OVERVIEW: The Sue and Edgar Wachenheim Foundation primarily funds grantmaking related to education and the arts. It also earmarks funds for health, democracy and Jewish causes.
IP TAKE: The Wachenheim Foundation keeps a low public profile, which limits information on its grantmaking priorities and activities. Grantmaking prioritizes the New York City and Tri-state area and tends to go to the same grantees year after year, many of which family members maintain involvement. This is not a transparent or accessible funder, preferring to take a proactive approach to grantmaking. It does not accept unsolicited applications. It is also challenging to contact the foundation, except by snail mail, making it particularly hard to get on it’s radar.
PROFILE: The Sue and Edgar Wachenheim Foundation was established in 1969 and is based in Purchase, New York. Its founders are financier Edgar “Ed” Wachenheim and his wife, Sue. Ed serves as chairman of Greenhaven Associates, a New York money-management concern. He graduated from Williams College in 1959 and received an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
The foundation does not maintain a website, which makes it difficult to locate further information on its priority areas and grantmaking strategies. Tax filings suggest that the Sue and Edgar Wachenheim Foundation primarily funds grantmaking related to education and the arts. It also earmarks funds for democracy, global affairs and Jewish causes.
Grants for K-12 and Higher Education
Wachenheim’s grants for education prioritize the institutions with which the family has a personal connection.
- The foundation has given millions to Ed WAchenheim’s alma mater Williams College, home to the Sue and Edgar Wachenheim III Professor of History and the Wachenheim Family Courtyard.
- Other higher education grantees include Amherst College, Skidmore College and Harvard University’s Business School.
- K-12 grants have supported Green Chimney’s Children’s Services in Brewster, New York: the Rectory School in Pomfert, Connecticut; Rye Country Day School in New York; and ReadWorks, a New York City-based educational technology organization that provides teachers and schools with technology and tools to “solve America’s reading comprehension crisis and student achievement gap.”
Grants for Arts and Culture, Arts Education
Arts and culture represent the foundation’s second largest area of giving, with many grants serving large, well-established venues and museums in New York City.
- New York City arts grantees include the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the School of American Ballet, the Jewish Museum and the Playwrights Horizons.
- Grants also support a handful of arts and culture organizations in nearby Westchester County, New York. Recipients include the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts in Katonah and the Jay Heritage Center, a park, museum and historic site in Rye, New York.
Grants for Public Health and Access
The foundation has broadly supported health organizations in the past, including Blythedale Children’s Hospital in Valhalla, New York, where the couple’s son Lance is on the board. Other grantees include Connecticut’s Greenwich Hospital, the Northwell Health Foundation and the Seattle Children’s Hospital.
Grants for Democracy and Global Security
International affairs are not a main area of giving for this foundation, but in a recent year, Wachenheim gave more than $13 million to the Council on Foreign Relations. Grants have also supported the Cato Institute, a conservative think tank concerned with limiting government programs and lowering taxes.
Grants for Jewish Causes
The foundation’s Jewish giving has tapered off recently, but the foundation supported the United Jewish Appeal Federation, where Ed Wachenheim served as a trustee. Other grantees include New York City’s Jewish Museum and American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science.
Important Grant Details:
Grants range from $1,000 to around $13.5 million.
- This funder tends to support large, well established organizations, with the exception of a few smaller private K-12 schools.
- The foundation does not accept unsolicited proposals for funding.
This foundation does not provide a direct way to get in touch. Its phone number is listed as (914) 696-9000. A mailing address is provided below.
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CONTACT:
Sue & Edgar Wachenheim Foundation
3 Manhattanville Road
Purchase, NY 10577
(914) 696-9000