Kovner Foundation
/OVERVIEW: The Kovner Foundation’s grantmaking primarily supports groups in the New York area. It funds education, the arts and economic opportunity.
IP TAKE: This is not an accessible funder. It does not accept unsolicited applications or requests for funding, which restricts transparency about its strategies and application process. However, it is somewhat approachable, so contact it for more information about how it chooses what to fund and whether its grantmaking is evolving. It tends to concentrate grants in Florida and New York. Its grantmaking also tends to avoid risks.
Much of its work leans conservative, especially in the economic development, education and policy areas, so if your work is progressive in nature and scope, consider funding elsewhere.
PROFILE: The Kovner Foundation was established in 1996 by Bruce S. Kovner, the founder and former chairman of Caxton Associates, and his wife, Suzie Kovner. A graduate of Harvard College, Bruce Kovner worked as a writer and cab driver before being hired as a trader at the Commodities Corporation, which is now a division of Goldman Sachs. In 1983, he founded Caxton Associates, a global macro hedge fund. Suzie Kovner is a graduate of Colgate University. The foundation seeks “to identify innovative strategies that advance forward-thinking initiatives and produce change for the better. Although the foundation is based in Florida, the Kovners have roots in New York, and more than half of the foundation’s grantmaking serves New York organizations and institutions. Its main focus areas are Education, Scholarships, Opportunity Society and the Arts.
Grants for K-12 Education
The Kovner Foundation’s Education funding aims to improve K-12 education through education reform and school choice. Education subprograms address “closing the achievement gap” and “education reform and school choice.” Grants stemming from Closing the Achievement Gap aim to increase “success on metrics ranging from test scores to graduation rates, college enrollment and completion” among students that have been underserved by traditional public schools. Grants for Education Reform and School Choice supports programs that “advance educational excellence for every child through quality research, analysis, commentary and advocating bold solutions,” such as school vouchers and tax credit programs. Many grants have supported New York area charter school networks, as well as policy development, educational research and scholarships. The foundation’s charter school grantees include Success Academy, Achievement First and Uncommon Schools. Other education organizations that received recent funding include the Institute for Justice, the Foundation for Excellence in Education and AmericaShare. Kovner also fund’s scholarships, including the Kovner Opportunity Scholarship, which is available to promising students in the top 15% of their class in Palm Beach County and Martin County, Florida. In higher education, the foundation supports scholarships at Juilliard and St. John’s University.
Grants for Work and Opportunity
The Kovner Foundation’s Opportunity Society program area promotes economic and social opportunity through “research and scholarship that recognize the importance of the core principles of the American success story: free expression, free markets, free trade, equality before the law and the principles of limited government.” Its Public Policy grantmaking centers around “pro-growth agenda and a strong defense.” Past policy grantees include conservative organizations such as the American Enterprise Institute, the Institute for the Study of War and the Manhattan Institute. The Kovners also support “research, litigation and advocacy aimed at preventing powerful interests from employing government rules and regulations to gain advantage over the less powerful.” To this end, they have invested in the libertarian organization the Institute for Justice, which “litigates to limit the size and scope of government power and to ensure that all Americans have the right to control their own destinies as free and responsible members of society.”
Grants for Criminal Justice Reform, and Democracy and Civic Engagement
The Kovner Foundation’s Opportunity Society is also concerned with criminal justice reform. It supports groups that work to “overturn the convictions of wrongfully imprisoned and fight to reform the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice” and “prevent government seizure of homes and property through civil forfeiture and eminent domain.” The program also supports conservative policy organizations that promote “free expression, free markets, free trade, equality before the law and the principles of limited government.” Grantees include the Institute for Justice, Innocence Project, the International Rescue Committee and the Center for Economic Opportunity.
Grants for Arts and Culture
The Kovners are deeply involved in New York City’s Arts scene. Bruce chairs the board of trustees at the Juilliard School, and the foundation gave the school $25 million toward a new wing and scholarships in 2005, $20 million for a music program in 2012, and $60 million for a new scholarship program in 2013. He also serves on the boards of Lincoln Center and the Metropolitan Opera, while Suzie is on the board at Carnegie Hall. The foundation’s arts program focuses mainly on performing arts and artist training and development. It supports large, well-established organizations, as well as a few prominent museums. The Lincoln Center of Performing Arts also receives support from Kovner. The couple gave one $20 million grant in 2006 and a $10 million grant in 2007. In 2013, more recently, $2.5 million went to the arts center. Kovner is a vice chair at the center. Other organizations under the Lincoln Center umbrella, including the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and the Film Society of Lincoln Center, also received funds, though on a considerably smaller scale.
The Kovner Foundation prioritizes New York, but the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, Florida received around $400,000 annually over the past few years. The New World Symphony is part of MUSAIC, a collaborative digital initiative that includes a handful of institutions across the country and even Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. The couple also gave at least $800,000 to the Royal Shakespeare Company in past years. Other international arts grantmaking includes gifts to the Lucerne Festival in Switzerland and the Israeli Chamber Project. Steady but smaller streams of money support the New York Philharmonic, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Brooklyn Academy of Music.
Grants for Martin County
The Kovners reside in Martin County, Florida and support several organizations in the area, including the Hobe Sound Community Chest, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Martin County, the Everglades Foundation and the Chamber Music Society of Palm Beach.
Important Grant Details:
The Kovner Foundation gave away about $23 million in a recent year. Kovner grants range anywhere between a few thousand and $1.5 million, although the average grant size is about $250,000. While the foundation has no stated geographic restrictions, it prioritizes grantmaking in and around New York City. For additional information about past grantees, see the foundation’s grantee news page.
The Kovner Foundation does not accept unsolicited proposals, but general inquiries may be made to the foundation via email or telephone at 609-919-7600.
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