The Prospect Hill Foundation is a left-of-center organization which issues grants to pro-abortion, environmentalist, criminal justice reform, pro-immigration, and anti-nuclear proliferation groups. ¹

The Foundation was created in 1959, and as of 2018, it possesses $70,649,705 in assets. It issued $1,012,286 in grants to various left-of-center organizations in that year. ²

Background

The Prospect Hill Foundation was created in 1959 by William S. Beinecke, president and chairman of the Sperry and Hutchinson Company, a company that operated a trading stamps program founded by his great uncle Thomas Sperry, of the wealthy Beinecke family. His father, Fredrick W. Beinecke, was one of the co-founders of the Plaza Hotel in New York City. ³

In 1983 William S. Beinecke merged the Prospect Hill Foundation with his father’s Frederick W. Beinecke Fund. The organization was further augmented through the will of his mother, Carry Sperry Beinecke. ⁴

Grant Making

The Prospect Hill Foundation grants in five areas: pro-abortion organizations, environmentalist organizations, pro-immigration groups, anti-nuclear proliferation organizations, and criminal justice reform organizations. ¹

Organizations supported by the Prospect Hill Foundation in 2018 include⁵:

• Yale University
• Clinton Foundation
• A New Path
• Agencia ALPHA – Legal Immigration Services
• Alliance for Global Justice
• Alliance of Families for Justice
• Bronx River Alliance
• American Civil Liberties Union
• Arab American Association of New York
• Barre Center for Buddhist Studies
• Battery Conservancy
• Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth
• Center for Coastal Studies
• El Puente De Williamsburg – Leaders for Peace and Justice
• Fresh Air Fund
• Global Greengrants Fund
• Green Guerillas
• Habitat for Humanity
• Hispanic Federation
• Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis
• New Venture Fund
• New York Civil Liberties Union
• Vera Institute of Justice

Funding

The Prospect Hill Foundation has $70,649,705 in assets, generated $1,110,098 in revenue from dividends and interests in security, $4,736, 734 revenue from the sale of assets, and expended a total $2,609,277 on operating expenses and grants. ⁶

1. “About the Foundation” The Prospect Hill Foundation. http://prospect-hill.org/about-the-foundation/
2. “Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax.” Guidestar.org. Accessed August 10, 2019, Part I, Line 25; Part II, Line 16.
3. “ABOUT US – Our History” The Prospect Hill Foundation. http://fdnweb.org/beinecke/history/
4. “Annual Report 2016 – 2017” The Prospect Hill Foundation. http://prospect-hill.org/files/2019/03/PHF-Annual-Report-2016-17-webx.pdf
5. “Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax.” Guidestar.org. Accessed August 10, 2019, Part XV.
6. “Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax.” Guidestar.org. Accessed August 10, 2019, Part I, Lines 1-27.