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Non-profit

Firedoll Foundation

Website:

www.firedoll.org
Location:

WALNUT CREEK, CA
Tax ID:

94-3301999
Tax-Exempt Status:

501(c)(3)-PF

Budget (2015):

Revenue: $2,469,932
Expenses: $1,916,331
Assets: $11,029,458

The Firedoll Foundation is a private family foundation founded by community activists and liberal donors Sandor and Faye Straus. The foundation supports a number of left-of-center advocacy organizations. [1]

The Firedoll Foundation is largely funded by the Straus Family Trust and provides grants to groups that engage in community development and entrepreneurship, as well as those working on immigrant issues, human rights, environmentalism, and far-left policy toward the Middle East. [2]

Advocacy Grantmaking

The Firedoll Foundation reports granting money to wide variety of organizations supporting left-progressive causes, including Defenders of Wildlife and the Multicultural Institute. [3]

Firedoll Foundation financially supports a number of pro-Palestinian and anti-Israeli advocacy organizations, including the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF). PCRF has ties to the Holy Land Foundation, an organization alleged to have funded the terrorist organization Hamas. [4]

Beyond this, the foundation has also donated to Jewish Voice for Peace, an organization which aims to create a wedge between American Jews and their support for Israel. [5]

As for advocating for immigrant issues and human rights, since 2008 the Firedoll Foundation has donated to the Alliance for Global Justice, an organization that funds numerous left-wing groups which also serves as a fiscal sponsor for left-wing social initiatives and supports authoritarian governments in Latin America. [6]

Sandor Straus

Sandor Straus and Faye Straus met while campaigning for Senator Eugene McCarthy’s (D-MN) bid for the Democratic Presidential nomination in 1968. Faye received her B.A. in political science from the University of California, Berkeley, and Sandor received a Ph.D. in mathematics from Berkeley, going on to teach mathematics and computer science at NYU Stony Brook. Sandor later became involved in financial modeling and financial investments in the 1980s with Renaissance Technologies, a hedge fund known for its founder James Simons who himself is renowned for his contributions to the mathematical modeling of investments. [7]

While employed for Renaissance, Sandor worked at the Medallion Fund, Renaissance’s most profitable portfolio and a fund known for having one of the best records in investing history. [8] While at Medallion, Straus shepherded the fund out of a series of losses during the 1980s and eventually helped to create investment returns of 39.4 percent in 1991, 34 percent in 1992 and 39.1 percent in 1993. [9] Straus later cofounded his own investment firm, Merfin LLC, which was merged with Edgestream Partners in 2012 and relocated to New Jersey.

Political Activity

Since 199,4 Sandor Straus and Faye Straus have made individual donations respectively totaling $1,674,227.60 and $678,160 to various liberal organizations and Democratic candidates. These include donations to presidential and congressional candidates, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and groups such as the League of Conservation Voters Action Fund and Indivisible Action. [10]

References

  1. “Firedoll Foundation: Community Development and Immigration & Human Rights Grants.” Instrumentl. Accessed November 9, 2019. https://www.instrumentl.com/grants/firedoll-foundation-grant-programme. ^
  2. “Grant Seekers and Focus Areas.” Firedoll Foundation. Accessed November 9, 2019.http://www.firedoll.org/focus_areas. ^
  3. “Grantees” Firedoll Foundation. Accessed November 9, 2019. http://www.firedoll.org/grantees/ ^
  4. Strom, Stephanie. “Charity Seeks To Transfer Money Frozen By Treasury.” The New York Times. April 15, 2004. Accessed November 9, 2019 https://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/15/us/charity-seeks-to-transfer-money-frozen-by-treasury.html. ^
  5. Yashar, Ari. “Who Funds Group ‘Driving a Wedge’ between US Jews?” Israel National News. February 5, 2016. Accessed November 9, 2019. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/211646. ^
  6. Hogberg, David. “Communists Funding the Resistance: The Alliance for Global Justice.” Capital Research Center. August 29, 2017. Accessed November 9, 2019. https://capitalresearch.org/article/communists-funding-the-resistance-the-alliance-for-global-justice/. ^
  7. “Firedoll Foundation – About Us.” Firedoll Foundation. Accessed November 9, 2019. http://www.firedoll.org/about-us. ^
  8. Mider, Zachary and Richard Rubin. “Renaissance Said Probed by Senate Panel on Tax Maneuver.” Bloomberg. July 12, 2014. Accessed November 9, 2019. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-07-12/renaissance-said-probed-by-senate-panel-on-tax-maneuver ^
  9. “Pure Alpha: Story of Renaissance Technologies.” LinkedIn. Accessed November 9, 2019. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20141117150538-17004994-pure-alpha-story-of-renaissance-technologies. ^
  10. “Straus, Sandor and Faye Sandor.” Federal Election Commission. Accessed November 9, 2019 https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/individual-contributions/ ^

Directors, Employees & Supporters

  1. Sandor Straus
    Co-Founder

Donation Recipients

  1. ACCE Institute (Non-profit)
  2. ACLU Foundation of Northern California (Non-profit)
  3. Alliance for Global Justice (AFGJ) (Non-profit)
  4. American Rivers (Non-profit)
  5. As You Sow (Non-profit)
  6. Beyond Pesticides (Non-profit)
  7. Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) (Non-profit)
  8. Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) (Non-profit)
  9. Center for Environmental Health (Non-profit)
  10. Center for Food Safety (Non-profit)
  11. Center for Justice and Accountability (Non-profit)
  12. Center for Rural Affairs (Non-profit)
  13. Common Counsel Foundation (Non-profit)
  14. Communities for a Better Environment (Non-profit)
  15. Community Initiatives (Non-profit)
  16. Defenders of Wildlife (Non-profit)
  17. Earth Island Institute (Non-profit)
  18. Earthjustice (formerly the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund) (Non-profit)
  19. Endangered Species Coalition (Non-profit)
  20. Environmental Protection Information Center (Non-profit)
  21. Food and Water Watch (FWW) (Non-profit)
  22. Grassroots International (Non-profit)
  23. Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) (Non-profit)
  24. Middle East Children’s Alliance (Non-profit)
  25. Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) (Non-profit)
  26. New Israel Fund (Non-profit)
  27. Pesticide Action Network North America (PANNA) (Non-profit)
  28. Ploughshares Fund (Non-profit)
  29. Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (Non-profit)
  30. Students for a Free Tibet (Non-profit)
  31. Sustainable Economies Law Center (Non-profit)
  32. Taxpayers for Common Sense (Non-profit)
  33. The Sierra Fund (Non-profit)
  34. Western Environmental Law Center (Non-profit)
  35. WildEarth Guardians (Non-profit)
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Nonprofit Information

  • Accounting Period: May - April
  • Tax Exemption Received: December 1, 1998

    • Available Filings

    Period Form Type Total revenue Total functional expenses Total assets (EOY) Total liabilities (EOY) Unrelated business income? Total contributions Program service revenue Investment income Comp. of current officers, directors, etc. Form 990
    2015 May Form PF $2,469,932 $1,916,331 $11,029,458 $1,939 $0 $0 $0 $0 PDF
    2014 May Form PF $2,288,910 $1,897,077 $10,290,115 $1,984 $0 $0 $0 $0 PDF
    2013 May Form PF $1,774,895 $2,091,476 $9,231,624 $1,981 $0 $0 $0 $0 PDF
    2012 May Form PF $1,317,696 $2,125,518 $8,754,466 $14,501 $0 $0 $0 $0 PDF
    2011 May Form PF $1,726,611 $1,839,387 $10,067,934 $16,483 $0 $0 $0 $0 PDF

    Additional Filings (PDFs)

    Map image for Firedoll Foundation

    Firedoll Foundation

    1460 MARIA LANE NO 400
    WALNUT CREEK, CA 94596-8802