Welcome to the second issue of Connections, our new e-mail newsletter, and thank you to the many "subscribers" who sent us comments and suggestions for future issues. I am pleased to highlight an introduction to the three Trustees who have shaped the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust since its inception in 1997 - Frank E. Russell, Nancy M. Russell and Carol P. Schatt. From the initial design of the Trust's mission statement, which is based on Mrs. Pulliam's historical charitable interests, to their approval of every grant made by the Trust, which today represents more than $90 million to 554 nonprofit organizations in Arizona and Indiana, they are preserving Nina Mason Pulliam's legacy. The Trustees' responsibilities also include overseeing the endowment originally created from Mrs. Pulliam's holdings in Central Newspapers, Inc., which fuels our grantmaking. As you will see, each Trustee shared a special relationship with Nina Pulliam and their devotion to her Trust reflects this.

In this issue of Connections, we have much good news to report.

Nina Scholars
We are especially pleased to tell you about the nine Nina Scholars who graduated this May from our four participating universities and community colleges. We celebrate their success and will continue to follow their progress, either in their career choices or in their additional college studies. Our four Nina Scholar advisory councils also have been very busy in selecting the fourth cohort of 40 additional Nina Scholars who will start their studies this fall in the Valley of the Sun at Arizona State University and Maricopa Community Colleges or at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis or Ivy Tech State College - Central Indiana.

Listening to Grantees
Earlier this spring, the NMPCT staff and Trustees received the feedback from our participation in a study by the Center for Effective Philanthropy, which surveyed 128 of our year-2002 grantees, in both Arizona and Indiana. Overall, the results were very positive regarding how these grantees perceived the quality of their interactions with the Trust, both before and after the grant was received. Of some surprise was the fact that the majority of the grantee respondents said that they would like to interact more with us after the grant was made, including the grant evaluation phase. We also learned that grantees would appreciate having more communications from us, including a regular newsletter. We hope that Connections is responding to that suggestion! For more information on the Center for Effective Philanthropy and this national research project, please go to www.EffectivePhilanthropy.org. Especially timely is the Center's April 2004 release of "Listening to Grantees: What Nonprofits Value in their Foundation Funders." And, please keep your feedback coming.

Introducing Online Application Process
In our continuing efforts to make it easier for grant seekers to communicate with us, the Trust is now prepared to accept preliminary applications online for our September 15, 2004, deadline.

Environmental Grants
Robert Berger, one of our Arizona grants program managers, provides readers with background information about our interest in receiving more environmentally focused grant proposals.

2nd Round 2004 Grantees
Completing this issue is the list of grants the Trust recently made in Arizona and Indiana. We are pleased to welcome 12 new grantees to the Trust family and celebrate our continued relationship with 33 grantees.