The Beldon Foundation was a grantmaking foundation based in New York City that operated from 1982 to 2009. It was founded by John Hunting, the son of Steelcase office furniture manufacturer founder David Hunting. The foundation focused on funding left-of-center environmentalist causes. The foundation adopted a 10-year “spend down” strategy in 1998 after receiving an infusion of funds from the sale of John Hunting’s Steelcase shares and executed a plan to spend down the balance of the foundation’s funds in 2008, officially closing in 2009. The foundation released a “final impact assessment” in 2014 and its records are housed at the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis University Library. ¹

Organizations that were funded by the Beldon Fund included the Center for Public Interest Research, Earthjustice, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Alliance for Justice. ²

Background and History

The Beldon Fund was founded in 1982 by John Hunting, the heir to the Steelcase office furniture company fortune and prominent donor to left-of-center political groups and campaigns. In 1998, the fund received a $100 million endowment from Hunting due to his sale of Steelcase shares, and Hunting led the fund to formulate a plan to spend down the entire endowment of the fund over a ten-year time frame. Hunting, a noted environmentalist, stated that he “felt as an environmentalist that it was imperative to spend the money now, because it would be silly to wait for the future if there wasn’t going to be a future,” adding that if the foundation operated in perpetuity after he “died and there was a board running things, the money might start going to causes I wasn’t interested in funding.” ^{3 4}

Upon adopting a plan to spend down its endowment by 2008, the foundation moved its operations to New York City from Washington, D.C., hired new staff members, and reorganized its board of directors. The fund also formulated a strategic plan to center its efforts on promoting left-of-center environmentalist public policies. ⁵

Programs and Activity

The Beldon Fund was a major funder of environmentalist organizations while it spent its $100 million endowment from 1998 to 2008. It adopted a “key states” program that focused on funding left-of-center environmental groups Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, and Wisconsin, citing the “under-funded advocacy community” within those states. The goal of the foundation in providing funding for left-of-center state policy issues was to “bring change at the state level that would ultimately help tip the balance towards federal policy reform.” The foundation also ran a sperate program that funded national organizations that focused on promoting regulation of toxic substances in consumer products. ⁶

The foundation also helped fund activity to promote ratification of the Great Lakes Compact, provided significant funding to establish and grow state-level environmentalist groups, and promoted policies on drinking water regulation, regulations on landfills and power plants, and the creation of a “global warming commission” in North Carolina. ⁷

Closure

The Beldon Fund executed a plan to spend down the balance of the foundation’s funds in 2008, spending $120 million in that timeframe and officially closed in 2009. The foundation released a “final impact assessment” in 2014 and its records are housed at the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis University Library. The organization’s website remains active and provides resources for other funding organizations that are researching similar spend down strategies. ⁸

Organizations Funded

The hundreds of organizations that were funded by the Beldon Fund included the Center for Public Interest Research, Earthjustice, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Alliance for Justice, the American Institute for Social Justice, Citizen Action of Wisconsin Education Fund, Clean Water for North Carolina, Conservation Minnesota, the Federation of State Conservation Voter Leagues, the Sierra Club Foundation, Proteus Fund, and the Common Cause Education Fund. ⁹

1. ^[1] “Welcome.” The Beldon Fund. Accessed March 31, 2023. http://www.beldon.org/
2. “Grantees.” The Beldon Fund. Accessed March 31, 2023. http://www.beldon.org/grantees.html
3. Strom, Stephanie. “Environmental Foundation Expires, as It Always Wanted.” New York Times. May 29, 2009. Accessed March 31, 2023. http://www.beldon.org/[email protected]
4. “Welcome.” The Beldon Fund. Accessed March 31, 2023. http://www.beldon.org/
5. “About Beldon.” The Beldon Fund. Accessed March 31, 2023. http://www.beldon.org/about-beldon.html
6. “Programs and Strategies.” The Beldon Fund. Accessed March 31, 2023. http://www.beldon.org/programs-impact.html
7. “Programs and Strategies.” The Beldon Fund. Accessed March 31, 2023. http://www.beldon.org/programs-impact.html
8. “Welcome.” The Beldon Fund. Accessed March 31, 2023. http://www.beldon.org/
9. “Grantees.” The Beldon Fund. Accessed March 31, 2023. http://www.beldon.org/grantees.html