Kohlberg Foundation

The Kohlberg Foundation is a private family foundation founded by private equity billionaire Jerome Kohlberg and his wife Nancy in 1989, based in Mt. Kisco, New York. The foundation provides grants to numerous left-of-center organizations, focused on legal policy related to health programs, the environment, and education. 1 In 2017, the Kohlberg Foundation was granted nearly $80 million in donations. 2 In 2019, the foundation received only $21 million in grants. 3

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At-A-Glance

Type: Non-profit, 501(c)(3), Private Foundation
Website: kohlbergfoundation.org
Formation:

1989

Executive Vice President, Treasurer, and Executive Director:

Nancy McCabe

Location: Mount Kisco, NY View on map
Tax ID: 13-3496263
Most Recent Filing: 2024
Budget (2024): Assets: $227,364,456 Revenue: $7,852,702 Expenses: $12,082,677

Contents

    Background

    Jerome Kohlberg, the cofounder of the private equity firm Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts, and Company (KKR) and a pioneer of the leveraged buyout, formed the Kohlberg Foundation with his wife in 1989. 4.

    At the age of 80, Kohlberg had a net worth of $1.2 billion. 5 Jerome Kohlberg died in 2015. 6 His wife Nancy served as president following her husband’s death until she passed away in August 2022 at the age of 92. 7 The organization’s website has not been updated to reflect a new president being chosen, but as of January 2023 Nancy McCabe is listed as the Executive Vice President, Treasurer, and Executive Director for the Kohlberg Foundation. 8

    Grantmaking Activity

    While many of the Kohlberg Foundation’s grants go to local organizations in Westchester, New York, the foundation supports many left-of-center organizations affecting policy on a national level.

    Legal Advocacy

    The Kohlberg Foundation contributes millions of dollars to the William J. Brennan Center for Justice, a major liberal legal policy advocacy group, providing $3 million in support in 2017. 9 The foundation has also supported the Alliance for Justice, a legal policy organization that advocates against the nomination of conservative and Republican-appointed judges and in favor of left-wing and Democratic-appointed ones. 10 In 2021, the Kohlberg Foundation donated $500,000 in grants to the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund as well as to Southern Poverty Law Center. 11

    Environmental Advocacy

    The Kohlberg Foundation is a regular funder of local and national environmental groups concerned with global warming and environmentalist energy policies. Environmentalist groups receiving contributions from the foundation include the Environmental Defense Fund and the Center for Biological Diversity. 9

    Other Left-of-Center Policy

    The Kohlberg Foundation makes grants to a number of general left-of-center advocacy organizations. In 2017, the Indivisible Fund, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, ProPublica, the Marshall Project, and Young Invincibles received support from Kohlberg Foundation. 9 In past years, it has provided seven-figure contributions to the assisted-dying advocacy group Compassion and Choices. 12 In 2021, the Kohlberg Foundation donated roughly $900,000 to grassroots advocacy group Indivisible Civic Engagement, with another $500,000 donated to voter protection advocacy group Protect Democracy. 11

    Donation Recipients

    Financial Statistics

    Total Assets

    Total Revenue

    Total Expenses

    YearTotal AssetsTotal RevenueTotal ExpensesFiling
    2024 $227,364,456 $7,852,702 $12,082,677 View
    2023 $225,496,054 $11,102,898 $11,923,085 View
    2022 $210,490,602 $18,458,015 $21,049,890 View
    2021 $261,913,151 $23,005,504 $12,716,065 View
    2020 $242,708,405 $17,933,951 $12,698,569 View

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

    Expenses Detail

    Employee Compensation

    Highest Earning Employees

    EmployeeTitleTotal Compensation
    Nancy McCabePRESIDENT AND TREASURER$392,944
    Rita FraganoCONTROLLER$186,366
    Amanda DehaanOFFICE MANAGER$96,754

    Grant Activity

    All-time grants given statistics from Candid dataset:

    • Total Grant Value: $331,454,274
    • Number of Grants: 1,791
    • Number of Recipients: 443

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

    AmountYearFunderSubject
    $3,000,0002022 Brennen Center for JusticePROPOSAL FOR FISCAL 2022-2023 WORK PER NSK
    $2,500,0002023 SPONSORS INCLEGACY GIFT FOR PERMANENT RESERVE PART II
    $2,500,0002022 SPONSORS INCLEGACY GIFT FOR PERMANENT RESERVE – PART 1
    $2,000,0002024 Bank of America Charitable Gift Fund2024 PAYOUT TO SIBLING DAF'S – FOR KAREN DAVIS CALICO CAT FUND
    $2,000,0002024 Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund2024 PAYOUT TO SIBLING DAF'S – FOR PAMELA KOHLBERG
    $2,000,0002024 National Philanthropic Trust2024 PAYOUT TO SIBLING DAF'S – FOR ANDREW KOHLBERG
    $2,000,0002020 Kunhardt Film Foundation dba Life StoriesFinal payment for permanent reserve fund to support film projects per LOL.
    $1,000,0002023 Bank of America Charitable Gift Fund2023 PAYOUT TO SIBLING DAF'S, KAREN DAVIS CALICO CAT ACCT
    $1,000,0002023 Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund2023 PAYOUT TO SIBLING DAF'S, PAM KOHLBERG A/C 34585
    $1,000,0002023 Hudson Link for Higher Education in Prison Inc2023 NEW BEGINNINGS, FINISH LINE, PERMANENT RESERVE FUND
    $1,000,0002023 National Philanthropic Trust2023 PAYOUT TO SIBLING DAF'S, JAMES KOHLBERG A/C 10333
    $1,000,0002023 National Philanthropic Trust2023 PAYOUT TO SIBLING DAF'S, ANDREW KOHLBERG A/C 332992
    $1,000,0002022 Schwab CharitiesFOR THE CHARITABLE GIVING A/C OF LES FAGEN
    $1,000,0002021 Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism CUNY Foundation Inc.Dean's Opportunity Fund. Renewed Support.
    $1,000,0002020 Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism CUNY Foundation Inc.Dean's Opportunity Fund. Renewed Support.
    $900,0002022 SPONSORS INCGENERAL SUPPORT/CAPITAL PROGRAM, COLEMAN PROJECT
    $900,0002021 Indivisible Civic Engagement IncFor 501 c3 activities in capacity building and Democracy policy work
    $900,0002021 SPONSORS INCGeneral Support and capital project-Long term housing units.
    $850,0002020 Indivisible Civic Engagement IncFor 501 c3 activities in capacity building and policy work in environmental and social justice, election protection, peaceful transition, voter education challenge grant.
    $750,0002023 Indivisible Civic Engagement IncFOR 501C3 ACTIVITIES IN CAPACITY BUILDING AND DEMOCRACY POLICY WORK, PERMANENT RESERVE
    $500,0002024 Indivisible Civic Engagement IncGENERAL SUPPORT – 2025 501C3 OPERATIONS
    $500,0002024 WILLIAM J BRENNAN JR CENTER FOR JUSTICE INCGENERAL SUPPORT – JK/NSK LEGACY GIFTS
    $500,0002023 Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism CUNY Foundation Inc.SCHOLARSHIP FUND IN HONOR OF SARAH BARTLETT
    $500,0002022 Southern Poverty Law Center IncVOTING YOUR VOICE PROGRAM, REDISTRICTING LITIGATION, VOTING RIGHTS, ELECTION INTEGRITY
    $500,0002021 NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc.Democracy programs, Voter Proctection, Voting Integrity, Civil Rights, Peaceful Transition.

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

    Mentioned in this Article

    References

    1. kohlbergfoundation.org. Accesssed August 15, 2019. http://kohlbergfoundation.org/files/2018/11/ar-fs-2017.pdf
    2. Kohlberg Foundation, Return of Private Foundation (Form 990-PF), 2017, Part I Line 25
    3. Suozzo, Andrea, Ken Schwencke, Mike Tigas, Sisi Wei, Alec Glassford, and Brandon Roberts. “Kohlberg Foundation Inc, Full Filing – Nonprofit Explorer.” ProPublica, May 9, 2013. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/133496263/202043219349104404/full.
    4. “Kohlberg Foundation.” Inside Philanthropy. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/fundraising-in-new-york-city/kohlberg-foundation
    5. “#645 Jerome Kohlberg, Jr.” Forbes.com, February 13, 2006. Accesssed August 15, 2019. https://www.forbes.com/lists/2006/10/1CAW.html
    6. De La Merced, Michael  J. “Jerome Kohlberg Jr., Pioneer of the Private Equity Industry, Dies at 90.” The New York Times, August 1, 2015. www.nytimes.com/2015/08/01/business/dealbook/jerome-kohlberg-jr-90-a-pioneer-of-the-private-equity-industry-dies.html.
    7. Wells, Julia. “Nancy Kohlberg, Quiet and Generous Force for Sustainable Living, Dies at 92.” The Vineyard Gazette – Martha’s Vineyard News, September 1, 2022. https://vineyardgazette.com/news/2022/09/01/nancy-kohlberg-quiet-force-sustainable-living-who-gave-generously-dies-92.
    8. “Board & Staff.” The Kohlberg Foundation. Accessed January 20, 2023. http://kohlbergfoundation.org/board-staff/.
    9. Kohlberg Foundation, Return of Private Foundation (Form 990-PF), 2017, Part XV Line 3
    10. Data compiled by FoundationSearch.com subscription service, a project of Metasoft Systems, Inc., from forms filed with the IRS. Queries conducted September 23, 2019.
    11. “Kohlberg Foundation 2021 Annual Report.” Kohlberg Foundation. Accessed January 20, 2023. https://kohlbergfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/ar-2021.pdf.
    12. Data compiled by FoundationSearch.com subscription service, a project of MetaSoft Systems, Inc., from forms filed with the IRS. Queries conducted September 23, 2019.