"We decided on this reorganisation after a year of planning in which the driving question was `How can we have greater impact as a philanthropy?'" said DeVita. "It became clear that by pooling our resources and aligning ourselves around the outcomes the two funds have been working toward individually, we could sharpen our focus, make more strategic investments and produce greater value for society." Over the past decade, the two foundations together made grants totaling $745 million.

The Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund supported the arts and literacy projects while the DeWitt Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund concentrated onraising the level of career development and education programmes for low-income youth. The new foundation will focus on the areas of education, arts, and community.