Non-profit

Harold K. Raisler Foundation

Location:

New York, NY

Tax ID:

13-6094406

Tax-Exempt Status:

501(c)(3)

Budget (2019):

Revenue: $58,034
Expenses: $111,669
Assets: $1,629,429

Type:

Private Foundation

Founded:

1958

President:

Jonathan Cohn

Contact InfluenceWatch with suggested edits or tips for additional profiles.

The Harold K. Raisler Foundation Inc. (HKRF) is a left-of-center private grantmaker founded in 1958 from family wealth sourced from the Raisler Corporation of New York, a mechanical systems installation business. 1 HKRF makes multiple small grants each year to organizations associated with the abolition of prisons, increased environmental regulation, and expanded access to abortion. 2 The foundation is led by founder Harold K. Raisler’s son-in-law and grandchildren. 3

Organization

The left-of-center Harold K. Raisler Foundation Inc. (HKRF) was founded by Harold K. Raisler with family funds generated by the Raisler Corporation, a New York company that provided mechanical systems installation for skyscraper buildings including the World Apparel Center, Xerox Tower, and the Greenwich Club Residences. 4

HKRF is led by Jonathan Cohn, Raisler’s son-in-law, and Cohn’s two children, Josh Raisler-Cohn and Josina Raisler-Cohn. They direct the organization’s small grants, typically $500 to $3,000, to mostly left-wing organizations. 5

Leadership

Jonathan Cohn, an advocate for government-controlled single-payer health care, is president of HKRF. His son Josh Raisler-Cohn, a public defender in the Roxbury Defenders Unit, and co-chair of the Mass Defense Committee, is treasurer. Cohn’s daughter Josina Raisler-Cohn, a trial attorney for the Committee for Public Council Services in the Sommerville Superior Court of New York, serves as a board member. 6 7 8

Finances

Revenue for 2018 was $48,516 generated from dividends and interest while expenses totaled $101,951, of which contributions, gifts and grants represented $97,780. Net assets at the end of the year were $1,689,965 down from $1,745,417 at the beginning of the year. 9

Notable Grants

A $2,530 grant was made in 2016 to the National Lawyers Guild Foundation (NLGF) the funding arm of the National Lawyers Guild (NLG), a left-wing organization that advocates for the abolition of prisons and provides legal services for illegal immigrants. 10 NLG’s Los Angeles branch is a part of the left-wing Check the Sheriff Coalition, formed to oppose alleged violence of the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, and counts as its members far-left Black Lives Matter-Los Angeles (BLMLA); the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California (ACLUSC), and Occupy ICE LA, a supporter of the Palestinian movement, the elimination of national borders, and the elimination of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). 11 12 13

HKRF also made grants to Left-wing Critical Resistance, a left-wing organization attempting to end the arrest and imprisonment of criminals; Earthjustice, formerly the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund; the Sierra Club, a left-of-center environmental organization; Planned Parenthood; the Center for Reproductive Rights, a left-of center organization that fights pro-life laws; LGBT Detroit, which seeks to build awareness and advocates for the LGBT community; 14 Resist, a people of color only organization that is anti-capitalist; 15 the National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC), an organization that works to end alleged racism and homophobia; 16 he LGBT Racial Justice Fund; and the left-of-center Lawyer’s Committee For Civil Rights Under Law, whose former CEO Kristen Clarke heads the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice in the Biden administration. 17 18

References

  1. [1] GmbH, STR Germany. “Emporis.” EMPORIS. Accessed September 22, 2021. https://www.emporis.com/companies/113207/raisler-corporation-new-york-city-ny-usa.
  2. “Harold K Raisler Foundation INC” Return of Private Foundation (990-PF) 2018 Part XV.
  3. “Harold K Raisler Foundation INC” Return of Private Foundation (990-PF) 2018 Part XIII, Line 1.
  4. GmbH, STR Germany. “Emporis.” EMPORIS. Accessed September 22, 2021. https://www.emporis.com/companies/113207/raisler-corporation-new-york-city-ny-usa.
  5. “Harold K Raisler Foundation INC” Return of Private Foundation (990-PF) 2018 Part XIII, Line 1.
  6. “Board & Staff.” National Lawyers Guild MASS Chapter. Accessed September 22, 2021. https://nlgmass.org/board-staff/.
  7. Conte, JD. “CSDI Event Informs Student Protesters of Their Rights.” The Suffolk Journal. Accessed September 22, 2021. https://thesuffolkjournal.com/31158/news/student-protestors-should-know-their-rights-according-to-csdi/.
  8. Loaded on Jan. 7, 2020 by Victoria Law published in Prison Legal News January. The Other Family Separation: Prisoners Fight to Keep Their Children | Prison Legal News. Accessed September 22, 2021. https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/2020/jan/7/other-family-separation-prisoners-fight-keep-their-children/.
  9. “Harold K Raisler Foundation INC” Return of Private Foundation (990-PF). 2018. Part I lines 12, 25, 26. Part II, Line 30
  10. “#NLG80: Celebrating 80 Years: National Lawyers Guild.” National Lawyers Guild | “Human rights over property interests”, June 29, 2018. https://www.nlg.org/nlg80/
  11. “About.” Check the Sheriff Coalition. Accessed September 22, 2021. https://www.checkthesheriff.com/about.
  12. “Log in or Sign up to View.” Facebook. Accessed September 22, 2021. https://www.facebook.com/occupyicela/.
  13. Twitter. Twitter. Accessed September 25, 2021. https://twitter.com/CheckSheriff.
  14. [1] “Our History.” LGBT Detroit. Accessed September 22, 2021. https://www.lgbtdetroit.org/ourhistory
  15. “Organizational Principles Doc.” RESIST. Accessed September 22, 2021. http://resist.org/organizational-principles-doc/.
  16. “About us_.” NBJC, February 16, 2021. https://nbjc.org/nbjcabout-us/.
  17. “Harold K Raisler Foundation INC” Return of Private Foundation (990-PF) 2018 Part XV.
  18. “The LGBTQ Racial Justice Fund Is a Collaborative Philanthropic Initiative Focused On.” LGBTQ Racial Justice Fund. Accessed September 22, 2021. http://www.lgbtqracialjusticefund.org/about/.
  See an error? Let us know!

Nonprofit Information

  • Accounting Period: December - November
  • Tax Exemption Received: October 1, 1958

  • 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
    2019 Dec Form PF $58,034 $111,669 $1,629,429 $1 $0 $0 $0 $0
    2015 Dec Form PF $80,803 $99,658 $1,836,666 $1 $0 $0 $0 $0 PDF
    2014 Dec Form PF $58,446 $93,154 $1,857,685 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 PDF
    2013 Dec Form PF $101,176 $101,898 $1,892,393 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 PDF
    2012 Dec Form PF $93,857 $104,002 $1,893,115 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 PDF
    2011 Dec Form PF $81,559 $105,770 $1,903,260 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 PDF

    Additional Filings (PDFs)

    Harold K. Raisler Foundation

    1411 Broadway
    9th Floor
    New York, NY