Overbrook Foundation

The Overbrook Foundation is a New York City-based grantmaking foundation founded in 1948 by investor Frank Altschul and his wife Helen. Today, the Overbrook Foundation’s grants are focused on funding for left-of-center groups supporting social liberalism and environmentalism.

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At-A-Glance

Type: Non-profit, 501(c)(3), Private Foundation
Issue Areas: Environmental Policy
Formation:

1948

President:

Eric Weingartner

Location: New York, NY View on map
Tax ID: 13-6088860
Most Recent Filing: 2024
Budget (2024): Assets: $217,509,522 Revenue: $22,870,198 Expenses: $13,212,958

Contents

    Overbrook has an endowment of $150 million and has donated more than $188 million. 1 The Overbrook Foundation does not accept unsolicited grant applications from groups that are not already being funded by the Foundation. 2

    Background

    The Overbrook Foundation was founded in 1948 by Helen Altschul and Frank Altschul, a former New York investment banker. Overbrook is now led by their descendants and a small staff. The Overbrook Foundation’s primary areas of funding are social liberal advocacy (called “human rights” by the Foundation) and environmental issues. 3

    Grantmaking Areas

    Social Liberalism

    The Overbrook Foundation has focused much of its human rights funding on social liberal causes, including LGBT interests and abortion rights.

    Overbrook contributed $50,000 to the Freedom to Marry movement in 2015, the campaign that pushed most heavily for legalizing same-sex marriage. Overbrook contributes $60,000 annually to Lambda Legal, a left-leaning LGBT advocacy group. 4

    In 2015 alone, the Overbrook Foundation contributed $500,000 to pro-abortion groups like National Advocates for Pregnant Women, National Network of Abortion Funds, and URGE: Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity. 5

    In 2013, the Overbrook Foundation helped develop the Building Equity and Alignment Impact (BEAI) Fund to support organizing in the environmental movement. Their goal is to raise and disperse $10 million to local-level environmental advocacy groups. 6

    The Overbrook Foundation is a major funder of ­­Climate Justice Alliance (CJA), a left-of-center activist group that supports the radical environmentalist proposal Green New Deal. 7 CJA is the principle organizer for the People’s Climate Marches, a national movement to protest environmental policies. 3

    People

    Leadership

    Eric Weingartner is the president of the Overbrook Foundation as of January 2023. He was previously the director of The Door plus Broome Street Academy, a youth services organization based in New York City, from 2016 to 2021. Prior, he was the managing director of charity organization the Robin Hood Foundation. He also served as a policy advisor for both Mayor Rudy Guiliani and Mayor Michael Bloomberg during their terms as mayor of NYC. 8

    Stephen A. Foster is the former President and Chief Executive Officer of the Overbrook Foundation. He previously served as the Chair of the Steering Committee for the Sunrise Initiative for Human Rights and co-chaired the Civil Marriage Collaborative (CMC). Foster is the former president of the Charles A. Dana Foundation. 9

    The Lead Environmental Advisor to the Overbrook Foundation is Daniel R. Katz, who co-founded the Rainforest Alliance, where he is the Board Chair and former president. He is a former Kellogg Foundation National Leadership Fellow, and has worked with organizations like People for the American Way, Grist.org and the Nespresso Sustainability Advisory Board. Katz is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. 9

    Donation Recipients

    Financial Statistics

    Total Assets

    Total Revenue

    Total Expenses

    YearTotal AssetsTotal RevenueTotal ExpensesFiling
    2024 $217,509,522 $22,870,198 $13,212,958 View
    2023 $201,495,759 $3,210,147 $13,862,002 View
    2022 $181,857,459 $7,907,361 $14,542,402 View
    2021 $220,249,315 $33,222,994 $12,337,763 View
    2020 $192,018,982 $8,819,200 $12,716,717 View

    Prior year filings: 2019, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011

    Expenses Detail

    Employee Compensation

    Highest Earning Employees

    EmployeeTitleTotal Compensation
    Eric WeingartnerPRESIDENT & CEO$526,500
    Noah LeffCFAO$373,625
    Risa KaufmanDIRECTOR, HUMAN RIGH$247,143
    Nikole NeilonSENIOR GRANTS ADM MA$137,740
    Sarah BarnabySR PROGRAM ASSOCIATE$101,210
    Courtney DobbsPROGRAM ASSISTANT$81,288

    Grant Activity

    All-time grants given statistics from Candid dataset:

    • Total Grant Value: $92,158,556
    • Number of Grants: 2,044
    • Number of Recipients: 632

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

    AmountYearFunderSubject
    $1,704,8832022 Community Funds IncDonor Advised Funds Installment & Fee
    $1,669,5902024 Community Funds IncFunding of Donor Advised Funds
    $1,667,4962023 Community Funds IncFunding of Donor Advised Funds
    $1,409,2712021 Community Funds IncDIRECTOR DAF FUNDING
    $300,0002021 Plastic Solutions FundGENERAL OPERATING SUPPORT
    $250,0002021 LOUISIANA BUCKET BRIGADE$50,000 FOR GENERAL OPERATING SUPPORT AND $200,000 TO SUPPORT GRASSROOT GROUPS
    $200,0002024 Environment America Research and Policy Center IncCleaner, Quieter Lawn Care: Moving America away from gas-powered lawn equipment
    $200,0002023 Environment America Research and Policy Center IncMoving America away from Gas-Powered Lawn Equipment
    $200,0002022 Plastic Solutions FundGeneral Operating Support
    $150,0002024 MONGABAYORG CORPORATIONGeneral Operating Support
    $150,0002024 NEO PhilanthropyState Infrastructure Fund
    $150,0002023 MONGABAYORG CORPORATIONGeneral Operating Support
    $150,0002022 Proteus Fund IncRights, Faith, & Democracy Collaborative
    $150,0002021 PROTEUS FUND INCRIGHTS, FAITH, & DEMOCRACY COLLABORATIVE
    $150,0002021 Way to WinGENERAL OPERATING SUPPORT
    $150,0002020 PROTEUS FUND INCProteus Fund partners with foundations, advocates, and individual donors to advance democracy, human rights and peace.
    $125,0002023 PROTEUS FUND INCPiper Fund
    $125,0002022 Proteus Fund IncGeneral Operating Support
    $125,0002021 Piper FundPIPER FUND: BUILDING A HEALTHY DEMOCRACY FOR ALL
    $125,0002020 Piper FundThe vision of the Piper Fund is a healthy democracy that works for everyone. Piper is a donor collaborative of the Proteus Fund that joins foundations and individuals in setting and implementing a US/National strategy aimed at protecting and strengthening democracy. We are a US/National leader in addressing the corrosive influence of money and special interests on our democracy, protecting and advancing judicial independence, and protecting the right to protest.
    $105,0002022 National Asian Pacific American Womens ForumGeneral Operating Support
    $101,0002021 WILLIAM J BRENNAN JR CENTER FOR JUSTICE INCMONEY IN POLITICS PROJECT
    $100,5152024 Lawyering Project IncGeneral Operating Support
    $100,0002024 Billion Oyster ProjectGeneral Operating Support
    $100,0002024 GREENWAVE ORGANIZATION CORPGeneral Operating Support

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

    Mentioned in this Article

    References

    1. “About.” The Overbrook Foundation. Accessed August 14, 2019.  https://www.overbrook.org/mission-value-history
    2. “Apply.” The Overbrook Foundation. Accessed August 14, 2019.  https://www.overbrook.org/apply
    3. Williams, Tate. “A Small Family Funder Trying to Cure What Ails Environmentalism.” Inside Philanthropy. July 25, 2017. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2017/7/25/a-small-family-funder-trying-to-cure-what-ails-environmentalism
    4. “Human Rights, Marriage Equality.” The Overbrook Foundation. Accessed August 14, 2019. https://www.overbrook.org/marriage-equality-2015
    5. “Human Rights, Reproductive Justice.” The Overbrook Foundation. Accessed August 14, 2019. https://overbrook.org/reproductive-justice-2015
    6. “Our Work.” Building Equity and Alignment for Impact. Accessed August 14, 2019. https://bea4impact.org/work
    7. “CJA and the Green New Deal.” Climate Justice Alliance. Accessed August 14, 2019. https://climatejusticealliance.org/gnd/
    8. “Board and Team.” The Overbrook Foundation. Accessed January 23, 2023. https://www.overbrook.org/board-and-team.
    9. “Board & Staff.” The Overbook Foundation. Accessed September 30, 2019. https://www.overbrook.org/board-and-staff