The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation is a New Jersey-based grantmaking foundation that has supported left-leaning advocacy groups with annual grants that total at least $2 million. In 2021, the foundation gave at least $2.4 million total to left-of-center groups, including grants of $100,000 or more to Amalgamated Charitable Foundation, Free Press, Sustainable Jersey, New Jersey Future, New Jersey Policy Perspective, and the ACLU of New Jersey. ¹

The foundation’s board of directors has included the leadership of left-of-center groups and grant makers such as the Open Space Institute and the New Jersey branch of the Energy Foundation. ^{2 3}

Left-leaning Grantmaking

The Dodge Foundation has been a seven-figure annual donor to left-leaning advocacy nonprofits. Tax filings for the year ending December 2021 show at least $2.4 million in grants to such groups. ⁴

Left-of-Center Climate Grants

More than $1.4 million of the Dodge Foundation’s left-leaning grants for the year ending December 2021 were given to left-of-center climate advocacy nonprofits. Examples of recipients included Sustainable Jersey ($300,000 total 2021 grant awards), New Jersey Future ($300,000), the Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions ($65,000), the New Jersey League of Conservation Voters Education Fund ($50,000), the Hackensack Riverkeeper
($50,000), the Open Space Institute ($20,000); and the Natural Resources Defense Council ($20,000). ⁵

Other Left-of-Center Grants

At least $1 million of the Dodge Foundation’s 2021 grants were awarded to left-leaning groups with a variety of non-climate, or not specifically climate-related, program agendas. Examples include a $200,000 grant to Amalgamated Charitable Foundation, a donor-advised-fund spun off from a bank owned by the Service Employees International Union; $126,000 to Free Press, a media group that promotes suppression of free speech on internet platforms; $103,000 to New Jersey Policy Perspective, a left-leaning state policy advocacy group; $100,000 to the ACLU of New Jersey; and $81,000 to the Movement Alliance Project. ⁶

Leadership

The board of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation has included representatives of left-leaning advocacy groups and donors. The seven trustees listed as of 2023 included Dan Fatton, the New Jersey director of the Energy Foundation; Christopher J. Elliman, the CEO of the Open Space Institute; and Barbara Moran, who was identified as a “community leader and volunteer, supporting social justice, the arts, arts education, and philanthropy.” ^{7 8}

1. “GERALDINE R DODGE FOUNDATION INCORPORATED.” 2021 IRS Form 990. Accessed June 22, 2020. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/237406010/202203189349105300/full
2. “GERALDINE R DODGE FOUNDATION INCORPORATED.” 2021 IRS Form 990. Accessed June 22, 2020. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/237406010/202203189349105300/full
3. Our Trustees. Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation. Accessed June 22, 2023. https://www.grdodge.org/about-us/our-trustees/
4. “GERALDINE R DODGE FOUNDATION INCORPORATED.” 2021 IRS Form 990. Accessed June 22, 2020. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/237406010/202203189349105300/full
5. “GERALDINE R DODGE FOUNDATION INCORPORATED.” 2021 IRS Form 990. Accessed June 22, 2020. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/237406010/202203189349105300/full
6. “GERALDINE R DODGE FOUNDATION INCORPORATED.” 2021 IRS Form 990. Accessed June 22, 2020. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/237406010/202203189349105300/full
7. Our Trustees. Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation. Accessed June 22, 2023. https://www.grdodge.org/about-us/our-trustees/
8. “GERALDINE R DODGE FOUNDATION INCORPORATED.” 2021 IRS Form 990. Accessed June 22, 2020. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/237406010/202203189349105300/full