Sarah Min and Matt Pincus Foundation is a private grantmaking foundation created by the couple Sarah Min, an advisory commission official in the Biden administration, and Matt Pincus, a music industry investor. The foundation donates to left-of center activist groups as well as left-leaning voter registration organizations, ¹ including the Voter Registration Project. ²

Grantmaking

Left-Wing Policy

Sarah Min and Matt Pincus Foundation donates to a variety of left-of-center organizations. In 2020, the foundation gave $75,000 to Colorofchange.org Education Fund, a partner organization of Color of Change, a prominent, left-wing lobbying group for African-American interests. ³

That same year, the foundation also gave $100,000 to the Michigan Civic Education Fund, the 501(c)3 affiliate of the Michigan Civic Action Fund and a pass-through organization for left-leaning political activism. ⁴

Additional donations from the Foundation include $50,000 to the pro-abortion Planned Parenthood Federation of America as well as nearly $63,000 to the Surfrider Foundation, a nationwide environmentalist group. ⁵

Voter Registration and Turnout

In 2019, the Sarah Min and Matt Pincus Foundation gave $100,000 to the Voter Registration Project, a voter mobilization group which targets African-American, Latino, Native American, low-income, and other voter groups likely to lean left-of-center. ⁶ Though the organization claims a non-partisan affiliation, it is run by individuals with long-standing connections to left-of-center nonprofits. Voter Registration Project, which also goes by the name Everybody Votes, reportedly operated under a model to micro-target voter registration drives in swing states like Arizona, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Virgnia, and Nevada between 2016 to 2020 to reshape the electorate and boost left-of-center turnout in 2020. ⁷

In 2019, the foundation gave $100,000 to the Voter Participation Center, another voter registration project focused on registering Democratic-leaning voting populations, ⁸ including unmarried women, minorities, and millennials. ⁹

The foundation continued it electioneering efforts with a $25,000 donation in 2020 to the National Vote at Home Institute, an advocacy organization that pushes for controversial nationwide vote-by-mail electoral systems. ¹⁰

That same year, the foundation gave $100,000 to One Arizona, another left-of-center voter registration and mobilization organization focused on Arizona. ¹¹

Funders

Sarah Min and Matt Pincus Foundation regularly receives funding from the Pincus Family Fund, which itself is funded by the late father of Matt Pincus, ¹² Lionel Pincus, through the Lionel I Pincus Trust. ¹³ In 2020 the Sarah Min and Matt Pincus Foundation received $107,500 from the Pincus Family Fund ¹⁴ and in 2019, the Foundation received $151,000 from the fund. ¹⁵

The foundation also receives contributions from founder Matt Pincus, including a $1,928,509 donation in 2019. ¹⁶

People

The Sarah Min and Matt Pincus Foundation was founded by the eponymous couple, who married in 2005. ¹⁷

Sarah Min currently sits on the Biden administration’s President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans, Native Americans and Pacific Islanders ¹⁸ and was previously the managing editor of Domino, a magazine published by Conde Nast. ¹⁹

Matthew Pincus is the co-founder and CEO of MUSIC, which invests in the music industry, and the founder of Songs Music Publishing, an independent music publisher ²⁰ that he sold for roughly $160 million. ²¹

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2. The Sarah Min and Matt Pincus Foundation. Return of a Private Foundation (Form 990-PF). 2019.
3. The Sarah Min and Matt Pincus Foundation. Return of a Private Foundation (Form 990-PF). 2020.
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10. The Sarah Min and Matt Pincus Foundation. Return of a Private Foundation (Form 990-PF). 2020.
11. The Sarah Min and Matt Pincus Foundation. Return of a Private Foundation (Form 990-PF). 2020.
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13. The Pincus Family Fund. Return of a Private Foundation (Form 990-PF). 2019.
14. The Sarah Min and Matt Pincus Foundation. Return of a Private Foundation (Form 990-PF). 2020.
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16. The Sarah Min and Matt Pincus Foundation. Return of a Private Foundation (Form 990-PF). 2019.
17.  “Sarah Min and Matthew Pincus.” New York Times. September 25, 2005. Accessed June 16, 2023. https://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/25/fashion/weddings/sarah-min-and-matthew-pincus.html.
18. “Sarah Min: Experience.” LinkedIn. Accessed June 16, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-min-34727313/details/experience/.
19. “Sarah Min and Matthew Pincus.” New York Times. September 25, 2005. Accessed June 16, 2023. https://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/25/fashion/weddings/sarah-min-and-matthew-pincus.html.
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21. Shaw, Lucas. “A $200 Million Music Investment Fund Will Scour Industry for Artist, Tech Deals.” Bloomberg. May 26, 2022. Accessed June 16, 2023. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-05-26/liontree-joins-music-guru-pincus-to-launch-200-million-company.