Pritzker Military Foundation
OVERVIEW: The Pritzker Military Foundation supports veterans and military families, as well as national and military education and history organizations and programs.
IP TAKE: The Pritzker Military Foundation is a must-know funder for any group working with past, present or future military personnel, veterans or military families. It provides detailed information about what it funds and where its money goes. However, it is as inaccessible as it is transparent. The Pritzker Military Foundation does not provide a clear method of contact and does not accept unsolicited grant applications. A mailing address and telephone number are provided below, but grantseekers will likely find that networking is their best bet with this funder.
PROFILE: Established in 2016, the Pritzker Military Foundation is the giving arm of the Pritzker Military Museum & Library. Based in Chicago, it was founded by COL (IL) Jennifer N. Pritzker, IL ARNG (Retired), who also created the TAWANI Foundation. She received the U.S. Department of Defense’s Spirit of Hope Award in 2016, in recognition of her “selfless support” of American “troops around the world.” Pritzker is a member of the Pritzker family, who made their fortune as owners of the Hyatt hotel chain, as well as many other highly successful investments. Jennifer, who is an openly trans woman, inherited stakes in the family’s Hyatt Hotels chain as well as industrial firms run by her late father, Robert Pritzker, and his brothers Jay and Donald. She is currently the president and CEO of her own investment firm, TAWANI Enterprises.
The Pritzker Military Foundation “supports both the preservation and dissemination of military history and the health and well-being of our citizen soldiers whose commitment is essential to a safe, stable democracy.” Its grantmaking interests include History Education, Military History, Veterans, Active Military, Health and Human Services, and Cultural Centers and Preservation. It also supports “a range of programs and causes including global affairs and national security.”
Grants for Military and Veterans
The Pritzker Military Foundation supports veterans and military families through all aspects of its grantmaking. Its Veterans and Active Military programs benefit those groups most directly and prioritize beneficiary’s mental, physical, educational, and economic wellbeing.
The Veterans program makes grants to organizations that serve, recognize, and honor veterans. Grants have gone to The Mission Continues, Veterans Breakfast Club, PenFed Foundation, West Point Association of Graduates and Dog Tag, Inc.
The Active Military Program supports what it calls the Citizen Soldier and funds “a range of organizations that provide training for aspiring members of the military, as well as offer assistance for families whose loved ones are on active duty.”
Grants through this program have gone to Our Military Kids, Screaming Eagle Foundation, Fire Battalion Cadet Association, Navy SEAL Foundation, and Valley Forge Military College.
In April 2023, The Pritzker Military Foundation gave a $90,000 gift to Kids Rank, an organization that works to nurture social and emotional growth in school-aged military children.
Grants for Arts and Culture, and K-12 and Higher Education
In addition to its support for veterans and military families, the Pritzker Military Foundation also makes grants to groups that help to advance knowledge of American history, as well as preserve, promote, and curate and exhibit military history.
Grants through the History Education program typically go toward education tools that promote the teaching of American history. Grantees through this program include Loyola University of Chicago, Naval War College, Chicago Public Schools, JROTC, Norwich University, and National History Day. The Foundation also gave $50,000 to support the Library of America.
The Military History program overlaps somewhat with the History Education program; however, whereas the latter addresses history broadly, the former is more specialized and focuses on promoting awareness of military history, and its role in the grand narrative of American history. Military History grantees include Gettysburg Foundation, Marine Corps Heritage Foundation, US Navy Memorial Foundation, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, and Army Historical Foundation, which received $700,000 in 2021.
The Cultural Centers and Preservation program focuses exclusively on museums and other institutions of military remembrance and educational significance. The National World War II Museum received $330,000. Other grantees through this program include the American Battlefield Trust, the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center, the Army Heritage Center Foundation and the Museum of the American Revolution.
Grants for Public Health and Community Development
The foundation supports healthy communities through its Health and Human Services program, which promotes “greater access to health and wellness.” Grants typically go to groups and programs that encourage “activity, exercise, health care access and health support across the income spectrum.” Previous grantees include Army Emergency Relief Fund, Lake County Veterans and Family Services Foundation, Rush University Medical Center, and Brady Center To Prevent Gun Violence.
Grants for Democracy and Civic Engagement, Security and Human Rights
The Foundation has a catchall grantmaking area, called Other, that supports a range of organizations and programs, including strengthening democracy, global affairs, foreign relations, and national security. It does not provide many details about these areas of funding; however, 990s reveal an interest in more established organizations and some smaller organizations. Giving strategies tend to be broad in these areas.
Grants have gone to Business Executives for National Security (BENS), Center for New American Security, Chicago Council on Global Affairs, Institute for Non-Profit News, Metropolitan Planning Council, National Able Network, Silver Hill Hospital, and Somers Village & Town.
Important Grant Details:
Grant amounts typically range from $1,000 to $1 million, but the average grant size is $5,000. The Pritzker Military Foundation accepts application by invitation only and does not accept unsolicited proposals or requests for funding.
PEOPLE:
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LINKS:
CONTACT:
104 S Michigan Ave Ste 1120
Chicago, IL 60603-6135
(312) 374-9435