THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, August 2, 1994 TAG: 9408030604
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Long : 107 lines
Virginia has proved fertile ground for foundations - the tax-free places to park money and distribute it to causes - with 846 private foundations controlling more than $2 billion calling the state home.
By far, the majority of Virginia's foundations are independent entities, not corporate-sponsored, according to ``Virginia Giving,'' the directory published by Capital Consortium Inc. of Raleigh.
Among the 10 Virginia foundations that distributed the most money to charities in 1992, just two are company vehicles. The others are independent family or community foundations.
In 1935, newspaperman Frank E. Gannett created what is now the largest charitable pot in the state, Freedom Forum International of Arlington, according to the directory. It is separate from his media company, Gannett Co., which owns USA Today and other newspapers.
Gannett originally endowed his foundation with 1,500 shares of stock. In 1992, the foundation distributed hundreds of grants totaling more than $20 million to groups ranging from the Freedom Forum Newseum museum ($4 million) to the National Football League Alumni ($8,800 for the NFL Alumni Player of the Year dinner).
Freedom Forum had fiscal 1992 assets of $698.5 million.
The directory lists the W. Alton Jones Foundation in Charlottesville as the state's second-largest foundation with $215.6 million in fiscal 1992 assets. It was created in New York and came to Virginia when its namesake moved to be near his daughter, who had married a University of Virginia plastic surgeon.
Jones had a hugely successful oil business that eventually became part of Citgo. He financed the foundation as his business grew and he left the bulk of his estate to it.
The foundation gives money to groups that are trying to clean up sites around Department of Energy nuclear weapons production complexes, said Brian Wheeler, grant manager at the foundation. It also is ``supporting groups that are protecting and working with whistle-blowers at these facilities,'' he said.
Mobil Foundation and Norfolk Southern Foundation, two company-sponsored foundations, follow Freedom Forum and Jones in how much money they give away with grants of $12.4 million and $3.77 million respectively.
There are obvious reasons why corporations have foundations - contributing to the society that helps them prosper, giving something back to the community and spreading goodwill toward the company name.
The reasons private citizens create foundations are more complex and involve tax benefits. But rules and paperwork accompany those benefits.
``I think there's some nice business and public-relations reasons (behind why) corporations and even wealthy individuals like to set up their own private foundations,'' said Charles F. Phillips III, director of the tax division at Arthur Andersen & Co. accounting firm in Richmond.
Frederic S. Bocock, vice chairman of Scott & Stringfellow Inc. investment brokerage in Richmond, started a foundation with his wife about 15 years ago, the Frederic Scott Bocock and Roberta Bryan Bocock Trust.
``It's just a convenience,'' Bocock said. ``As you know, people like us get an enormous amount of requests every year. We try to give to as many as we can.''
They donate shares of appreciated stock to the foundation each year, thereby saving the taxes they otherwise would pay on the stock gains, and also netting a tax deduction for their own tax return.
The system does ``help make the money go a little further,'' Bocock said.
Bocock is a trustee for two other family foundations, a memorial trust named for his parents and a foundation his sister started.
The grants generally are awarded ``when our friends ask us for money,'' Bocock said. ``(When) a good friend is working on the Sheltering Arms (Hospital) or something, when they ask you for money, you can't say no.'' ILLUSTRATION: Graphics
INDEPENDENT GROUPS
The 10 biggest independent Virginia foundations, ranked in the
``Virginia Giving'' directory by fiscal 1992 assets in millions:
Rank/Name Assets
1. Freedom Forum International 698.5
2. W. Alton Jones Foundation 215.6
3. Massey Foundation 40.0
4. Richard S. Reynolds Foundation 38.4
5. Bryant Foundation 29.5
6. Frederick Foundation 28.0
7. Robert G. and Maude Morgan Cabell III Foundation 27.7
8. Kentland Foundation 27.0
9. Cecil and Irene Hylton Foundation 24.7
10. Beazley Foundation 23.6
CORPORATIONS
The 10 biggest corporate foundations in Virginia, ranked in
``Virginia Giving'' directory by total of grants awarded in fiscal
1992:
Rank/Name Awards
1. Mobil Foundation 12,490,963
2. Norfolk Southern Foundation 3,774,806
3. Reynolds Metals Co. Foundation 1,230,348
4. Circuit City Foundation 1,038,912
5. Central Fidelity Banks Foundation 877,131
6. Landmark Foundation 855,142
7. Freddie Mac Foundation 791,490
8. Mars Foundation 770,500
9. Crestar Foundation 711,540
10. Chesapeake Corp. Foundation 661,620
by CNB