OVERVIEW: The Bernard and Anne Spitzer Charitable Trust awards grants to organizations fighting for human rights, arts and culture, education, and Jewish causes in the United States and around the world. It also supports environmental conservation organizations.
IP TAKE: While the Spitzer Charitable Trust is sizable in terms of assets, it maintains a low public profile, does not operate a website and employs just one formal staff member. This funder tends to award unrestricted general operating cost grants rather than project specific grants. It is not completely accessible or responsive, but this is likely because it has just one formal staff member. According to tax filings, the Trust takes a proactive funding approach and does not accept unsolicited letters of inquiry. This might be a low-profile funder, but it makes big grants to established organizations that are well-known and can scale. Getting through the door here will require deep networking, but patience could pay off if your organization is well-known enough and able to provide proof of past success.
PROFILE: Established in 2001, the Bernard and Anne Spitzer Charitable Trust seeks to “support advocacy for social change that promotes human dignity and contributes to a more just, democratic, and environmentally sustainable world.” Bernard Spitzer, who passed away in 2014, was known as a prominent New York City real estate developer and philanthropist. Bernard Spitzer left left $250 million to the Trust, dramatically increasing its then then $40 million in assets prior to his death. The following year, his son Eliot Spitzer, former Governor of New York, was tasked with directing the execution of Bernard Spitzer’s will and further increased the Trust’s assets by placing significant property holdings into the Trust as well. Sara Kay now serves as CEO of the Trust. She was previously a Senior Fellow at Planned Parenthood Federation of America, as well as a head of advocacy and equity at Atlantic Philanthropies.
Tax filings indicate that the Trust makes grants in a wide range of focus areas that include human rights, arts and culture, education, and Jewish causes. The foundation also awards environmental conservation grants on a smaller scale.
Grants for Human Rights, Criminal Justice and Democracy
Tax filings suggest that the Spitzer Charitable Trust prioritizes makes grants for projects and research that support public policy, immigrant rights, democracy, and legal services.
- Past grantees in this space include the Global Justice Center, which received a grant to support general operating costs; and Physicians for Human Rights, which also received a grant to support general operating costs.
- The ACLU is another repeat grantee that has received grants for a variety of legal advocacy projects.
- Other past grantees include the Brennan Center for Justice, as well as the Alliance for Justice (AFJ), the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy (ACS) , and the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP). Also in 2018, the Trust funded several immigration organizations and projects, including $600,000 to the Immigrant Justice Corps, $600,000 to the National Immigration Law Center (NILC), and $750,000 to the Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC). The Trust has continued this grantmaking through 2024.
- This funder has also made grants to the Hopewell Fund, the Proteus Fund, the Center for American Progress (CAP), and over $1 million to NEO Philanthropy.
Grants for Environmental Conservation and Climate
While the Spitzer Foundation does not have a stated interest in environmental grantmaking, it has supported major environmental nonprofits in the past, as well as organizations working in renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, and climate change. Many of its environmental grantees appear on 990s each year, but new outfits also break through on occasion.
- Past grantees include the World Wildlife Foundation and Earthwatch Institute. Both organizations received funding to support general operating costs.
- It has also given over $2 million to Clean Air Task Force in 2023 and another $1.2 million to Climateworks Foundation.
- Other grantees include San Francisco Estuary Institute and Energy Options Network, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, the Environmental Defense Fund and the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) for the purpose of “climate change adaptation in federal policy” towards coastal communities and nature-based solutions.
Grants for Jewish Causes
Through its recent grantmaking, the Spitzer Foundation has demonstrated a strong interest in supporting Jewish causes in the U.S.
- In New York City, the foundation has supported the Museum of Jewish Heritage Holocaust Memorial; Tomche Shabbos, which focuses on hunger; and Chai Lifeline, which supports Jewish children with chronic illnesses and their families.
- Elsewhere, the foundation has given to the Jewish Community Center of Rockland County, the Yeshiva Ktana of Passaic and MAZON, a national Jewish organization that aims to end hunger for people of all faiths.
Grants for Arts and Culture
Tax filings indicate that this funder supports major artistic and cultural institutions in New York City and beyond, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Shakespeare Festival, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Museum of Jewish Heritage, and WAMC Northeast Public Radio.
Important Grant Details:
The Spitzer Charitable Trust grants amounts tend to vary widely, often ranging from $500 to $1 million. Environmental conservation grants typically fall in the $1,000 to $10,000 range. In a recent year, the Trust gave $39,802,900 in grants.
- The Spitzer Charitable Trust’s grantmaking guidelines, eligibility and requirements are unclear.
- It makes grants by invitation only and does not accept unsolicited proposals or requests for funding.
- Although the trust does not impose geographic restrictions on its funding, it appears to support a number of nonprofit organizations located in New York and along the Eastern Seaboard of the United States.
- The Trust may be reached at (212) 765-5170.
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CONTACT:
The Bernard and Anne Spitzer Charitable Trust
730 Fifth Avenue #2202
New York, New York 10019