Our publications’ content serves as the backbone of our communications program.

As with most organizations, our publications are the “backbone” of our communications program. Our newsletter, Portfolio, is produced several times a year and provides up-to-date information and stories about our grantees, as well as a standing “How To Apply” section and a grants listing. We also publish an annual report that provides an overview of the year’s activities and an in-depth, journalistically written cover story that explores topics relevant to our work.

All of our target audiences are included in our readership, but we often repackage or expand upon the information, when appropriate, to more specifically target one audience or another. A good example is a story that appeared in Portfolio in January 1999 about Organización en California de Lideres Campesinas, a grantee that educates farm workers about the dangers of pesticides. When the state of California commemorated its first Cesar Chavez holiday in March 2001, we updated and repackaged the story for English- and Spanish-language news media. Because of its timeliness, the story received tremendous coverage for the grantee and the health problems associated with pesticides among farm workers.

Another Foundation publication is our Reflections series, which has no standard schedule but is published as topics arise that are appropriate to share with one or more of our audiences. The mailing list for each Reflections piece is different, depending on the topic. In most cases, we are primarily concerned with sharing lessons learned with other foundations, but grantees, policymakers and government agencies may also receive issues within the series.