All told, Annenberg Challenge projects have funded approximately 2,400 schools in almost 400 school districts in nearly 40 states. More than 1,000 local partners-- including businesses, independent reform groups, and not-for-profit agencies--are currently engaged in the implementation of Challenge reforms. In 1999 alone, Challenge funds have the potential to reach nearly 1.5 million students.

Clearly the Ambassador's bold commitment to public education has stirred up new energy in schools. It also has permeated philanthropic circles, as he intended from the start. At the time of the announcement, he called upon the nation's wealthy to respond in turn: "I do not believe the Annenberg Foundation's $500 million Challenge grant over five years will do the whole job. This must be a challenge to the nation. . . Those who control sizable funds should feel an obligation to join this crusade for the betterment of our country."

To spur such participation, Mr. Annenberg required all his Challenge grants--with the exception of three outright gifts--to raise matching funds locally, mostly on a two-to-one basis. The matching components were designed, in part, to encourage other individuals of means to contribute to the public good. Public schools, the Ambassador hypothesized, would only improve when private citizens and institutions invested in them substantial amounts of time, energy, and money--not just for their own children, but for "other people's" children as well. And by attracting local investment, he also meant to stimulate the civic interest, involvement, and support for public education that would be necessary to sustain reform beyond the five-year life of the Challenge.

To an astonishing degree, Mr. Annenberg's example has inspired others. As of June 30, 1999, nearly 1,300 corporate, foundation, and individual donors had contributed and pledged over $310 million in private matching funds. No fewer than 63 organizations and individuals have made commitments of at least $1 million. Public sources have added over $180 million. The combined sum, over $490 million, represents nearly 80 percent of the total required matching investment.

In some Challenge sites, local financial support has been not only generous but swift. Private citizens, foundations, and corporations in Chattanooga contributed $5 million to match Annenberg's $2.5 million within a matter of weeks. By the time the Detroit project made public its $20 million award in November 1996, it already had raised over $16 million in private matching support--and pledged to raise an additional $20 million to sustain work beyond the end of the Annenberg grant. Within two years, private contributions in Philadelphia were a hair shy of the $50 million target. The Challenge, in short, has kindled new energy in philanthropic circles.

This paper, though, is not meant as a simple tally of new dollars and cents raised for education. Rather, it explores another of the Challenge's original goals: to promote collaboration and innovation among local grantmakers, with the hope of providing opportunities to target private dollars more effectively than ever before. In effect, the Challenge sought to stimulate not just school reform but philanthropic reform as well.

In the San Francisco area, the Challenge's Bay Area School Reform Collaborative (BASRC) offers one such promising example. As the following case study shows, BASRC is helping local grantmakers, in a variety of innovative ways, to realize the benefits of acting cohesively and thinking regionally across a diverse geographic expanse.