HOME’

Scott Smith said the foundation is succeeding in increasing the quantity and quality of school choices in Arkansas. He’s executive director of the Arkansas Public School Resource Center, which assists small schools and charter schools.

The foundation is “very helpful to the folks back home in the resources that are being provided to public schools,” said Smith.

The foundation was instrumental in getting the resource center started in 2008 with $4.3 million in grants that are being staggered out over several years, Smith said. The resource center received $986,558 from the foundation last year and $1.2 million this year, he said.

With increased accountability on public schools, there were many unfunded mandates, and those were particularly difficult for small schools, Smith said.

“The more students you have, the more synergy you get from the funding formula,” he said, referring to a state per-student funding formula, which is currently $6,144 annually. “Especially for smaller schools, there were a lack of resources.”

The Walton Family Foundation has provided more than $10 million in grants to GreatSchools, which provides parents and prospective students with profiles of more than 200,000 schools and more than 1 million school reviews and ratings.

“We help parents learn about their school options,” said Bill Jackson, chief executive of GreatSchools, which is based in San Francisco.

Jackson said GreatSchools began in California and has branched out nationwide, thanks to the Walton Family Foundation.

“They make us possible,” he said of the foundation. “They’ve invested nearly $10.2 million in our organization in the last five years.”

Jackson said the foundation helped GreatSchools focus on an achievable mission.

“We had these grandiose visions that were a little too grandiose,” he said. “Our eyes were bigger than our stomach. They’re helpful at the strategic level. ... They don’t try to dictate exactly how you do the work, but they provide support and advice to enable the organization to reach its goals.”

OTHER WORK

Robin Barnes, executive vice president for Greater New Orleans Inc., said the Walton Family Foundation has been instrumental in helping bridge the perceived divide between economic development and protecting the environment. Greater New Orleans Inc. is a 10-parish economic-development alliance that works for restoration of the Gulf Coast.

“I think what Walton has done is move us beyond that place where we used to butt heads and make us realize we have a lot more in common regarding the sustainablility of our region, the state and the country,” she said. “By rebuilding wetlands and further protecting the coast, we’re also protecting the energy infrastructure, fisheries and other valuable assets on the Gulf Coast.”

The Walton Family Foundation also is helping build trails in Northwest Arkansas. The foundation gave $1 million last year to help build a section of the Razorback Greenway between Lake Fayetteville and Rogers. The Walton money will serve as a match for a $15 million federal grant, said John McClarty, transportation study director at the Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission.

McClarty said the foundation and federal funds will mean that the trail will be completed at the end of 2013 instead of five to eight years later.

Front Section, Pages 1 on 11/18/2012

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