The S. Mark Taper Foundation is a private grantmaking foundation based in Los Angeles, California. The foundation was founded by Los Angeles real estate developer and donor S. Mark Taper, who was best known for large gifts to Los Angeles museums and preforming art centers, in 1989, and has been operated by his daughter Janice Taper Lazarof.

The foundation controls nearly $150 million in assets and makes over $6 million in grants annually exclusively to Southern California-based organizations and contributes to multiple left-leaning advocacy organizations in the area including the Venice Community Housing Coalition, The Korean Immigrant Workers Advocates of Southern California, and the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. ^{1 2}

Background

The S. Mark Taper Foundation was founded in 1989 by Sydney Mark “S. Mark” Taper. Taper was a California investor and developer born in Poland and found success as a home developer and investor in England before retiring to California in the late 1930s, where he obtained American citizenship and began to spend some of his wealth to relocate hundreds of Jewish and Catholic children from Nazi Germany. He also reentered the business community as a developer of suburban housing for soldiers returning from World War II, founded the First Charter Financial Corporation of Beverly Hills, and worked as its President and Chairman. ³

Taper was well-known in the Los Angeles area later in his life for being a major donor to the arts in the city. He donated $1.5 million to the Los Angeles Music Center, which named one of its theaters, the Mark Taper Forum, after him. Taper also financed the modern works gallery at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art as a memorial to his late wife Amelia and was a major donor to the University of California, Los Angeles. ⁴

Mark Taper died in 1994, five years after the founding of the S. Mark Taper Foundation. The Foundation is directed by Taper’s daughter, Janice Taper who has led the foundation since her father’s death. ⁵

Organization

As of 2021, the S. Mark Taper Foundation manages over $146 million in assets and gives over $6 million in grants annually. The foundation solicits applications for its grants and states that it only considered funding a grant application from applicants that are 501(c)(3) registered nonprofits located within one of eight southern California counties in the Los Angeles, San Diego, and Santa Barbara areas. The foundation will only fund a particular grant applicant once every three years. While the foundation contributes to a variety of educational organizations, its guidelines specifically state that they do not generally approve grant applications to charter schools. ⁶

Giving

The S. Mark Taper foundation gives to a variety of left-leaning advocacy groups and nonprofits local to southern California. Organizations funded by the foundation include the Asian Pacific Community Fund, Child360, El Centro De Amistad, Family Assistance Center, Family Support Network, the Giffords Law Center to Reduce Gun Violence, the LA Family Housing Corporation, the Venice Community Housing Coalition, The Korean Immigrant Workers Advocates of Southern California, The Trevor Project, Young StoryTellers, Planned Parenthood Los Angeles, Planned Parenthood Pasadena and San Gabriel Valley, Uncommon Good, and the Los Angeles Center for Law and Justice. ^{7 8}

1. “IRS Form 990.” S. Mark Taper Foundation. 2019. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/320516588/12_2020_prefixes_26-35%2F320516588_201912_990PF_2020120217464047
2. de Louraille, Claire. “Origin Stories: A Cheat Sheet For Six of L.A.’s Biggest Benefactors.” Los Angeles Magazine. December 1, 2014. Accessed August 8, 2021. https://www.lamag.com/citythinkblog/origin-stories-cheat-sheet-six-l-s-biggest-benefactors/
3. “S. Mark Taper, 92; California Financier Gave to the Arts.” New York Times. December 17, 1994. Accessed August 8, 2021. https://www.nytimes.com/1994/12/17/obituaries/s-mark-taper-92-california-financier-gave-to-the-arts.html
4. “S. Mark Taper, 92; California Financier Gave to the Arts.” New York Times. December 17, 1994. Accessed August 8, 2021. https://www.nytimes.com/1994/12/17/obituaries/s-mark-taper-92-california-financier-gave-to-the-arts.html
5. de Louraille, Claire. “Origin Stories: A Cheat Sheet For Six of L.A.’s Biggest Benefactors.” Los Angeles Magazine. December 1, 2014. Accessed August 8, 2021. https://www.lamag.com/citythinkblog/origin-stories-cheat-sheet-six-l-s-biggest-benefactors/
6. de Louraille, Claire. “Origin Stories: A Cheat Sheet For Six of L.A.’s Biggest Benefactors.” Los Angeles Magazine. December 1, 2014. Accessed August 8, 2021. https://www.lamag.com/citythinkblog/origin-stories-cheat-sheet-six-l-s-biggest-benefactors/
7. “IRS Form 990.” S. Mark Taper Foundation. 2019. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/320516588/12_2020_prefixes_26-35%2F320516588_201912_990PF_2020120217464047
8. “IRS Form 990.” S. Mark Taper Foundation. 2018. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/320516588/12_2019_prefixes_32-35%2F320516588_201812_990PF_2019121916968345