The Public Welfare Foundation distributes grants to organizations it believes it can contribute to reform. It has distributed more than $540 million in aid to 4,700 organizations. In 2013, it had total assets of $488.2 million and total giving of $20.2 million. Its average grant size is $148,324. These grants are awarded for both general and project support, but not for individuals, direct services, international projects, or endowment campaigns.

History

The foundation was overseen by Charles E. Marsh until 1953. His wife oversaw it from 1952 to 1974. It owned the ''

Spartanburg Herald-Journal The ''Spartanburg Herald-Journal'' is a daily newspaper, the primary newspaper for Spartanburg, South Carolina, United States. History The origins of the paper lie with ''The Spartan'', a weekly paper reportedly first printed in about 1842� ...

'', ''

The Tuscaloosa News The '' Tuscaloosa News '' is a daily newspaper serving Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States, and the surrounding area in west central Alabama. In 2012, Halifax Media Group acquired the ''Tuscaloosa News''. Prior to that, the paper's owner was Th ...

'', and ''

The Gadsden Times '' The Gadsden Times '' is a daily newspaper serving Gadsden, Alabama, and the surrounding area in northeastern Alabama. The Times was owned by Halifax Media Group. Before that, the newspaper was a member of the New York Times Regional Media Gr ...

''. However, a 1969 federal tax law required non-profits to sell newspaper holdings, so the foundation had to sell these papers to ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' in 1985. In 2011, it added a special initiative to fund civil legal aid for the poor.

Activities

The Public Welfare Foundation gives grants to three main focus areas: criminal justice, juvenile justice, and worker's rights. Its criminal justice program supports groups to end over-incarceration of adult offenders while also reducing racial disparities among the offenders. Grantees fitting under this scope include the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation and the

Drug Policy Alliance The Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) is a New York City–based nonprofit organization that seeks to advance policies that “reduce the harms of both drug use and drug prohibition, and to promote the sovereignty of individuals over their minds and b ...

. Its juvenile justice program supports groups to end the sentencing of youth in the adult criminal justice system, expand the use of community-based programs for youth, promote fair and equitable treatment of youth of color, and support advancing state policies that restrict the use of incarceration by the juvenile justice system. Grantees that fit under this scope include the Campaign for Youth Justice and the Coalition for Juvenile Justice. Its Workers' Rights program aims to improve the lives of low-wage working people. It seeks to advance reforms to prevent severe illness, injury, and death on the job, advance worker's rights in complex employment arrangements, and to hold employers accountable for

wage theft Wage theft is the failing to pay wages or provide employee benefits owed to an employee by contract or law. It can be conducted by employers in various ways, among them failing to pay overtime; violating minimum-wage laws; the misclassification ...

. Grantees fitting under this scope include the

Economic Policy Institute The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit American, left-leaning think tank based in Washington, D.C., that carries out economic research and analyzes the economic impact of policies and proposals. Affiliated with the labor m ...

References

{{reflist Organizations established in 1947 Foundations based in Washington, D.C.