Non-profit

Surdna Foundation

Website:

www.surdna.org

Location:

NEW YORK, NY

Tax ID:

13-6108163

DUNS Number:

07-049-6575

Tax-Exempt Status:

501(c)(3)-PF

Budget (2015):

Revenue: $162,443,497
Expenses: $47,448,098
Assets: $1,009,456,314

Formation:

1917 in New York, NY

Founder:

John Emory Andrus

President:

Phillip W. Henderson

Contact InfluenceWatch with suggested edits or tips for additional profiles.

The Surdna Foundation is an advocacy and endowment management foundation1 funded by a contribution from capitalist businessman turned U.S. Representative John Andrus (R-N.Y.) in 1917. The Foundation has moved away from its founding donor’s capitalist sentiments and currently focuses on funding organizations to advocate for left-of-center public policy.

Surdna’s advocacy efforts generally support left-of-center organizations and also focus on three left-of-center issue areas: environmentalism, economic redistribution, and political advocacy through the arts.1

The Surdna Foundation has become a major player among left-of-center advocacy funders. Surdna is reportedly an institutional member of the Democracy Alliance and co-hosted events at a Democracy Alliance post-2016 election strategy conference alongside countless other left-of-center power players to prepare to fight the Trump administration “on health care, immigration, taxes and the economy, climate, LGBT rights, the Supreme Court, and so much more.”2

While the organization purports to pursue a left-of-center agenda through impact investing3 a review of their investments demonstrates that Surdna is invested in a number of companies that are completely antithetical to its purported mission, including major agricultural conglomerates, short-term lenders, and private prison companies.4

Founding

Former U.S. Representative and Mayor of Yonkers, New York John Emory Andrus founded the Surdna Foundation in New York City during 19175 to pursue a range of philanthropic efforts to provide direct service to those in need.5

In 1989, The Surdna Foundation established “programs in environment and community revitalization and decided to enlarge the professional staff.” In 1994, the foundation added programs in “effective citizenry” and the arts.5

The Surdna Foundation has moved away from Andrus’ personal political philosophy. Andrus’s biographer,  George P. Morrill, wrote that Andrus was “the complete laissez-faire businessman. He believed in simple capitalism all his life.”6 However, many of the organizations that Surdna now funds are anti-free market, such as the Natural Resources Defense Council,7  the left-wing community organizing group Center for Popular Democracy,8 and the Clean Energy Group, to prop up green energy companies.9

Agenda

The Surdna Foundation has consistently backed major liberal movements. Surdna directly donated to a Black Lives Matter chapter in Minneapolis,9 and has also given to other leftist organizations such as People Organized to Win Employment Rights,7 National Domestic Workers Alliance,7 and the Movement Strategy Center.7

Additionally, Surdna has supported liberal magazines such as Mother Jones 7 and the American Prospect. 7

Environmentalist Energy

Surdna provides environmental grants to numerous left-wing environmental organizations to promote green infrastructure and building requirements, and to use energy systems to shift power to low-income and minority communities.10

For 2017-2018 Surdna Foundation gave $105,000 to the left-wing Rockefeller Family Fund to address energy issues and help coal and power plant communities transition away from coal.7

The foundation has also given at least $1.4 million to the environmentalist Natural Resources Defense Council to address climate change and inequitable development practices;7 nearly $500,000 to the Environmental and Energy Study Institute,7 $500,000 to the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy,7 about $1.2 million to Clean Energy Group for federal/state green energy policy support,7 about $2 million to the labor union-affiliated BlueGreen Alliance, and about $1.2 million to Climate Interactive to expand their social, environmental, and climate costs simulator nationwide.7

Economic Policy

Surdna provides grants to advance social left-wing policies that seek to improve the “quality and availability of jobs for low-income people, communities of color, immigrants, and women.”11

From 2012-2017, the Surdna Foundation gave about $1.7 million to Good Jobs First to advance left-wing economic development policies and practices.

Surdna Foundation has provided $600,000 to the Alliance for a Just Society; $350,000 to Asian Americans for Equality; about $400,000 to the Aspen Institute; about $100,000 to the Center for American Progress; about $1.2 million to Emerald Cities Collaborative; $1.3 million to PolicyLink; $2.4 million to Brookings Institution; and about $1.2 million to Race Forward.7

Advocacy Arts Funding

The Surdna Foundation supports advancing the arts to become “economic engines and agents for social change.”12

From 2013 through 2018, the Surdna Foundation has given about $1.7 million to the Center for Cultural Innovation intending to support artists and provide resources and gifts to artists to increase production.13

Other grants include: about $800,000 to Efforts of Grace; $1.3 million to First Peoples Fund; about $300,000 to Global Action Project, Inc.; about $900,000 to National Association of Latino Arts and Culture; and about $500,000 to the Sundance Institute.7

Democracy Alliance

Also see Democracy Alliance (Other Group)

Surdna Foundation is reportedly a partner in the secretive left-wing major donor consortium Democracy Alliance.2

In November 2016, the Surdna Foundation co-hosted an environmental caucus meeting with billionaire Tom Steyer’s NextGen Climate organization at the Democracy Alliance’s 2016 post-election conference. The panel focused on the effects of climate change on low-income communities.2

In 2016, the Foundation gave the Democracy Alliance a $30,000 grant.14 From 2014 through 2017, the Foundation gave at least $1.145 million7 to organizations recommended by the Democracy Alliance.15

Criticism

Opposition to the Trump Administration

In November 2016, following the election of President Donald Trump, the Surdna Foundation released a statement saying that the election “resulted in a president-elect who ran on policies and rhetoric that are at odds with the values of. . . Surdna.”16

Surdna Foundation co-hosted events at a post-election Democracy Alliance conference that labeled the prospect of President Trump’s first 100 days in office as a “terrifying assault on president Obama’s achievements-and on our progressive vision for an equitable and just nation.”2

Then-Surdna Foundation president Phil Henderson noted that under Trump’s administration, he expected to miss the “cooperative problem solving” that he received from the Obama administration.17

Throughout the Trump presidency, the Surdna Foundation has actively circulated anti-Trump news stories and denounced Trump’s reversal of Obama-era policies like the Federal Transportation Jobs Program.18

Coastal Bias

In an interview assessing the reasons for Trump’s victory, Surdna president Phil Henderson admitted that his organization “had made a mistake in its previous operations strategy.” Henderson acknowledged that the Surdna Foundation was “emblematic” of the geographic bias toward the coasts and bigger cities “where it’s easy to work” in left-wing philanthropy, avoiding places more skeptical of left-wing agendas and interests.17

Finances

According to its 2015 annual report, the Surdna Foundation is an endowment management Foundation that is funded entirely by the investment income of the endowment.

From 2011-2015 the Surdna Foundation assets grew by 9.9 percent from $847 million to $1.007 billion. 1

Investments

The Surdna Foundation invests its money in a number of organizations that are antithetical to the organization’s purported goals. This allows Surdna’s endowment to grow from the actions of companies that the Foundation or its grantees decry. This is all the more insidious given the foundation’s outward dedication to so-called “impact investing.”3 In 2015, the Foundation made $51 million in income from investment dividends and capital gains and $71 million in “partnership income.”19

That investment income was generated by investments in numerous corporations that engage in business practices opposed to the Surdna Foundation’s and its grantees’ mission.

In 2015, Surdna invested $353,000 with agricultural conglomerate Monsanto.4 In 2016 Surdna grantee NRDC criticized Monsanto for seeking a merger with pesticide maker Bayer20 and another Surdna grantee (the Environmental Working Group) has been a major opponent of Monsanto.21

Similarly in 2015, Surdna Foundation owned over a million dollars worth of stock in payday lenders First Cash Financial and Lending Club.4 These investments stand in stark contrast to their liberal economic development mission, specifically seeing how in 2016 Surdna funded four local financial institutions as a means to help individuals avoid payday lenders.22

Also in 2015, Surdna owned almost $400,000 of Corrections Corporation of America stock4 while at the same time giving million-dollar grants to the Good Jobs First organization, which is a major opponent of private prisons.23

In 2015, Surdna owned stock in a number of other companies whose industry or corporate policies run afoul of the Foundation’s purported mission, including approximately $1 million split between Las Vegas Sands, Southwestern Energy, and Chipotle and over $18 million sitting in Bain Capital funds. 4 The Bain Capital investments are of note because Surdna Foundation gave grants to Mother Jones, 7 the liberal magazine that first reported on former Bain consultant and Republican Presidential nominee Mitt Romney’s “47 percent” remarks on the campaign trail in 2012.24

People

President

Don Chen was appointed president of the Surdna Foundation in mid-2018. He is a career activist in left-of-center urban development politics, previously serving as founder and CEO of Smart Growth America (a Surdna grantee) and as leader of the “Just Cities and Regions” team at the Ford Foundation.25

Phillip W. Henderson is vacating the presidency of the Surdna Foundation, having served since May 2007 .26 Prior to his work at the Surdna Foundation, Henderson worked at the German Marshall Fund of the United States since 1998 where he headed a multitude of projects and obtained the role of Vice President before leaving for The Surdna Foundation.26 Philanthropy observers have identified Henderson’s appointment to head Surdna as the point at which the Surdna Foundation became more explicitly interested in left-of-center political advocacy under the banner of “social justice.”27 Henderson was paid $576,164 in Surdna’s 2015 tax year, with an additional $110,422 in other compensation.28

Board of Directors

The Surdna Foundation’s board consists of 13 members.29 Peter B. Benedict II is the chair and former President of the Andrus Family Fund.30 Additionally, Vice Chair Carra Cote-Ackah has been with the Surdna Foundation since 2009. Cote-Ackah also served on the Andrus Family Fund Board for six years prior to joining The Surdna Foundation.31 Surdna Foundation board member Judy Belk is president and CEO of The California Wellness Foundation and served 12 years as senior vice president of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors.32

References

  1. “2015 Year In Review.” Surdna Foundation. Last modified 2016. http://www.surdna.org/annualreport2015/.
  2. “2016<<2018<<2020 Seizing Opportunity & Building Power.” Politics, Policy, Political News – POLITICO. Last modified 2016. https://www.politico.com/f/?id=00000158-5f62-d185-ad7d-5ffb02a40002.
  3. Jaffe, Jan. “Mapping the Journey To Impact Investing.” Surdna Foundation. February 2017. Accessed November 15, 2017. http://www.surdna.org/centennial/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Surdna.MRI_.2.2.SM_.4.pdf
  4. The Surdna Foundation, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2015, Investments Corporate Stock Schedule. http://www.guidestar.org/FinDocuments/2016/136/108/2016-136108163-0dfb9207-F.pdf
  5. “Our Mission.” Surdna Foundation. Accessed November 2, 2017. http://www.surdna.org/about-the-foundation/mission-and-history.html.
  6. Morrill, George. “ The Multimillionaire Straphanger.” Wesleyan University Press. 1971. Accessed November 15, 2017. https://books.google.com/books/about/The_multimillionaire_straphanger.html?id=j0iv-qlUewAC
  7. “Search Our Grants.” Surdna Foundation. Accessed November 13, 2017. http://www.surdna.org/what-we-fund/search-our-grants.html.
  8. Surdna Foundation, Return of a Private Foundation (Form 990-PF), 2015, Part XV Line 3
  9. “Surdna Foundation Announces $1.98 Million in Grants.” Surdna Foundation. Accessed November 13, 2017. http://www.surdna.org/whats-new/news/945-surdna-foundation-announces-1-98-million-in-grants.html.
  10. “Sustainable Environments.” Surdna Foundation. Accessed November 13, 2017. http://www.surdna.org/what-we-fund/sustainable-environments.html.
  11. “Strong Local Economies.” Surdna Foundation. Accessed November 13, 2017. http://www.surdna.org/what-we-fund/strong-local-economies.html.
  12. “What We Fund.” Surdna Foundation. Accessed November 13, 2017. http://www.surdna.org/what-we-fund/funding-overview.html.
  13. “Grant Details.” Surdna Foundation. Last modified 2017. http://www.surdna.org/grant-details/412/center-for-cultural-innovation/.
  14. “Surdna Foundation Announces $13.35 Million in Grants.” Surdna Foundation. Accessed November 13, 2017. http://www.surdna.org/whats-new/news/939-surdna-foundation-announces-13-35-million-in-grants.html.
  15. “A 2020 VISION FOR THE DEMOCRACY ALLIANCE: FUNDING RECOMMENDATIONS.” Politico.com. Accessed November 13, 2017. http://images.politico.com/global/2015/04/13/da_2020_vision_executive_summary_3.pdf.
  16. “Phil Henderson, Surdna Foundation’s President, reflects on the mission, goals, and programs of the social justice family foundation.” Surdna Foundation. Accessed November 13, 2017. http://www.surdna.org/about-the-foundation/from-the-president.html?types[0]=1.
  17. Williams, Tate. “”Everything We Care For.” The Future of Progressive Philanthropy Under Trump.” Inside Philanthropy. Last modified November 28, 2016. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2016/11/28/the-future-of-progressive-philanthropy-under-a-trump-presidency.
  18. “News.” Surdna Foundation. Last modified October 18, 2017. http://www.surdna.org/whats-new/news.html.
  19. The Surdna Foundation, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2015, Part I. http://www.guidestar.org/FinDocuments/2016/136/108/2016-136108163-0dfb9207-F.pdf
  20. Riley, Rebecca and Raichel, Daniel. “NRDC Letter To Renata Hesse, Acting Assistant Attorney General. Re: Proposed Bayer Takeover of Monsanto.” NRDC.org. December 12, 2016. Accessed November 15, 2017. https://www.nrdc.org/sites/default/files/letter-to-doj-re-bayer-monsanto-merger-20161212.pdf
  21. Wooster, Martin Morse. “The Environmental Working Group and Trial Lawyers: Chasing after Monsanto and DuPont.” Capital Research Center. December 6, 2005. November 15, 2017. https://capitalresearch.org/article/the-environmental-working-group-and-trial-lawyers-chasing-after-monsanto-and-dupont/
  22. “Surdna Foundation to Recognize Four Community Development Financial Institutions.” Philanthropy New York. October 31, 2016. Accessed Novmeber 15, 2017. https://philanthropynewyork.org/news/surdna-foundation-recognize-four-community-development-financial-institutions
  23. “Private Prisons: Case Study of the Private Prison Industry (2005).” Good Jobs First. 2005. Accessed November 15, 2017. https://www.goodjobsfirst.org/corporate-subsidy-watch/private-prisons
  24. Corn, David. “SECRET VIDEO: Romney Tells Millionaire Donors What He REALLY Thinks of Obama Voters.” Mother Jones. June 25, 2017. Accessed October 01, 2018. http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/09/secret-video-romney-private-fundraiser/.
  25. Foundation Center. “Surdna Foundation Names Don Chen as New President.” Philanthropy News Digest (PND). August 21, 2018. Accessed October 01, 2018. https://philanthropynewsdigest.org/news/surdna-foundation-names-don-chen-as-new-president.
  26. “Phillip W. Henderson.” Surdna Foundation. Accessed November 2, 2017. http://www.surdna.org/about-the-foundation/board-and-staff/staff/775-phillip-henderson.html.
  27. Williams, Tate. “At Surdna, Don Chen Looks to Helm a Social Justice Funder That “Punches Above Its Weight”.” Inside Philanthropy. August 30, 2018. Accessed October 01, 2018. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2018/8/30/at-surdna-don-chen-looks-to-helm-a-social-justice-funder-that-punches-above-its-weight.
  28. Surdna Foundation, Return of a Private Foundation (Form 990-PF), 2015, Part VIII Line 1
  29. “Board & Staff.” Surdna Foundation. Accessed November 2, 2017. http://www.surdna.org/about-the-foundation/board-and-staff.html.
  30. “Peter B. Benedict II.” Surdna Foundation. Accessed November 2, 2017. http://www.surdna.org/about-the-foundation/board-and-staff/board-members/791-peter-benedict-ii.html.
  31. “Carra Cote-Ackah.” Surdna Foundation. Accessed November 2, 2017. http://www.surdna.org/about-the-foundation/board-and-staff/board-members/792-carra-cote-ackah.html.
  32. “Judy Belk.” Surdna Foundation. Accessed November 2, 2017. http://www.surdna.org/about-the-foundation/board-and-staff/board-members/790-judy-belk.html.
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Nonprofit Information

  • Accounting Period: June - May
  • Tax Exemption Received: April 1, 1938

  • 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
    2015 Jun Form PF $162,443,497 $47,448,098 $1,009,456,314 $24,960,809 $0 $0 $0 $0 PDF
    2014 Jun Form PF $64,871,830 $60,186,491 $1,037,047,874 $35,394,273 $0 $0 $0 $0 PDF
    2013 Jun Form PF $96,250,899 $43,522,855 $929,596,379 $27,799,531 $0 $0 $0 $0 PDF
    2012 Jun Form PF $73,335,079 $42,834,383 $814,855,442 $27,408,458 $0 $0 $0 $0 PDF
    2011 Jun Form PF $28,440,259 $52,117,411 $867,363,679 $39,392,493 $0 $0 $0 $0 PDF

    Additional Filings (PDFs)

    Surdna Foundation

    330 MADISON AVENUE 30TH FLOOR
    NEW YORK, NY 10017-5016