Elias Foundation

The Elias Foundation is a left-of-center grantmaking organization founded in 1999 which supports social and political activists and causes through the disbursement of funds. Along with donations made to established groups, the Elias Foundation sets itself apart from other grantmaking organizations by funding activists directly through its Activist Fellowship program. While originally focused on nationwide activism, the organization has increasingly narrowed its scope since its foundation to focus almost entirely on New York’s Hudson Valley region. 1 2

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At-A-Glance

Type: Non-profit, 501(c)(3), Private Foundation
Issue Areas: Multi-Issue Advocacy
Website: www.eliasfoundation.org
Formation:

1999

Location: Pennington, NJ View on map
Tax ID: 13-4092287
Most Recent Filing: 2024
Budget (2024): Assets: $12,063,315 Revenue: $1,526,552 Expenses: $1,451,779

Contents

    Goals

    The Elias Foundation was founded in 1999, as an organization dedicated to funding left-wing causes nationally. 1 Starting in 2004, its focus pivoted exclusively to organizations and activists based in New York’s Hudson Valley. While some of their donations are philanthropic in nature, most are to organizations explicitly involved in some form of political organization or activism. This includes large board member donations to organizations like the National Network of Abortion Funds. 2

    Despite their long existence, the Elias Foundation has had tax issues in the past. In 2017 the foundation requested tax forgiveness due to its direct disbursement of funds to individuals without prior authorization, against the tax rules governing their non-profit status. 3

    Programs

    The Elias Foundation is a grantmaking organization. Its centerpiece program is the direct funding of left-wing activists, through its Activist Fellowship program. 4 The program is a direct disbursement to activists working in New York’s Hudson Valley region, over the course of five years. For the first three years, the amount disbursed is $25,000 each year for the first three years, $10,000 for the fourth year, and $5,000 for the last year, for a total program disbursement of $90,000 per fellow. 5 This program is currently funding ten different left-wing activists, and plans to expand their pool of activists over the next few years. 4

    Besides this program, the Elias Foundation also provides grants to larger, more established activist groups like the New Economy Coalition, an anti-capitalist group. 6

    Financial Statistics

    Total Assets

    Total Revenue

    Total Expenses

    YearTotal AssetsTotal RevenueTotal ExpensesFiling
    2024 $12,063,315 $1,526,552 $1,451,779 View
    2023 $10,475,034 $1,179,110 $1,674,080 View
    2022 $8,628,623 $245,554 $948,564 View
    2021 $12,730,130 $1,138,634 $1,410,485 View
    2020 $11,186,903 $257,055 $1,126,906 View

    Prior year filings: 2019, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010

    Expenses Detail

    Grant Activity

    All-time grants given statistics from Candid dataset:

    • Total Grant Value: $5,628,551
    • Number of Grants: 421
    • Number of Recipients: 194

    Selection of highest value grants given from the last seven years:

    AmountYearFunderSubject
    $175,0002023 Carolina Public Press IncGENERAL OPERATING – BOARD DISCRETIONARY
    $107,4502023 Childrens Village InstituteGENERAL OPERATING – BOARD DISCRETIONARY
    $105,0002024 WESPAC FOUNDATION INCGENERAL OPERATING
    $80,0002024 WESTCHESTER CHILDRENS ASSOCIATION INCGENERAL OPERATING
    $79,0002023 American Friends Service CommitteeGENERAL OPERATING – BOARD DISCRETIONARY
    $75,0002021 RUTGERS UNIVERSITY FOUNDATIONGENERAL OPERATING – BOARD DISCRETIONARY
    $60,0002022 WESPAC FOUNDATION INCGENERAL OPERATING
    $60,0002020 The Children's Village Inc.GENERAL OPERATING – BOARD DISCRETIONARY GRANT
    $58,0852024 Childrens Village InstituteGENERAL OPERATING – BOARD DISCRETIONARY
    $55,5002023 WESTCHESTER CHILDRENS ASSOCIATION INCGENERAL OPERATING
    $53,0002022 WESTCHESTER CHILDRENS ASSOCIATION INCGENERAL OPERATING
    $50,0002024 Rutgers University FoundationGENERAL OPERATING – BOARD DISCRETIONARY
    $50,0002023 Rutgers University FoundationGENERAL OPERATING – BOARD DISCRETIONARY
    $50,0002021 OPP Reform CoalitionGENERAL OPERATING – BOARD DISCRETIONARY
    $50,0002021 WESPAC FOUNDATION INCGENERAL OPERATING
    $50,0002021 WESTCHESTER CHILDRENS ASSOCIATION INCGENERAL OPERATING
    $45,0002021 The Children's Village Inc.GENERAL OPERATING – BOARD DISCRETIONARY
    $43,6602024 JustleadershipusaGENERAL OPERATING – BOARD DISCRETIONARY
    $40,0002022 JustleadershipusaGENERAL OPERATING
    $40,0002021 JustleadershipusaGENERAL OPERATING
    $35,0002020 OPP Reform CoalitionGENERAL OPERATING – BOARD DISCRETIONARY GRANT
    $34,0002024 NEIGHBORS LINK CORPGENERAL OPERATING
    $30,0002024 Southern Maine Workers CenterGENERAL OPERATING – BOARD DISCRETIONARY
    $30,0002023 NEIGHBORS LINK CORPGENERAL OPERATING
    $30,0002023 Southern Maine Workers CenterGENERAL OPERATING – BOARD DISCRETIONARY

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    Financials, employee compensation, and grant information provided by Candid.

    Mentioned in this Article

    References

    1. “About.” The Elias Foundation. Accessed April 30, 2020. https://www.eliasfoundation.org/about.
    2. “Funding History.” The Elias Foundation, 2018. https://www.eliasfoundation.org/funding-history#2018.
    3. The Elias Foundation, IRS 990, 2017.
    4. “Programs.” The Elias Foundation. Accessed April 30, 2020. https://www.eliasfoundation.org/programs-1#fellowship-recipients
    5. “Programs.” The Elias Foundation. Accessed April 30, 2020. https://www.eliasfoundation.org/programs-1#fellowship-guidelines.
    6. “Funding History.” The Elias Foundation, 2017. https://www.eliasfoundation.org/funding-history#2017.