DISSEMINATION

In 1911, Andrew Carnegie created Carnegie Corporation of New York “to promote the advancement and diffusion of knowledge.” By giving equal weight to both pursuits, Carnegie acknowledged that no idea—no matter how powerful—could bring about change unless it had an audience.

Dissemination has been central to the Corporation's mission from the start. However, beginning in the 1950s, awareness that dissemination is not always effective began to grow. As a staff member noted in 1957, “The problem of dissemination is a familiar one. An excellent piece of research is carried through at a university and no one ever hears of it but a few experts. This may be because the scholar has no urge to communicate the results of his research, or no gift for stating them in clear English, or no grasp of how to go about getting his material published.”

In the current age of electronic information overload, the “problem of dissemination” is even more complicated. Getting the attention of the country’s leadership— be it social, scientific, academic or international—takes focus and targeting. And it means that Carnegie Corporation and its grantees must continue to learn, master and navigate new tools of communication, including audio, visual and interactive.

With this in mind, Vartan Gregorian renewed the Corporation's commitment to promote Andrew Carnegie’s views on the critical importance of the diffusion of knowledge, describing it as “the means to provide everyone with an opportunity to succeed and the pathway by which nations might come to resolve their conflicts peacefully, hearkening toward a new age of ‘universal civilization.’” Carnegie believed that democracy, education, the diffusion of knowledge, and philanthropy are “fundamental tools for strengthening the bonds among all people,” according to Gregorian.

The Corporation's Board of Trustees agreed with President Gregorian, and in 2001 authorized an annual appropriation designated specifically for dissemination.

Over the past seven years, the Dissemination Program has developed successful strategies for amplifying and reinforcing the Corporation’s grantmaking and institutional goals—strategies that are based on careful planning and implemented by collaborative and cooperative working relationships within the Corporation as well as with our sister foundations, institutions of higher learning, NGOs and others. Dissemination goals for fiscal year 2006 are to: amplify major program goals through special initiatives and strategic communications projects ó support capacity-building programs that will advance the work of Corporation grantees ó stimulate, through outreach activities, a broader conversation on the work of other organizations that share Corporation priorities ó encourage and support journalism education reform, and ó build awareness of the critical role journalism plays in sustaining America’s democracy.

Dissemination Awards are organized into six strategic categories:

• Carnegie Forums The Carnegie Forums are occasional midday seminars that bring government, academic, business and philanthropic leaders together to discuss issues of critical importance to society. The first forum, held in fall 2000, focused on the education platforms of presidential candidates Al Gore and George W. Bush. Other Forum discussions have centered on the implications of Census 2000, the promise of digital communications, homeland security, the business of news and campaign finance reform.
  
  
• Strategic Communications Projects Dissemination can make the difference in determining whether particular research or a Corporation-supported publication becomes part of policy conversations in Washington and elsewhere. Awards in this category support efforts to expand and create new audiences for grantee projects and publications as well as to position and coordinate initiatives of the Corporation.
  
  
• Special Initiatives Certain program grants result in new information that informs or updates the knowledge base. In these cases, Dissemination Awards fund large, targeted projects focusing on a single issue or grant. Typically, these initiatives have multiple components that may include a launch, media coverage, public discussions and multimedia products.
  
  
• Technical Assistance The Corporation encourages its grantees to incorporate dissemination strategies into their work and is one of a handful of foundations that provide capacity-building opportunities for communications. Most years, new grantees are brought together for strategic communications workshops in the United States and Africa conducted by leaders in nonprofit communications.
  
  Curricula include communications fundamentals, mission and message development, media readiness training and Web communications. During the workshop, grantees working on similar issues meet to discuss ways they can collaborate on communications. Graduates of the workshop are invited to compete for Web tutoring with an expert in nonprofit Web communications who provides one-on-one counseling on grantees' Web sites. In Africa, workshop graduates join the Carnegie Africa Extranet, an online network for follow-up training and advice that also serves as a forum for sharing ideas and asking questions.
  
  
• Journalism/Media Projects While the Corporation has recently introduced a journalism education initiative, it does not have a journalism or media program per se. It does, however, support small media projects that complement the foundation's mission and objectives.
  
  
• Outreach Initiatives Dissemination Awards also support outside projects and programs that share and advance the Corporation's mission. These selective awards support forums, publications or strategies that reach new audiences.
  
  

The Dissemination Program is part of the Public Affairs office. Dissemination proposals and budgets are carefully considered by a committee that evaluates proposals on substance, strategic objectives and how well the project correlates with Corporation goals.

Dissemination Program Staff
Susan King, Vice President, External Affairs Director, Journalism Initiative, Special Initiatives and Strategy

Ambika Kapur, Program Associate

Links to Dissemination Awards

FY2006

FY2005

FY2004

FY2003