How the Pritzker Pucker Family Foundation Gives in the Chicago Area
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Here at IP, we have covered lots of Pritzker philanthropies over the years — which is understandable, considering this is one of the wealthiest families in America. Although organizations all over the world receive Pritzker money, the family’s home base of Chicago remains a focal point for many of these individual donors and family foundations.
One of the clan’s foundations that fits that bill is the Pritzker Pucker Family Foundation, the grantmaking vehicle of Gigi Pritzker and her husband, Michael Pucker. Here’s how the Chicago-based Pritzker Pucker Family Foundation gives locally and what sets it apart from the other Pritzker philanthropies.
A Hollywood background
Unlike many Pritzker family members with careers in real estate and hospitality, Gigi Pritzker is in the entertainment industry. The youngest child of Jay Pritzker, she is a Hollywood filmmaker who co-founded a Culver City production company called Odd Lot Entertainment. Her company has produced films like “Rabbit Hole,” “Ender’s Game,” “Mortdecai” and “Drive.” Accordingly, Gigi Pritzker focuses a substantial portion of her foundation’s grantmaking on the arts.
Three grantmaking focus areas
Every Pritzker philanthropy has its own interests, and yet there are a few common threads that tie this family’s grantmaking together. For example, education is a big cause for the Pritzkers, especially early childhood education and charter schools. The Pritzkers descended from Ukrainian-Jewish immigrants, so many Pritzker grants also go to Jewish organizations.
The Pritzker Pucker Family Foundation has three well-defined interest areas. The first is community safety, which involves grantmaking for restorative justice and violence reduction interventions. Arts and culture is a second interest area, with grants going to arts organizations and artists with social justice and cultural engagement missions. But like many of their relatives, Gigi Pritzker and Michael Pucker are also interested in education. Rather than focusing on early childhood and K-12 education, however, they focus on higher education and often back colleges and universities with personal connections to the family.
Prioritizing the needs of Chicago
Like numerous other Pritzker philanthropies, the Pritzker Pucker Family Foundation is based in Chicago and prioritizes the needs of Chicago-area nonprofits. The bulk of this funder’s grantmaking takes place in the city, with recent grants going to the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital, After School Matters, Girls on the Run Chicago and Columbia College Chicago. Although the foundation has awarded grants to groups in New York City, Washington, D.C. and elsewhere, these are somewhat few and far between. Despite Gigi Pritzker’s Hollywood career, very few grants typically support California nonprofits.
No unsolicited proposals
Even Chicago-based grantees may find it challenging to secure the foundation’s support. It does not accept unsolicited proposals and is known to give multiyear support to its existing grantees. The foundation does review proposals on a quarterly basis and usually provides one-year grants to organizations that it is already familiar with.
Learn more about this funder in IP’s full profile of the Pritzker Pucker Family Foundation in our Chicago and Great Lakes Funding Guide, as well as our donor guide profile of Gigi Pritzker and Michael Pucker.
