Influence of Annenberg's Foundation may be dwindling

In 2007, Leonore Annenberg received the Philadelphia Award, the city’s highest civic honor. But following the matriarch’s death last week – the Annenberg Foundation’s impact on the area may be on the wane.

In 2007, Leonore Annenberg received the Philadelphia Award, the city’s highest civic honor. But following the matriarch’s death last week – the Annenberg Foundation’s impact on the area may be on the wane. From WHYY’s Arts and Culture Desk, Alex Schmidt reports.
Caption: The Honorable Leonore Annenberg
Transcript:
With Walter Annenberg’s children in Los Angeles, Annenberg Foundation giving began migrating west when the patriarch died. With Leonore Annenberg’s death, the foundation’s headquarters in Radnor, Pennsylvania, will move permanently to Los Angeles. Dana Kraft, a Vice President at the Council on Foundations, said it wouldn’t be unusual if most of the giving moved there permanently.

Kraft: “Family foundations give in the areas the family members live. Independent foundations generally have their genesis from the sale of a business of some kind and so it is very natural for them to give geographically in the area where they live, work and have interest and ties.”

Of the 111 grants made by the foundation in 2009, two went to Philadelphia nonprofits: the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

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[audio: arts20090316annenberg.mp3]