Not to be confused with the Bermuda-based Atlantic Philanthropies (Nonprofit)

The Atlantic Foundation is a New Jersey-based philanthropic organization founded by J. Seward Johnson, Sr. in 1963. Primarily providing artistic and other apolitical grants and donations, it has provided many left-leaning grants since receiving funds from the Pacific Foundation in 2014. It also engages in limited advocacy activity. ¹²

Mission

The Atlantic Foundation’s donations are primarily provided to artistic organizations, including many which bear the names of its leaders and founder. ³ It does not take unsolicited grant requests. ⁴

Many of its non-artistic donations are to organizations with implicit or explicit left-leaning missions. The Pacific Fund associated with the Atlantic Foundation supports left-leaning political causes. ⁵

The River Branch Foundation, for example, focuses on land protection; The Atlantic Foundation is its major donor. ⁶⁷

The Atlantic Foundation has donated to a number of explicitly left-leaning causes. According to Big Database, its donations have gone to the following organizations:⁸

• $15,000 to Media Impact Funders in 2014. This organization supports left-leaning environmental, immigration, LGBT-interest, and other causes.⁹
• Type Media Center is affiliated with the far-left publication The Nation, and is formerly known as The Nation Institute. ¹⁰ Atlantic Foundation provided $65,000 in four donations in 2007, 2009, 2010, and 2014.
• Over $3 million through nine donations to Eyebeam, a social justice-oriented technology and journalism non-profit which was founded by John S. Johnson – grandson of The Atlantic Foundation’s founder – in 1998.¹¹
• Over $90,000 in two donations to Us Education Fund, a left-leaning group which campaigns for political speech regulation.¹²

Other engagement

The Atlantic Foundation was one of many non-profits which signed a letter to Congressional lawmakers on April 9, 2019 opposing a provision of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (commonly known as the tax reform law) that requires non-profits to pay taxes on revenues which are considered unrelated to the non-profit’s mission. ¹³¹⁴

Its Twitter page shows active engagement in favor of anti-corruption laws in a number of states as well as support for a bill sponsored by Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) which aims to make it illegal for Members of Congress to become lobbyists. ¹⁵

Leadership

Michael Unger has served as Chief Administrative Officer for The Atlantic Foundation since 2007. ¹⁶ He is also involved with a number of other Johnson non-profits, and in 2018 was on the Board of Directors for the Council of New Jersey Grantmakers. ¹⁷

The Atlantic Foundation was founded by J. Seward Johnson, Sr. of the Johnson & Johnson family. Its current CEO is Johnson’s son, J. Seward Johnson, Jr., while John S. Johnson III is Director Secretary of the Foundation. ¹⁸¹⁹

While J. Seward Johnson has focused much of his career on artistic endeavors, John S. Johnson is heavily involved in left-leaning causes and initiatives. He is founder of The Pacific Foundation and is on its Board of Directors. He also co-founded BuzzFeed and was an investor in Huffington Post. ²⁰²¹

Funding

The Foundation’s major funding sources are trusts related to the family of J. Seward Johnson, Sr. ²² In 2014, it sold its former headquarters for $50 million. ²³²⁴ It grossed over $10 million in revenue and had over $89 million in assets in 2017. ²⁵

1. Rep. Mark Walker website, Letter on UBIT issues in Tax Cuts & Jobs Reform Act,” April 15, 2019. Accessed July 21, 2019. https://walker.house.gov/sites/walker.house.gov/files/UBIT%20Coalition%20Letter%20April%2015%202019.pdf
2. LinkedIn, The Atlantic Foundation, Accessed July 21, 2019. https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-atlantic-foundation/about/
3. Big Database, The Atlantic Foundation, Accessed July 21, 2019. http://www.bigdatabase.com/Big-DB/USFoundation-profiles/ATLANTIC%20FOUNDATION-226054882.HTML
4. GuideStar, The Atlantic Foundation, Accessed July 21, 2019. https://www.guidestar.org/profile/22-6054882
5. LinkedIn, The Atlantic Foundation, Accessed July 21, 2019.https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-atlantic-foundation/about/
6. River Branch Foundation, Mission, Accessed July 21, 2019. https://www.riverbranchfoundation.org/home/mission/
7. Big Database, River Branch Foundation, Accessed July 21, 2019. http://www.bigdatabase.com/Big-DB/USFoundation-profiles/RIVER%20BRANCH%20FOUNDATION-226054887.HTML
8. Big Database, The Atlantic Foundation, Accessed July 21, 2019. http://www.bigdatabase.com/Big-DB/USFoundation-profiles/ATLANTIC%20FOUNDATION-226054882.HTML
9. Media Impact Funders, Event Calendar, Accessed July 21, 2019. https://mediaimpactfunders.org/events/?_sft_topic=civic-engagement,economic-inequality,environment,human-rights,immigration
10. Type Media Center, About Us, Accessed July 21, 2019. https://typemediacenter.org/about/
11. Eyebeam, About Us, Accessed July 21, 2019. https://www.eyebeam.org/about-us/
12. RepresentUs Education Fund, Accessed July 24, 2019. https://representuseducationfund.org/
13. IRS, Unrelated Business Income Tax, Accessed July 21, 2019. https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/unrelated-business-income-tax
14. Rep. Mark Walker website, Letter on UBIT issues in Tax Cuts & Jobs Reform Act,” April 15, 2019. Accessed July 21, 2019. https://walker.house.gov/sites/walker.house.gov/files/UBIT%20Coalition%20Letter%20April%2015%202019.pdf
15. Twitter, The Atlantic Foundation, Accessed July 21, 2019. https://twitter.com/AtlanticFound
16. LinkedIn, Michael Unger profile, Accessed July 21, 2019.https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-unger-45639b2b/
17. Council of New Jersey Grantmakers, 2018 Annual Meeting, Accessed July 21, 2019. https://www.cnjg.org/sites/default/files/files/events/2018%20Annual%20Meeting%20Program%20Book.pdf
18. GuideStar, The Atlantic Foundation, Accessed July 21, 2019. https://www.guidestar.org/profile/22-6054882
19. Big Database, The Atlantic Foundation, Accessed July 21, 2019. http://www.bigdatabase.com/Big-DB/USFoundation-profiles/ATLANTIC%20FOUNDATION-226054882.HTML
20. LinkedIn, John S. Johnson, Accessed July 21, 2019. https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-s-johnson-25745153/
21. The Pacific Foundation, Board, John S. Johnson, Accessed July 21, 2019. http://www.thepacificfoundation.org/board.html https://www.huffpost.com/author/john-s-johnson
22. Atlantic Foundation, Return of a Private Foundation (Form 990-PF), 2016, Schedule B
23. Julie Strickland, “Atlantic Foundation looks to cash in on Chelsea sale,” October 11, 2013. Accessed July 21, 2019. https://therealdeal.com/2013/10/11/atlantic-foundation-looks-to-cash-in-on-chelsea-sale/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
24. Daniel Geiger, “Chelsea site sells for lofty $50M,” January 30, 2014. Accessed July 21, 2019. https://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20140131/REAL_ESTATE/140139973/chelsea-site-sells-for-lofty-50m
25. Big Database, The Atlantic Foundation, Accessed July 21, 2019. http://www.bigdatabase.com/Big-DB/USFoundation-profiles/ATLANTIC%20FOUNDATION-226054882.HTML