Bauman Foundation
OVERVIEW: The Bauman Foundation is dedicated to promoting and preserving democratic values and institutions. Its grantmaking prioritizes economic justice, government and corporate accountability, and civic engagement in the political process.
IP TAKE: Bauman Foundation is a mid-sized foundation with assets to the tune of around $70 million, yet this belies its substantial influence among like-minded democracy and civics funders. In a revelatory, wide-ranging 2022 interview with IP, foundation president Patricia Bauman characterized her foundation as “the tugboat dragging the supertanker,” galvanizing larger foundations, such as Ford and Carnegie, to prioritize democracy issues. While Bauman previously supported a wider range of topic areas, including the arts and environmental health, as of 2022 it pivoted to an “almost exclusive” focus on civic participation, including voting rights, election protection, and combating misinformation. Bauman tends to provide multi-year operational support to existing grantees and collaborates with intermediaries and pooled funds. Moving forward, Bauman intends to give “fewer but larger grants.” With no open application process and a sparse website, this is an unlikely source of funding for grantseekers in a competitive giving space. That said, interested nonprofits working in civics and democracy can reach out through the foundation’s contact page.
PROFILE: The Bauman Foundation was established in 1982 by New York businessman Lionel R. Bauman and received the endowment of his full estate upon his death in 1987. The foundation is dedicated to preserving the “values of a true democratic society—the common good and general welfare, as articulated in the Constitution.” It tends to provide “ongoing general support” to a corps of well-known grantees in its areas of interest. Its funding priorities include economic justice, government and corporate accountability and civic engagement.
Grants for Civic Engagement and Democracy
Bauman’s civic engagement grantmaking supports initiatives that promote “nonpartisan civic engagement in the political process.” The foundation does not describe specific strategies for this giving. Grantees include the Fair Elections Center, State Voice and the Voter Participation Center.
Bauman’s grants also support government and corporate accountability, focusing on “efforts to promote an open, responsive government.” Past grantees include the Project on Government Oversight, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and the Fund for Constitutional Government.
Grants for Work and Opportunity
Bauman’s economic justice giving broadly centers on “federal tax policy and income inequality,” though the foundation’s site does not offer further insights into related giving; however, past grantees include the Economic Policy Institute, Good Jobs First and the Center for Progressive Reform. It appears grantees in this space tend to be mid-sized to larger institutions that deeply understand the policies of the areas they seek to support.
Important Grant Details:
Grants mostly range from $1,000 to about $250,000 and support organizations of all sizes.
Bauman tends to provide multi-year operating support to its grantees.
Larger grants support national organizations and institutes, but smaller organizations operating at state and regional levels have also received funding.
This funder appears to prioritize collaborative projects with the potential to effect large-scale change in its areas of interest.
Grantmaking appears to be shifting from direct support to intermediary regranters.
The Bauman Foundation does not accept unsolicited proposals. General inquiries may be made through the foundation’s contact page.
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