Bell Atlantic Foundation Cited for Excellence in Communications

Bell Atlantic Foundation Cited for Excellence in Communications

Internet Web Site Wins Gold Award from Council on Foundations

April 23, 1998

NEW YORK - The Bell Atlantic Foundation's Web site,
bellatlanticfoundation.com, is the winner of a Gold Award for
excellence in communications in the 1998 Wilmer Shields Rich Awards
program

The program promotes effective communications and increased public
accountability among foundations and corporate donors. It is
sponsored by the Council on Foundations and the Communications Network
in Philanthropy.

The Bell Atlantic Foundation Web site provides an array of information
on the Foundation and recent grant recipients, allows organizations
and individuals to communicate directly with Foundation officials via
interactive e-mail and enables them to apply for grants online.

"In the ever evolving, fast-paced world of telecommunications, the
Internet allows us to communicate the most current data available to
the widest audience possible, while increasing our ability to
establish one-on-one dialogue with the non-profit community," said
Ivan Seidenberg, Bell Atlantic's vice chairman, president and chief
operating officer, as well as chairman of the Bell Atlantic
Foundation.

Suzanne DuBose, president of the Bell Atlantic Foundation, will accept
the award April 28 during the Council on Foundations annual conference
in Washington, D.C. "It's very gratifying to be recognized by your
peers and by distinguished communications professionals," DuBose said.

"We are definitely pushing the cyber-edge with our Web site -- using
technology to enhance relations with the non-profit community through
two-way communication, while prompting educational institutions and
other non-profit organizations to see the benefits of using the
Internet," she said. "The feedback has been tremendous from nonprofit
organizations, large and small, from throughout the Northeast and
mid-Atlantic states, the country and the world."

A panel of 90 judges - including communications experts, writers,
journalists, publications designers and public relations professionals
from across the country selected award winners in five categories.
The judges rated efforts based on clarity of writing, design, overall
concept and effectiveness.

"Excellence in communications is vital to helping people understand
the many ways that foundations and corporate giving programs affect
our lives," said Council on Foundations President Dorothy S. Ridings.
"The Wilmer Shields Rich Award attests to the Bell Atlantic
Foundation's commitment to education, accountability and more
effective philanthropy."

The awards program is named for Wilmer Shields Rich who guided the
creation of the Council on Foundations and was its first executive
director. Throughout her life, she exhorted foundation executives and
trustees to communicate more openly about the resources and activities
of their philanthropies.

The Bell Atlantic Foundation supports a variety of projects
domestically and internationally, with an emphasis on new technology
applications in education, health and human services, the arts and
humanities, and civic development in the communities served by Bell
Atlantic. For more information, visit www.bellatlanticfoundation.com
on the Internet.

Bell Atlantic is at the forefront of the new communications and
information industry. With 41.4 million telephone access lines and
6.7 million wireless customers worldwide, Bell Atlantic companies are
premier providers of advanced wireline voice and data services, market
leaders in wireless services and the world's largest publishers of
directory information. Bell Atlantic companies are also among the
world's largest investors in high-growth global communications
markets, with operations and investments in 22 countries.