Mission:
The Annenberg Foundation works to advance the public well being through improved communication. As the principal means of achieving its goal, the foundation encourages the development of more effective ways to share ideas and knowledge. Its primary grantmaking interests are in education, culture, the arts, and community and civic life.

Purpose of Site:
The recently redesigned Annenberg Foundation Web site provides information about the organization and its history; biographical information about its founder, Walter H. Annenberg; and descriptions of other organizations established by Annenberg. The foundation also has a Web site devoted to the Annenberg Challenge, its $500 million initiative to improve public schools in the United States.

Background:
Walter H. Annenberg, who passed away in 2002, was a distinguished publisher, broadcaster, diplomat, and philanthropist. In addition to serving as editor and publisher of the Philadelphia Inquirer, he established Seventeen Magazine for teenage girls in 1944 and created TV Guide in 1953. His media company, Triangle Publications operated several radio stations and was a pioneer in the television industry. Annenberg, who also served as a U.S. ambassador to Great Britain, founded the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania in 1958 and the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California in 1971. The Annenberg Foundation was established in 1989 as the successor to the communication school in Pennsylvania. Annenberg and his foundation are also known for the historic Annenberg Challenge, a $500 million initiative to improve public education, and for significant support of educational programming in partnership with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Home Page:
The Annenberg home page welcomes visitors with the foundation's mission and a picture of Walter H. Annenberg. From the main page, Web users can choose from one of two options: to visit the main Web site of the foundation to read about its mission, grants, founder, history, and related organizations, or to go to the Lessons and Reflections site that features extensive information on the Annenberg Challenge.

Outstanding Feature:
In late 1993, Walter H. Annenberg pledged $500 million for public education reform if others would match that amount. In June 2002, the foundation released the final results of the initiative, which reached 2,400 public schools. Visitors to the Lessons and Reflections site can read an overview of the Challenge, order copies of the final report, and read remarks from the press conference that unveiled the publication. In addition, the site provides details of the Challenge's progress through the years, publications and fact sheets from schools involved, and articles and papers on education reform.

Honorable Mention:
On the foundation's main site, the Grant Application and Samples section offers grantseekers comprehensive information on the organization's funding policies, including application guidelines, funding restrictions, what should be included in a letter of inquiry and proposal to the foundation, and a series of sample grants.