Inside Philanthropy

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Crimson Lion Foundation

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OVERVIEW: The Crimson Lion Foundation supports children and youth, health, education, justice, human services and Jewish causes in Boston, Massachusetts.

IP TAKE: CLF tends to give large grants in the millions of dollars to organizations with which family members are personally connected. As a result, this is not as accessible a funder, unless you network with its family members and can get an in. This funder geographically prioritizes organizations based in Massachusetts, so organizations beyond this focus will have a difficult time getting a grant. This funder accepts letters of inquiry and does not invite a lot of contact given its minimal staff. It chooses to who to invite for fuller grant applications. CLF offers multi-year grants and invests in the same grantees each year, but it leaves some room for new grantees.

PROFILE: Established in 2007, the Crimson Lion Foundation (CLF) is a family foundation based in Boston, Massachusetts. This is the foundation of Jonathan and Jeannie Lavine. Jonathan Lavine founded Bain Capital Credit and is the co-managing partner. Jonathan Lavine graduated from Columbia College, and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School. He began his career at Drexel Burnham Lambert in mergers and acquisitions, and also worked at McKinsey & Company as a consultant. In 1993, Lavine joined Bain Capital’s private equity group and in 1997 founded Sankaty Advisors, the credit affiliate of Bain Capital, now named Bain Capital Credit. Lavine is currently the Co-Managing Partner of Bain Capital and Chief Investment Officer of Bain Capital Credit.Jeannie Lavine has worked with The Boston Consulting Group and served on the Board of Dean’s Advisors for the Harvard School of Public Health. The Lavines serve on several boards and have been involves with the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, the Boston Celtics, Horizons for Homeless Children and the Better Angels Society. They are Lexington, Massachusetts residents and have two children. CLF funds local efforts for children and youth, health, education, justice, human services and Jewish causes.

Grants for Higher Education

This funder’s grants for education remain broad and dedicated to issues that interest the family (and with which they are affiliated) rather than a built-out education grantmaking strategy. This is not a major source of public school funding in Massachusetts. Private schools and colleges will find more luck here.

  • Jonathan and Jeannie are longtime supporters of City Year, a national youth service program that addresses the drop out crisis. In the early 1990s, when Lavine was still a Harvard Business School student, he offered to sponsor a City Year volunteer for $18, an amount symbolic in the Jewish faith.
  • Lavine has chaired the National Board of Trustees of the organization since 2013 and in 2012, the couple gave $10 million to City Year to enhance the organization’s systems for corps member recruitment, training, and impact measurement.
  • Apart from City Year, a few years ago the Lavines provided a $5 million grant to the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative (HHI).
  • In 2011, Jonathan Lavine and Gerry Lenfest established a $5 million match for Core Curriculum at Columbia University.
  • They also dedicated the Lavine Family Center for College Affordability at uAspire, which works with students and families to overcome the financial barriers to a college degree.
  • The Lavines, via their foundation, have also supported places like Berklee College of Music and Stand for Children Leadership Center.

Grants for Jewish Causes and Violence Prevention

While not a dominate area of giving, this foundation’s overall approach to giving is informed by Jewish values. Related Jewish giving focuses on Jewish education and culture, as well as on anti-defamation.

Grants for Health

Health grants broadly invest in large institutions that can scale efforts, such as hospitals and universities in Boston. Previous health grantees include the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston Children’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital.

Grants for Human Services, Racial Justice, and Journalism

Guided in part by their Jewish values, this funder invests in human rights and social justice work.

  • The couple has given a $1 million gift to Equal Justice Initiative, a human rights organization that provides representation to indigent defendants and prisoners who have been denied fair and just treatment in America’s legal system.
  • The couple also seems interested in financial literacy and empowerment as a way to alleviate poverty.
  • Grantees have included The Capital Good Fund, Cradles to Crayons, and LIFT, a national nonprofit organization that helps families break the cycle of poverty. Overall, Lavine says that he’s interested in “helping improve systems” with their philanthropy.
  • The Lavines have also supported New Profit, “a nonprofit venture philanthropy fund that invests in social entrepreneurs; Horizons for Homeless Children, an organization in Massachusetts focused on the needs of homeless children and their families; and Brandeis University’s Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism.

Important Grant Details:

Grants tend to range between about $100,000 and $1million. CLF grants are often over $1 million and offer flexible funds to assist grantees in carrying out their charitable purposes.

  • Grantmaking largely focuses on Boston, Massachusetts, but CLF also gives to national organizations on an occasional basis.
  • This foundation accepts unsolicited grant applications from nonprofits.
  • Grantseekers should submit application materials to the foundation by mail.
  • There are no submission deadlines, specific forms to use or restrictions or limitations on awards.
  • Direct general questions to the staff at (617) 933-3600.
  • PEOPLE:

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CONTACT:

Crimson Lion Foundation
31 St. James Ave., Ste. 740
Boston, MA 02116