J.M. Kaplan Fund

Summary: 

Organizational profile:
The J.M. Kaplan Fund is a family foundation and a non-profit organization in New York. It champions transformative social, environmental, and cultural causes through inventive grant-making. Over its 75-year history, the Fund has devoted $280 million to propel fledgling efforts concerning civil liberties, human rights, the arts, and the conservation and enhancement of the built and natural worlds. Today, the Fund is active across the United States and beyond, operating grant programs focusing on the environment, heritage conservation, and social justice. 

In the area of the environment, the Fund champions the protection of threatened natural resources, and work to reduce the global impacts of climate change. The Fund is proud of its efforts to support large-scale, bio-regional initiatives such as protecting Southwestern grasslands, safeguarding marine life, and conserving critical natural resources in the arctic.  The Fund has sought to expand scientific knowledge of these ecosystems, establish protective policy, build public awareness, and generate additional philanthropic support through funding collaboratives. Seeking to address global climate change through advocacy and awareness-raising, the Fund supports local and state-based natural climate solutions, a critical component in the fight against climate change, as well as the financing mechanisms necessary to bring this important work to scale. For example, the 2021 grantees include Blue Forest for the Forest Resilience Bond expansion and American Forests which is dedicated to protecting and restoring healthy forest ecosystems.

 

Financing Instrument: Grants

 

Project scale: According to the 2021 Environmental Grants data, the amount is from $50,000 to $300,000.

 

Recipient countries regions/country groups: Global

 

Recipient categories: 

  • Non-governmental organizations (NGOs)
  • Colleges, universities and academic institutions

 

Eligibility Criteria:
The Fund normally makes grants to organizations in the United States which have tax-exempt status under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (and are not private foundations within the meaning of section 107(c)(1) of the code), and to state colleges and universities provided that no part of the award is used for overhead or administrative expenses. The Fund will also consider grant requests from organizations based outside the United States if they have documented equivalent 501(c)(3) status. The Fund does not make grants to individuals.

 

Application guidelines:
Due to its narrow funding focus, the Fund makes grants by invitation only. Please contact info@jmkfund.org for more details.
 

Publication Date
Monday, 28 March 2022
Applicable location
Africa
Americas
Oceania
Asia
Europe
Topic/Theme
Forest conservation and management
Forest landscape restoration
Climate change
Biodiversity conservation
Database
Financing opportunities