Increasingly in the past few years the Foundation has joined with other philanthropic organizations to improve the efficiency and accountability of the nonprofit sector and to increase public understanding of its role in American life. Actions this year included support for coalitions of national, regional, and state philanthropies, such as the Council on Foundations, the New York Regional Association of Grantmakers, and the Council of Michigan Foundations.

The Council on Foundations received funds for a program to increase overseas grant making by corporate and foundation donors, and for a study of the fiscal policies and practices of some 2,000 private foundations. Support also went to Independent Sector, an association of some 600 national voluntary and grant making organizations, for workshops to explore cooperative purchasing by nonprofit organizations to reduce operating costs. Yale University received a $50,000 supplement for research on the nonprofit sector.

A two-year grant of $2.5 million went to the Fund for the City of New York, which the Foundation established in 1968 to help improve the efficiency of municipal agencies and the quality of city life. Among the fund's activities are awards for outstanding civil servants; loans to nonprofit groups managing city services under contract while they wait for government payment; and cash advances (later reimbursed) for emergency repairs in privately managed, city-owned buildings occupied by the poor.