Current Perspective on Grant Inquiries - January 2012

Our Board of Directors continues to follow a “no new net grants” policy. Under this policy, new grants will be made only as existing grants are transitioned from our portfolio and our financial resources permit.

Our Board recently approved a consolidation of our Education and Public Health focus areas. We expect to announce these changes on our website in the near future and we will include descriptions of the new focus areas in our 2011 Annual Report, which we expect to issue in May of 2012. This consolidation will likely result in the transition of some grantees from our portfolio over time, but we do not expect a significant number of transitions, if any, to occur during 2012.

Thus, our "no new net grants" policy in combination with volatile and uncertain investment markets will make us highly selective in our consideration of new inquiries for the foreseeable future.