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Non-profit

Miami Foundation

Website:

miamifoundation.org/
Location:

Miami, FL
Tax ID:

65-0350357
Tax-Exempt Status:

501(c)(3)

Budget (2022):

Revenue: $113,981,496
Expenses: $81,136,698
Assets: $438,006,992
Type:

Grantmaking Organization
President and CEO:

Rebecca Fishman Lipsey
Board Chair:

Erin Knight

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The Miami Foundation is a community grantmaking foundation located in Miami, Florida. The foundation offers donors the opportunity to create a donor-advised fund within the foundation for donors to direct their funds to recipient organizations. Much of the organization’s funding activity focuses on the greater Miami and south Florida region although the group is both funded by and funds national organizations and groups in other states. 1

The foundation fiscally sponsors a program titled Representative Democracy, which promotes left-of-center diversity, equity, and inclusion philosophy within government. Funders of the foundation include many notable left-of-center grantmaking organizations such as the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, and the Democracy Fund. 2 3 4 1

The foundation is the fiscal sponsor organization of NewsMatch, a collaborative fundraising group that provides funding to nonprofit news outlet organizations that was previously called, “…the largest collaborative fundraiser for nonprofit news in the U.S.” 5 6

Background

The Miami Foundation was established in 1967 and distributed $485 million in its first 50 years of existence, mostly focusing on projects in the Miami area. Unlike other foundations, the Miami Foundation allows its funders to set up donor-advised funds (DAFs) within the organization that allows the donor to personalize their giving through the foundation while he or she is living. The foundation manages over 1,000 such funds and has more than $350 million in assets under management as of 2022. 1

The organization has promoted a variety of left-of-center movements and causes including launching a “racial equity fund” to “address systemic racism” in 2020, a program that has received a $1 million donation from Facebook. The foundation also directed funding to promote completion of the 2020 Census. 1 7

The Miami Foundation also has a longstanding partnership with the National LGBTQ Task Force to fund local LGBT organizations in the Miami area. 7

The foundation is the fiscal sponsor organization of NewsMatch, a collaborative fundraising group that provides funding to nonprofit news outlet organizations that was previously called, “…the largest collaborative fundraiser for nonprofit news in the U.S.” 5 6 NewsMatch is also a project of the Institute for Nonprofit News (INN), a network of nonprofit news outlet organizations that include Mother Jones, ProPublica, and The Intercept. 8 In December 2024, NewsMatch (designated as “Newsmatch – Fund for Nonprofit News at The Miami Foundation”) was listed as one of the major 2024 funders for Aspen Journalism, a left-of-center news nonprofit within the Aspen, CO region that focuses on covering environmentalism, social justice, and water management policy. 9

Representative Democracy

The Miami Foundation allows small nonprofits to be housed as a project under its umbrella. One such organization fiscally sponsored by the Miami Foundation is called Representative Democracy, which is described as promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) among government agency employees and elected officials. The project does not have a listing on the foundations website but grant databases from donors to the effort explain that the program is centered on providing grants and training to form DEI programs and strategies in public sector workspaces. The program also states a goal of bringing such initiatives to the U.S. Congress. The Representative Democracy Program has drawn funding from notable left-of-center funding groups including the Hewlett Foundation and the Democracy Fund. 3 2 10

Funding

The Miami Foundation’s racial equity program has received funding from companies and organizations including Facebook, the Jorge M. Perez Foundation, JP Morgan Chase, Amalgamated Foundation, the Edward S. Moore Family Foundation, the Fernandez Pave the Way Foundation, the Five Together Foundation, the Bacardi Family Foundation, Google, and Wells Fargo. 7

In 2021, the foundation received the largest gift in its history of $33 million from the Jorge M. Perez Family Foundation. 7

Members of the foundation’s Ruth and Richard Shack Society recognizing funding of over $1 million to the foundation include the Batchelor Foundation, the City of Miami, former U.S. Ambassador to Iceland Charles E. Cobb, the Good Government Initiative Fund, The Greenberg Traurig Philanthropic Fund, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Miami-Dade Office of the State Attorney, the Miami Heat, the Marlins Foundation, Royal Caribbean, and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. 4

Financials

According to its 2023 990 form, the Miami Foundation reported a revenue of $133,524,071, expenses at $79,026,991, and total assets of $524,999,533. 11

According to its 2022 990 form, the foundation reported a revenue of $113,981,496, expenses of $81,136,698, and total assets of $438,006,992. 12

Leadership

Rebecca Fishman Lipsey is the president and CEO of the Miami Foundation since being appointed in 2020. Prior to the foundation, Lipsey worked on the Florida Board of Education was the founder of”incubator” organization Radical Partners, and also worked as a public school teacher. 13

Erin Knight is the board chair of the Miami Foundation and is also the president of Monument Capital Management. In addition, she is also a board member for the Baptist Health Foundation and the March of Dimes. 14

References

  1. “About.” Miami Foundation. Accessed May 5, 2022. https://miamifoundation.org/about/
  2. “Representative Democracy.” Democracy Fund. Accessed May 5, 2022. https://democracyfund.org/grant/representative-democracy/
  3. “The Miami Foundation for the Representative Democracy program.” Hewlett Foundation. Accessed May 5, 2022. https://hewlett.org/grants/the-miami-foundation-for-the-representative-democracy-program/
  4. “Ruth and Richard Shack Society.” Miami Foundation. Accessed May 5, 2022. https://miamifoundation.org/fordonors/ruth-and-richard-shack-society/
  5. Downing, Andy. “Donate to our NewsMatch campaign today and support nonprofit news.” Matter News. Novemeber 9, 2022. Accessed March 31, 2025. https://www.matternews.org/voices/donate-to-our-newsmatch-campaign-today-and-support-nonprofit-news
  6. “Home.” NewsMatch Powered by INN, Accessed March 31, 2025. https://newsmatch.inn.org/
  7. “2021 Annual Report.” Miami Foundation. Accessed May 5, 2022. https://miamifoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/20220322-TMF-Annual-Report21-FINAL.pdf
  8. “INN Network Directory.” Institute for Nonprofit News. Accessed December 4, 2023. https://findyournews.org/campaign/inn-network-directory/
  9. “2024 Donors and Funders.” Aspen Journalism, Accessed March 31, 2025. https://aspenjournalism.org/aspen-journalism-donors-and-funders/
  10. “Fiscal Sponsorship Funds.” Miami Foundation. Accessed May 5, 2022.  https://miamifoundation.org/fordonors/fiscal-sponsorship-funds/
  11. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). Miami Foundation. 2023. Part I. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/650350357/202402689349300135/full
  12. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). Miami Foundation. 2022. Part I. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/650350357/202332659349301603/full
  13. “Rebecca Fishman Lipsey.” Miami Foundation, Accessed March 31, 2025. https://miamifoundation.org/staff/rebecca-fishman-lipsey-biography/
  14. “Erin Knight.” Miami Foundation, Accessed March 31, 2025. https://miamifoundation.org/board/ERIN-KNIGHT-biography/
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Nonprofit Information

  • Accounting Period: December - November
  • Tax Exemption Received: October 1, 1992

    • 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
    2022 Dec Form 990 $113,981,496 $81,136,698 $438,006,992 $39,473,428 N $97,215,732 $1,108,691 $9,073,860 $982,002
    2021 Dec Form 990 $147,324,669 $70,287,015 $460,864,709 $37,241,193 N $109,364,055 $875,468 $7,863,593 $683,496
    2020 Dec Form 990 $73,742,948 $83,051,681 $375,583,177 $36,356,543 N $66,412,723 $572,803 $4,635,821 $589,169
    2019 Dec Form 990 $71,214,256 $68,006,929 $358,919,569 $34,040,550 N $58,686,378 $846,158 $6,298,234 $788,393 PDF
    2018 Dec Form 990 $80,485,028 $67,556,703 $323,872,937 $32,774,385 Y $61,615,897 $243,162 $5,558,427 $768,076 PDF
    2017 Dec Form 990 $122,690,429 $61,191,778 $354,920,519 $52,619,928 N $106,436,266 $3,477,839 $5,936,150 $769,353 PDF
    2016 Dec Form 990 $57,468,145 $43,120,575 $276,319,137 $54,195,300 N $50,401,780 $3,219,201 $2,748,158 $0 PDF
    2015 Dec Form 990 $71,680,322 $49,346,100 $271,717,285 $76,086,388 Y $58,430,912 $3,199,847 $3,883,910 $0 PDF
    2014 Dec Form 990 $65,357,937 $50,851,692 $207,098,213 $29,133,355 N $53,983,590 $2,935,489 $3,367,402 $753,543 PDF
    2013 Dec Form 990 $50,377,927 $24,700,169 $187,363,360 $23,888,473 N $41,648,980 $2,066,340 $3,099,692 $570,992 PDF
    2012 Dec Form 990 $27,897,432 $23,383,910 $149,923,050 $19,615,889 N $21,768,342 $0 $3,218,116 $645,213 PDF
    2011 Dec Form 990 $31,628,110 $21,722,850 $137,834,753 $16,737,118 N $26,079,522 $0 $2,879,251 $769,487 PDF
    2010 Dec Form 990 $10,483,634 $17,862,383 $132,034,034 $17,267,705 N $7,695,303 $0 $2,365,195 $546,455 PDF

    Additional Filings (PDFs)

    Miami Foundation


    Miami, FL