2007 was a good year for the Foundation’s work.  Grant funding in 2007 increased to $1,415,000, and we made a total of 58 grants in eight states.  Funding in the Pacific Northwest (Washington, Oregon, and Idaho) increased by 3%, Alaska funding increased by 9%, and funding in the Rocky Mountain region decreased by 7%.  Grants in Florida remained at 4%.  Support for formally organized Collaborative Campaigns increased slightly from 13.8% to 14.5% of our grantmaking, and included new funding for the Our Ocean Campaign, as well as ongoing support for the Rocky Mountain Energy Campaign and the Recreation Planning Program associated with the Denver office of The Wilderness Society.  The value of the Foundation’s assets at year end was $38,127,000.  Investment and charitable administrative expenses (excluding excise taxes) for the year were $547,000.

The year 2008 marks the near completion of a four-year transition at The Harder Foundation.  The transition process began with a board-driven re-evaluation of our mission and program objectives, followed by a thorough search and selection process for an executive director.  Kay Treakle joined the Harder Foundation as Executive Director in January 2006. For the last two years, she has assisted the board in fine tuning the objectives and strategies of our Focused Funding Areas, re-evaluating long-standing Organized Collaborative Campaigns, developing priorities for funding, and traveling to meet grantees across our grant-making region.  This process has resulted in changes to some of our support for projects and campaigns.

At the same time, she has worked to increase the efficiency of our administrative operations, and to bring greater clarity to our grantmaking guidelines and procedures.  We are hopeful that these changes will enable us to focus more on our program goals, and to support our grantees more effectively in their critical work.

Kay is responsible for grantmaking programs in all of our Focused Funding Areas in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Colorado, Wyoming and Montana, with the exception of Off-Road Vehicle Recreation on Public Lands.

I have continued to work with environmental non-profit groups in Alaska and a west-wide off-road vehicle management campaign for public lands.

Recognizing the limited size of our staff, and consistent with the goal of increased program effectiveness, we have decided to implement a "by invitation only" application process in 2008. We expect that this approach will improve our services to grantees, and increase staff time to focus on important program work, without excluding worthy new grantees from possible support.  Regular grantees will continue to be evaluated for their effectiveness and fit with Foundation priorities and strategies, in order to qualify for further funding.  The new application process should ensure that there will be opportunities for capable environmental non-profit groups, working in our geographic and program areas, to receive consideration for possible funding.

Del Langbauer
President
The Harder Foundation

March 10, 2008