OVERVIEW: The Don and Maggie Buchwald Foundation primarily funds grantmaking related to the arts, education, health and human services.
IP TAKE: The foundation lacks transparency, which limits information available on its grantmaking priorities and activities. This funder does not make contact easy nor is it accessible, preferring a proactive grantmaking approach. It does not accept unsolicited applications. Grantmaking tends to be broad in scope and focused on interests close to the family’s heart rather than a more developed grantmaking strategy. Another thing, funding tends to stay local except in the case of health funding, which supports established, large organizations.
PROFILE: The Don and Maggie Buchwald Foundation was founded in 2012 by veteran talent manager Don Buchwald and his wife, Maggie. After a stint as an actor in California, Done returned to New York and found his calling as a talent manager. In 1977, Don Buchwald & Associates was born. The agency is perhaps best known for repping radio phenom Howard Stern. In 2019, Buchwald opened the Don Buchwald Theater in Flatbush.
The foundation does not maintain a website, which restricts further information on its priority areas and grantmaking strategies. Tax filings suggest that the Don and Maggie Buchwald Foundation primarily funds grantmaking related to the arts, education, health and human services.
Grants for Arts and Culture
Given Buchwald’s long career in talent management, it is no surprise that the arts are a strong focus of philanthropy. Theater and the performing arts are a particular focus. Grantees include Atlantic Theatre, Berkshire International Film Festival, Broadway Cares, Classic Stage Company, Gingold Theatrical Group, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the Acting Fund, and Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, whose board Maggie chairs.
Maggie, meanwhile, has held senior positions at some of New York’s major cultural and educational institutions, including American Ballet Theatre, Thirteen/WNET, and the New York University Medical Center.
Grants for Higher Education
Steady support has gone to Brooklyn College, where Buchwald has been a member of trustees of the foundation at Brooklyn College for some two decades.
Grants for Health and Human Services
Grantees have included Citymeals-on-Wheels, Gay Men’s Health Crisis, Memorial Sloan Kettering, and Anderson Foundation for Autism.
Important Grant Details:
Grants range from $350 to $200,000. In a recent fiscal year, the foundation gave away around $381,000. The foundation keeps a low profile and does not accept unsolicited proposals.
PEOPLE:
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CONTACT:
Don and Maggie Buchwald Foundation
10 East 44th St
New York, NY 10017
