The Goodman-Lipman Family Foundation is the grantmaking foundation of businessman and venture capitalist Robert Goodman and his wife, Jayne Lipman. The Foundation primarily gives to Jewish and pro-Israel nonprofits, but also donates to left-of-center advocacy groups.

Leadership

Robert Goodman

Goodman-Lipman Family Foundation co-founder and director Robert Goodman is the director and board member of ACV Auctions, an online car dealership, and a partner at Bessemer Venture Partners, a venture capital firm where Goodman specializes in mergers and acquisitions and IPO exits. Goodman is also a managing member of the Deer Management Company, and sits on the boards of Sisense, Fuze, and numerous other start-ups. Goodman previously sat on the board of Blue Apron. He initially made his fortune, estimated in the hundreds of millions, through a series of telecommunication company buy-outs and initial public offerings in the 1990s. ^{1 2 3}

Since 2004, Goodman has donated at least $5,289,848.53 to Democratic federal candidates and PACs. His largest donation was of $600,000 to the Shield PAC, a Democratic U.S. Congressional PAC, in 2021. Other large donations include $300,000 to the Senate Majority PAC (SMP) in 2020, $250,000 to the Forward Majority PAC in 2020, $205,000 to support President Joe Biden‘s (D) presidential campaign in 2020, $135,000 to U.S. Representative Nancy Pelosi‘s (D-CA) reelection campaign in 2019, and $133,600 to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton‘s presidential campaign in 2016. ⁴

Jayne Lipman

Foundation co-founder and director Jayne Lipman, Goodman’s wife, is an officer and board member of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee in the American Jewish World Service, an international philanthropic organization that funds disaster relief and left-of-center social activist initiatives abroad. She also does volunteer work for the Public Theater in New York and Cornell University. ⁵

Since 1998, Lipman has donated $1,927,308.77 to Democratic federal candidates and PACs. Her largest donation, of $310,000 was to PAC supporting President Joe Biden‘s (D) presidential campaign in 2020. Other large donations included $213,000 to the Democratic National Committee in 2020, $131,700 to U.S. Representative Nancy Pelosi‘s (D-CA) reelection campaign in 2021, and $131,150 to U.S. Representative Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) in 2023. ⁶

Grants

In 2021, the Goodman-Lipman Foundation disbursed over $2.5 million in grants, with individual grants ranging in size from $400 to $300,000. Many of the Foundation’s donations were to Jewish and pro-Israel organizations, including Friends of the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism, the American Friends of the Jaffa Institute, the New Israel Fund, Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village, American Jewish World Service, the Brown Hillel Foundation, the Holocaust and Human Rights Education Center, Hebrew Senior Life, Bend the Arc, and the Jewish Communal Fund. ⁷

The Foundation also donates to numerous left-of-center nonprofits, including $300,000 to the New Venture Fund, $200,000 to the Hopewell Fund, $175,000 to the Anti-Defamation League, $150,000 to the Third Way Institute, and $50,000 to Media Matters for America. ⁸

In 2020, the Foundation gave $300,000 to the Voter Participation Center, $250,000 to the Voter Registration Project, $100,000 to the Protect Democracy Project, $75,000 to the Tides Foundation, $50,000 to the William J. Brennan Center for Justice, and $5,000 to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and Education Fund. ⁹

1. “Bob Goodman.” Forbes. Accessed June 15, 2023. https://www.forbes.com/profile/bob-goodman/?sh=6a2bb006400c.
2. “Bio Details.” ACV. Accessed June 15, 2023. https://investors.acvauto.com/board-member/robert-p-goodman.
3. “Bob Goodman.” BVP. Accessed June 15, 2023. https://www.bvp.com/team/bob-goodman.
4. “Federal Election Commission search: Robert Goodman.” Federal Election Commission. Accessed June 15, 2023. https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/individual-contributions/?contributor_name=robert+goodman&contributor_employer=bessemer&contributor_employer=deer.
5. “Jayne Lipman.” American Jewish World Service. Accessed June 15, 2023. https://ajws.org/who-we-are/our-team/board/jayne-lipman/.
6. “Federal Election Commission search: Jayne Lipman.” Federal Election Commission. Accessed June 15, 2023. https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/individual-contributions/?contributor_name=Jayne+Lipman.
7. “Goodman-Lipman Family Foundation.” ProPublica. Accessed June 14, 2023. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/134052449/202201369349101930/full
8. “Goodman-Lipman Family Foundation.” ProPublica. Accessed June 14, 2023. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/134052449/202201369349101930/full.
9. ^[1] “Goodman-Lipman Family Foundation.” ProPublica. Accessed June 14, 2023. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/134052449/202143199349102184/full.