The Robert and Dee Leggett Foundation has supported good works in fields such as the environment and conservation, arts and humanities, hunger relief, and higher education.
This range provides us flexibility to focus on timely, strategic donations rather than specific giving categories. Our grants align with our board’s strategic vision, summarized below.
Transformation.
In these projects, Leggett Foundation support has helped organizations expand their capacity to provide services and realize significant institutional or societal change. These transformative gifts help organizations make decisions based on their most imaginative and far-reaching vision. One such gift is the National Trails Fund, which helped American Hiking Society seed an endowed grants program that is now attracting gifts from outdoors people nationwide.
Innovation.
In the early 2000s, the Leggett Foundation was a leading supporter of developing internet-based communication for nonprofit conservation organizations. The grantees were able to launch their online presence by realizing the potential of “new media” as more than merely online brochures. The Foundation provided more than funds, it provided customized media consultation to help grantees re-invent the way they communicate with members and the public.
Enterprise.
The Leggett Foundation has supported and incubated new approaches to problem-solving by helping to launch new organizations and initiatives—or to give them a leg up in a crucial developmental phase. For example, to help increase the level of reasoned, science-based coverage of the environment in media, the Foundation founded and incubated the Blue Ridge Press, a syndicated column service focusing on the environment.
Collaboration.
The Leggett Foundation is drawn to partnership. The largest investment to date, the Blue Ridge Center for Environmental Stewardship, provides a model. The Foundation purchased 900 acres to protect the Appalachian Trail in Loudoun County, Va., then invited and supported partners to study the land’s ecology, history and archaeology. Their findings led to a long-term conservation plan and permanent easement for the land. The Foundation also invested in program development there, creating a place-based learning center where partners can offer programs and conduct research.
Please note that the Leggett Foundation does not accept unsolicited proposals.