Non-profit

Claudia and Peter Kinder Charitable Fund

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The Claudia and Peter Kinder Charitable Fund is a private grantmaking foundation. It is the private grantmaking vehicle of investor Peter Kinder and his wife, Claudia.

The fund is mostly active in Vermont, where the Kinders live part of the year. 1 It is a component fund of the Vermont Community Foundation and it is housed within the foundation. 2

The fund funds many traditional charitable projects such as museums and libraries. 3 However, it is also a funder of environmentalist advocacy organizations. 4

The fund is a founding member and funder of the Intentional Endowments Network, a left-wing membership organization that seeks to pressure university endowments to divest from producers of reliable sources of energy such as fossil fuels and towards politically encouraged investments in order to create an “equitable, low carbon, and regenerative economy.” 5

Overview

The Claudia and Peter Kinder Charitable Fund is a private grant making foundation, which serves as the grantmaking vehicle of lawyer, investor, and consultant Peter Kinder and his wife Claudia. The fund is largely active in Vermont, where the Kinders live for part of the year. They divide their time between Massachusetts and Vermont. 6

The fund is an “advised fund” at the Vermont Community Foundation. The fund’s advisors make recommendations to the foundation to support their preferred charities. It also partners with the foundation to make grants when the foundation has discretionary grant rounds. 7 Peter Kinder has also sat on the board of the foundation. 8

In March 2020, the fund helped seed the Vermont Community Foundation’s COVID-19 Response Fund, which was used to award grants to nonprofits who were providing relief from the pandemic. 9

Kinder was one of the creators of the concept of socially responsible investing. 10 He sits on the board of several left-leaning organizations such as the Center for Political Accountability and the Capital Institute. 11

Environmental Activism

In 2019, the fund gave between $5,000 and $9,999 to the Conservation Law Foundation, a New England-based environmentalist organization that campaigns against conventional energy and advocates for weather-dependent sources of energy. 12

In 2021, the fund gave between $5,000 and $9,999 to the Vermont Center for Ecostudies. 13

The fund is a founding member and donor to the Intentional Endowments Network, a left-wing membership organization that seeks influence universities to move their endowments away from fossil fuels and towards politically motivated investments. The network seeks to use the power of university endowments to create an “equitable, low carbon, and regenerative economy.” 14

Projects Funded

Between 2017 and 2018, the fund gave between $1,000 and $9,999 to the Vermont Institute of Natural Sciences. 15

Between 2018 and 2019, the fund gave between $1,000 and $4,999 to the Manchester Community Library in Manchester, Vermont. 16

In 2020, the fund was a donor to the news website VTDigger. According to a report, it donated more than $1,000 to the organization. 17

In 2020, the fund was a donor to the Vermont Humanities. The gift was an over $1,000 donation. 18

Between July 1, 2019 and April 1, 2021, the fund gave over $10,000 to the Bennington Museum in Bennington, Vermont. 19

In 2020, the fund gave between $5,000 and $9,999 to the Southern Vermont Arts Center. 20

References

  1. “About.” The Bell. Accessed October 24, 2022. https://thebell.us/about/.
  2. “Component Funds.” Vermont Community Foundation. Accessed October 24, 2022. https://vermontcf.org/assets/Website-Documents/2021-VCF-Component-Funds-FINAL.pdf.
  3. [1] “Annual Report.” Vermont Community Foundation. Accessed October 24, 2022. https://benningtonmuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/Annual-Report-2021.pdf.
  4.  [1] “2018-2019 Year In Review.” Conservation Law Foundation. Accessed October 24, 2022. https://www.clf.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/CLF-2019AnnualReport.pdf.
  5. “Founding Members.” Intentional Endowments Network. Accessed October 24, 2022. https://www.intentionalendowments.org/founding_members.
  6. “About.” The Bell. Accessed October 24, 2022. https://thebell.us/about/.
  7. “Component Funds.” Vermont Community Foundation. Accessed October 24, 2022. https://vermontcf.org/assets/Website-Documents/2021-VCF-Component-Funds-FINAL.pdf.
  8. [1] “About.” The Bell. Accessed October 24, 2022. https://thebell.us/about/.
  9. Clark, Nate. “Vermont Community Foundation announces key VT covid-19 response fund developments.” Vermont Community Foundation, March 25, 2020. https://vermontcf.org/our-impact/impact-stories/vermont-community-foundation-announces-key-vt-covid-19-response-fund-developments/.
  10. “About.” The Bell. Accessed October 24, 2022. https://thebell.us/about/.
  11. [1] “About.” The Bell. Accessed October 24, 2022. https://thebell.us/about/.
  12. “2018-2019 Year In Review.” Conservation Law Foundation. Accessed October 24, 2022. https://www.clf.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/CLF-2019AnnualReport.pdf.
  13. “2021 Annual Report.” Vermont Center for Ecostudies. Accessed October 24, 2022. https://vtecostudies.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/80989_Final-1.pdf.
  14. “Founding Members.” Intentional Endowments Network. Accessed October 24, 2022. https://www.intentionalendowments.org/founding_members.
  15. “2017-2018 Annual Report.” Vermont Institute of Natural Science. Accessed October 24, 2022. https://vinsweb.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/VINS-FY18-Annual-Report.pdf.
  16. “2018-2019 Annual Appreciation Report.” Manchester Community Library. Accessed October 24, 2022. https://mclvt.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/2018-19-MCL-Annual-Report.pdf.
  17. “VTDigger Funders and Donors.” VTDigger.com. Accessed October 24, 2022. https://vtdigger.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/VTD-Large-Donors-and-Funders-2020-2.pdf.
  18. “Thank You to Our Donors.” Vermont Humanities. Accessed October 24, 2022. https://www.vermonthumanities.org/support-us/annual-reports/annual-report-2020/our-donors-2020/.
  19. “Annual Report.” Bennington Museum. Accessed October 24, 2022. https://benningtonmuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/Annual-Report-2021.pdf.
  20. “2020 Annual Report.” Southern Vermont Arts Center. Accessed October 24, 2022. https://www.svac.org/svac/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/2020-SVAC-Annual-Report-Single-FINALpdf.pdf.
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