Friedman Family Foundation

The Friedman Family Foundation is a left-of-center grantmaking organization that donates money to other left-of-center organizations primarily in the San Francisco Bay Area with the goal of reducing poverty. 1 Some of these organizations include the California Black Freedom Fund2 and the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment. 3

Read More

At-A-Glance

Type: Non-profit, 501(c)(3), Private Foundation
Issue Areas: Multi-Issue Advocacy
Website: friedmanfamilyfoundation.org
Location: New York, NY View on map
Tax ID: 13-3025979
Most Recent Filing: 2025
Budget (2025): Assets: $66,812,507 Revenue: $48,745,872 Expenses: $8,343,670

Contents

    Overview

    Friedman Family Foundation was founded in 1964 by President Emeritus Phyllis K. Friedman and her husband, Howard A. Friedman. In 1988, she added her three children, Eleanor, David, and Robert Friedman, to the foundation board as vice presidents, treasurer, and secretary. 4 The foundation is a grantmaking organization who gives money to various left-of-center economic development organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area with the focus of reducing poverty through its left-of-center political agenda. The foundation awards relatively small sized grants that are from $5,000 to $10,000 called general operating support grants. 5

    Grantmaking

    One of the left-of-center organizations it finances is the California Black Freedom Fund (CBFF), a $100 million initiative that will provide resources to organizations in the state of California who are led by Black people over the next five years. 6

    Another organization it has financed is the Alliance of Californians For Community Empowerment Institute (ACCE)7, a left-of-center organization that works to affect communities through issues such as housing, raising taxes, increasing California’s state budget, and worker wages. 8 The foundation also donated a grant of $10,000 to the Million Voters Project,7 an alliance of various organizations that works towards mobilizing one million voters to the polls around a left-of-center agenda. ACCE is also one of the 7 organizations that are a part of this alliance. 9 The foundation also gives grants to some organizations outside of the San Francisco such as the Aspen Institute, Asset Funders Networks, Center for Community Change, and Association for Enterprise Opportunity. 5

    People

    Phyllis K. Friedman is a founder and former president of the Friedman Family Foundation. In 1964, she founded the foundation alongside her late husband Howard A. Friedman. She was born, raised, and resided in the Bay Area of California. She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a B.A and master’s degree in Social Welfare.

    Robert E. Friedman is the vice president and secretary of the Friedman Family Foundation. He served on the board of the Friedman Family Foundation for 29 years. He graduated from Harvard College and Yale Law School and is the founder and chairman emeritus of a 40-year-old national economic development nonprofit called Prosperity Now. 4

    Financial Statistics

    Total Assets

    Total Revenue

    Total Expenses

    YearTotal AssetsTotal RevenueTotal ExpensesFiling
    2025 $66,812,507 $48,745,872 $8,343,670 View
    2024 $26,729,309 $4,373,044 $10,685,611 View
    2023 $33,475,860 $31,141,560 $5,984,890 View
    2022 $10,439,876 $7,396,800 $8,062,040 View
    2021 $15,016,983 $14,628,792 $6,373,837 View

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

    Expenses Detail

    Grant Activity

    All-time grants received statistics from Candid dataset:

    • Total Grant Value: $38,809,758
    • Number of Grants: 601
    • Number of Funders: 210

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

    AmountYearFunderSubject
    $70,0002020 T Patino Mem Trust Ua 2 University Chi & ColGeneral support grant
    $50,1002020 Gedale B & Barbara S Horowitz FoundationGeneral unrestricted
    $25,0002020 Bhatia FoundationCharitable
    $25,0002020 The New York Community Trust
    $15,0002020 Greater Miami Jewish FederationGeneral support to carry out the mission of the organization
    $15,0002020 Morse Family Foundation Inc C/o Lester Morse Company
    $10,0002020 The Schreiber Family FundOrganization's charitable purpose
    $10,0002020 Nina W Werblow Charitable TrustUnrestricted charitable purposes
    $5,0002020 Wsg FoundationGeneral operating fund
    $2,5002020 Room at the Inn Foundation IncGeneral purpose
    $2,5002020 Avy L & Roberta L Miller FoundationAvy L & roberta l miller memorial scholarship
    $1,2502020 Select Equity Group FoundationMatching Gift
    $1,0002020 Alfred & Jane Ross Foundation IncUnrestricted general support
    $1,0002020 Gourary Fund IncFor general fund of charity
    $1,0002020 Comora Family Foundation C/o Bloom Hochberg & CoCharitable
    $1,0002020 The Greene-Milstein Family Foundation Co Monica TouesnardCharitable support
    $1,0002020 Edward Freitag & Martha Haley Foundation IncGeneral
    $1,0002020 The New York Community TrustFor the Annual Fund.
    $1,0002020 Werth-Silver Foundation IncUnrestricted
    $7502020 Select Equity Group FoundationMatching Gift
    $7502020 Eric & Jessica Zachs Family FoundationGeneral use
    $2502020 The New York Community TrustFor general support.
    $2502020 Janklow FoundationUnrestricted charitable purposes

    All-time grants given statistics from Candid dataset:

    • Total Grant Value: $47,813,354
    • Number of Grants: 605
    • Number of Recipients: 219

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

    AmountYearFunderSubject
    $2,500,0002022 Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer CenterGeneral Support
    $1,500,0002022 Weill Medical College of Cornell UniversityGeneral Support
    $1,500,0002022 Weill Medical College of Cornell UniversityGeneral Support
    $1,000,0002022 Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New YorkGeneral Support
    $200,0002022 Weill Medical College of Cornell UniversityGeneral Support
    $75,0002022 Central SynagogueGeneral Support
    $75,0002022 JBI LibraryGeneral Support
    $75,0002022 Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer CenterGeneral Support
    $50,0002022 Council on Foreign RelationsGeneral Support
    $50,0002022 FIBROLAMELLAR CANCER FOUNDATIONGeneral Support
    $50,0002022 Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer CenterGeneral Support
    $50,0002022 THE GEORGE W BUSH FOUNDATIONGeneral Support
    $50,0002022 United Jewish Appeal – Federation of Jewish Philanthropies of New York dba UJA-Federation of NYGeneral Support
    $36,0002022 92nd Street YGeneral Support
    $36,0002022 Cornell UniversityGeneral Support
    $35,0002022 Cornell UniversityGeneral Support
    $35,0002022 WNETGeneral Support
    $25,0002022 Cornell UniversityGeneral Support
    $25,0002022 Cornell UniversityGeneral Support
    $25,0002022 Cornell UniversityGeneral Support
    $24,2002022 New York Historical SocietyGeneral Support
    $20,0002022 Grand Teton National Park FoundationGeneral Support
    $20,0002022 The Jewish MuseumGeneral Support
    $20,0002022 Weill Medical College of Cornell UniversityGeneral Support
    $18,0002022 Planned Parenthood North Central StatesGeneral Support

    Contact InfluenceWatch to report errors, suggest edits, or provide tips for additional profiles.

    Contact Us

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

    Mentioned in this Article

    References

    1. “About the Foundation.” Friedman Family Foundation | Reducing Poverty Through Systemic Change. Accessed August 1, 2021. https://friedmanfamilyfoundation.org/about/.
    2. Harvey, Antonio R. “California Foundations Drop $100 Million in ‘Black Freedom Fund’.” Los Angeles Sentinel. Last modified February 18, 2021. https://lasentinel.net/california-foundations-drop-100-million-in-black-freedom-fund.html.
    3. “2020 (to Date) | Grants Made in of the Grants.” Friedman Family Foundation | Reducing Poverty Through Systemic Change. Accessed August 1, 2021. https://friedmanfamilyfoundation.org/grants/year/2020/.
    4. “People.” Friedman Family Foundation | Reducing Poverty Through Systemic Change. Accessed August 1, 2021. https://friedmanfamilyfoundation.org/people/.
    5. Ochs, Alyssa. “Three Things to Know About the Friedman Family Foundation’s Bay Area Grantmaking.” Inside Philanthropy. Last modified July 5, 2021. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/bay-area/2016/7/19/three-things-to-know-about-the-friedman-family-foundations-b.html.
    6. Harvey, Antonio R. “California Foundations Drop $100 Million in ‘Black Freedom Fund’.” Los Angeles Sentinel. Last modified February 18, 2021. https://lasentinel.net/california-foundations-drop-100-million-in-black-freedom-fund.html.
    7. “2020 (to Date) | Grants Made in of the Grants.” Friedman Family Foundation | Reducing Poverty Through Systemic Change. Accessed August 1, 2021. https://friedmanfamilyfoundation.org/grants/year/2020/.
    8. “ACCE Institute (Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment).” The Center for Popular Democracy. Last modified February 4, 2016. https://www.populardemocracy.org/our-partners/acce-institute-alliance-californians-community-empowerment.
    9. “About Us.” Million Voters Project. Accessed August 1, 2021. https://millionvotersproject.org/about.