Foundation Grants for Rural Development Research and Education Programs

Private foundations have contributed nearly $8 million to domestic rural development (RD) efforts through research or educational grants during the past nine years (1972-80). The most contributed in any one year was in 1976, nearly $2.5 million. The biggest donor has been the W. K. Kellogg Foundation ($3,392,220), followed by the Ford Foundation ($2,197,500). Washington State University received more assistance from foundations than any other recipient--$2,015,486--for its Kellogg-funded project to expand public services in rural areas. Mississippi Action for Community Education received $1,865,250 from various donors for various projects, principally in the Mississippi Delta. While foundations were helping domestic groups carry out RD research or education (R/E) programs, they were funding foreign projects in the amount of nearly $13 million. The leading donors for foreign projects have been Ford, the Rockefeller Foundation and Kellogg, with Canada, Brazil, Bangladesh, India and Indonesia the countries benefiting most in dollar terms. For comparison purposes, expenditures by the Cooperative Extension Service system totaled approximately $62,744,000 and spending by the Cooperative State Research system was about $15,224,000 for community and rural development in FY 1979.