2023 Annual Letter

Happy New Year to all our valued partners and friends!

2023 was a year of progress for the Rauch Family Foundation in our quest to make a positive difference in the lives of vulnerable people. We continued to ask ourselves: what are the greatest needs both at home and far away? What strategies are effective in addressing those needs? What is the role of private philanthropy in funding effective strategies?

In 2023, approximately 60% of our giving was targeted towards the world’s most impoverished people, specifically in the areas of infectious disease, nutrition, and disaster relief. Most of our funding in this area is through large non-profits with expertise in effective programs and the ability to provide oversight. We have found GiveWell to be a wonderful partner who identifies giving opportunities with clear evidence of effectiveness across a wide range of developing nations. We were pleased to continue our support of malaria prevention with The Malaria Consortium, to fund an expansion of vitamin A supplementation by Helen Keller International into Madagascar, and to fund a pilot program with Evidence Action which looks at water chlorination strategies in India.

We were also pleased to further our support of both The Carter Center’s trachoma elimination program in Sudan and the World Food Program’s (WFP) Home-Grown School Feeding Program in Liberia. Supporting one program in a given country year after year is meaningful because we can develop a direct relationship with the people doing the work, but there is risk. Tragically, the war in Sudan suspended the good being done by The Carter Center and we agreed to redirect our gift to South Sudan.

Mothers at the Oluremi Tinubu Public School, Liberia, prepare lunch for students on an eco-stove as part of the WFP Liberia Home-Grown School Feeding Program. Credit: Heather L. Porter, 2023.

We significantly increased our giving in the area of disaster relief this year, contributing relief funds towards eight different domestic and international crises.  We are concerned that some disasters do not make the headline news in California but nevertheless leave people vulnerable.  Our response has been to support Doctors Without Borders (MSF) with unrestricted funds.  Additionally, we made some smaller gifts to organizations that help with disaster preparedness; we are looking for ways to make a greater impact in this area, given that the research shows that prevention is more cost-effective than crisis management.

Our founders, Dudley and Cecilia Rauch, felt privileged to have found financial success. One of their greatest pleasures was to “pay it forward” by gifting and supporting those around them. The RFF dedicated 40% of our funds this past year to the Inland Empire which was their home and is the foundation’s home base, and to the arts and institutions that were important in their lives.

The Inland Empire, composed of San Bernardino County and Riverside County in Southern California, is a vast area with a population of ~4.5 million people.  It lags behind coastal areas in per capita income, education levels, health outcomes, and per capita philanthropic support.  We have found that we can make a difference by providing start-up funds for local programs that will eventually be sustained by federal funding.  We are particularly happy to support the development of a GME residency program for internal medicine with Providence St. Mary, located in the Victor Valley, and two health clinics with plans to transition to Federally Qualified Health Centers.  The clinic at Riverside’s Hulen Place is unique as it is focused solely on the unhoused population and designed to work in conjunction with the street medicine program at UCR and a range of social services located at the same site.  

Our hope for 2024 is to build on this progress, finding ever more effective ways to help.  We wish all of our friends and partners a peaceful and successful new year.  

Warmly, 

Dr. Sam Salen, President
Heather Watkins, Vice President