Mission:
To be a catalytic funder of work to protect and enhance the quality of life within the means of nature.

Purpose of Site:
The Columbia Foundation's Web site provides information about the organization, its history, staff, and board of directors. It also features a list of grants made by the organization and includes guidelines for grantseekers.

Background:
Madeleine Haas Russell, a great-grandniece of Levi Strauss, along with her brother, William Haas, founded the Columbia Foundation in 1940. After the death of William in 1943, Madeleine led the foundation until she passed away in 1999. The three Russell children, Alice Russell-Shapiro, Charles P. Russell, and Christine H. Russell, have served on the board since 1977.

The foundation awards grants to enhance the quality of life through the arts, advance human rights, and create sustainable communities and economies. Its strategies include approaching grantmaking with a long-term perspective, engaging in partnerships that lead to systematic change, taking risks on new programs and ideas, consulting with community leaders about the best use of grant funds, and providing opportunities for feedback from the public.

Home Page:
The foundation introduces itself on its home page with a welcome message for visitors, deadlines for various program areas, and a link to a feedback form about the foundation and its site. Across the top of the page are links to the foundation's main program areas of Arts and Culture, Human Rights, and Sustainable Communities and Economies. A toolbar on the left side has links to the following sections of the site: About Columbia Foundation, Program Guidelines, Grants List, Application Form and Instructions, Reporting Requirements, and Search This Site.

Outstanding Feature:
Grantseekers can visit the site to access detailed instructions about requesting funding from the foundation. In addition to the clear Program Guidelines, the site's Application Form and Instructions page provides links to deadline information, an application form in HTML and PDF formats, detailed application instructions, and an application checklist.

Honorable Mention:
The Grants List on the site includes the $3.15 million in grants awarded by the foundation between June 1, 2001, and May 31, 2002. The grants are organized into the categories of Arts and Culture, Human Rights, Sustainable Communities and Economies, Foundation Initiated Grants, Philanthropy and Nonprofit Sector, and General Support Contributions of $5,000 or Less.