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The French American Charitable Trust

Type:

Family Philanthropic Foundation
Formation:

1990
President:

Diane Feeney

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The French American Charitable Trust (FACT) was a family foundation that was established with a $40 million endowment in 1990 by the late billionaire Chuck Feeney and his then-wife Danielle. 1 The foundation awarded grants totaling $54 million between its 1990 establishment and its closure in 2012 to community-led foundations that focused on left-of-center issues, including the environment, expanded voter rights, and economic and social inequality. 2  3

Background

The French American Charitable Trust is a left-of-center grantmaking foundation that was established in 1990 by the late Chuck Feeney and his then-wife Danielle Feeney with a $40 million endowment. It was established to “enable their five children to learn about philanthropy.” Its plan was to spend out its endowment during the lifetime of the Feeney’s children. 1

In its initial stage, the FACT gave money to the favorite causes of its family members. In 1993, Diane, the second youngest of the Feeney children, became the foundation’s president. She led the development of its philanthropic strategy to fund a limited number of organizations with long-term commitments located in California, the southwest, and the south. In 1997, the foundation developed a grantmaking program in France to fund a small number of community-led organizations because of Danielle’s French heritage. 4

FACT spent all of its money from 1990 through 2012 and then closed. 5

Chuck Feeney

The French American Charitable Trust founder Chuck Feeney was the co-founder of Duty Free Shoppers. He made over $7.5 billion but died in 1993 with $2 million to his name due to his extensive charitable giving. In addition to the FACT, he also established the grantmaking organization Atlantic Philanthropies in 1984, transferring all of his business interests into the foundation. Its largest grants were awarded to Cornell University and the University of California San Francisco Foundation. Its final grants before dissolving included the Global Brain Health Institute and grants supporting its focus areas of health equity, racial equity, social equity, and social and economic equity. 6  7  8

In 2020, Atlantic Philanthropies dissolved, becoming the largest foundation to purposely spend out its endowment. He called his giving philosophy “Giving While Living.” This philosophy inspired Bill Gates and Warren Buffett to establish the Giving Pledge to which many billionaires have committed. 6

Focus Areas and Grants

The French American Charitable Trust awarded grants to organizing and advocacy groups that supported low-income racial-minority communities. Focus areas were left-of-center issues including environmentalism, expanded voter rights, and economic and social inequality. 3

FACT gave two types of grants each year: discretionary grants and support grants. The discretionary grants were typically small amounts under $5,000 targeted at specific projects. The support grants were given to FACT’s core group of organizations and typically ranged from $25,000 to $150,000. 9 FACT’s intent was to give this core group of grantees general operating support for the long term. 10 From 1990 through its closure in 2012, FACT awarded a total of $54 million in grants. 2

Grantees that FACT highlighted on its website included Kentucky-based environmental activist group Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, California-based environmental activist group Communities for a Better Environment based in California, and the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy which creates activist coalitions and has been described as being “at the forefront of Los Angeles’ progressive movement.” 11

Some of its largest grant totals included $1,965,000 to Strategic Concepts in Organizing and Policy Education, $1,786,600 to Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, $1,455,750 to the Environmental Health Coalition, $1,395,275 to the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, and  $1,325,125 to Southern Echo. It awarded a total of $851,500 to the Center for Third Word Organizing, $840,000 to Working Partnerships USA, $808,000 to the Environmental Research Foundation, $767,000 to the Southwest Organizing Project, $668,700 to 9to5, National Association of Working Women, $665,250 to the Center on Policy Initiatives, $663,500 to the East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy, $635,400 to the Grassroots Policy Project, and $621,076 to the Progressive Technology Project. 12

Leadership

All five of the Feeney children and Danielle Feeney sat on the French American Charitable Trust board of directors, along with six other individuals. Chuck Feeney’s daughter, Diane Feeney, was the president of the foundation. 1

Diane Feeney worked as a campaigner for Greenpeace before the FACT was established. She has focused on women’s empowerment, social justice, and community advocacy throughout her career. She was a board vice chair of the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy and a board member of Community Change. Feeney is a consultant for the Acceleration Project, which works to empower entrepreneurs and small businesses. 13  14  15  16

Private equity investor Rob McKay was a board advisor for the FACT. He was a former chairman of the Democracy Alliance, which has a “long-term commitment to building progressive political power across the country.” McKay founded The McKay Foundation, which supported “social justice efforts in the areas of community organizing, the promotion of living wage policy and the expansion of voting rights.” 17  18

Madeline Janis was a board advisor for the FACT and the executive director of the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy from 1993 to 2012. As of December 2025, she is the executive director of left-of-center advocacy group Jobs to Move America. 17  19

References

  1. “French American Charitable Trust (FACT) records (MS.2012.021). Historical Note.” Brown University Library. Accessed January 3, 2026. https://www.riamco.org/render?eadid=US-RPB-ms2012.021&view=biography
  2. “Giving More. Making Change. A Journey in Progressive Grant Making.” The French American Charitable Trust. Accessed via WaybackMachine internet archive. Accessed January 3, 2026. https://web.archive.org/web/20141115090459/http://factservices.org/pdfs/FACT_Giving_More_Making_Change.pdf
  3. “French American Charitable Trust (FACT) records (MS.2012.021).” Brown University Library. Accessed January 3, 2026. https://www.riamco.org/render?eadid=US-RPB-ms2012.021&view=scope
  4. “FACT’s Beginnings.” The French American Charitable Trust – The Foundation. Accessed via WaybackMachine internet archive. Accessed January 3, 2026. https://web.archive.org/web/20241115031511/http://factservices.org/the-foundation/facts-beginnings/
  5. “French American Charitable Trust (FACT) records.” Brown University Library. Accessed January 3, 2026. https://library.brown.edu/collatoz/info.php?id=433
  6. Mary Whitfill Roeloffs. “Chuck Feeney, The Billionaire Who Gave Away His Wealth, Dies At 92.” Forbes. October 9, 2023. Accessed January 3, 2026. https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2023/10/09/chuck-feeney-the-billionaire-who-gave-away-his-wealth-dies-at-92/
  7. “Grants Database.” The Atlantic Philanthropies. Accessed January 4, 2026. https://www.atlanticphilanthropies.org/grants
  8. “Atlantic’s Final Big Bets.” The Atlantic Philanthropies. Accessed January 4, 2026. https://www.atlanticphilanthropies.org/atlantics-final-big-bets
  9. “French American Charitable Trust (FACT) records (MS.2012.021). Scope and content.” Brown University Library. Accessed January 3, 2026. https://www.riamco.org/render?eadid=US-RPB-ms2012.021&view=scope
  10. “Empowering Individuals to Make Change: One Foundation’s Story.” The French American Charitable Trust – The Foundation. Accessed via WaybackMachine internet archive. Accessed January 3, 2026. https://web.archive.org/web/20240616131802/http://factservices.org/the-foundation/overview/
  11. “What is Community Organizing?” The French American Charitable Trust – Funding Change. Accessed via WaybackMachine internet archive. Accessed January 3, 2026. https://web.archive.org/web/20250219153053/http://factservices.org/funding-change/what-is-community-organizing/
  12. “List of Grantees & Charts 1994-2010.” The French American Charitable Trust –Legacy. Accessed via WaybackMachine internet archive. Accessed January 3, 2026. https://web.archive.org/web/20240616113538/http://factservices.org/legacy/list-of-grantees-charts/
  13. “Diane Feeney.” Sourcewatch. Accessed January 3, 2026. https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Diane_Feeney
  14. “Mission & Vision.” The Acceleration Project – About. Accessed January 3, 2026. https://www.theaccelerationproject.org/about/mission-and-vision
  15. “Board of Directors.” Center for Community Change. Accessed via WaybackMachine internet archived on February 1, 2012. Accessed January 3, 2026. https://web.archive.org/web/20120201213517/https://www.communitychange.org/page/board
  16. LinkedIn – Diane Feeney. Accessed January 3, 2026. https://www.linkedin.com/in/diane-feeney-056b1426/
  17. “Board & Staff.” The French American Charitable Trust –Legacy. Accessed via WaybackMachine internet archive. Accessed January 3, 2026. https://web.archive.org/web/20240723204713/http://factservices.org/legacy/board-staff/
  18. “Rob McKay.” The Barack Obama Scholars Program. Accessed January 3, 2026. https://obamascholars.oxy.edu/person/rob-mckay
  19. LinkedIn – Madeline Janis. Accessed January 3, 2026. https://www.linkedin.com/in/madeline-janis-1821b449/
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