OVERVIEW: The Samuel I. Newhouse Foundation’s New York City grantmaking focuses on education, health, arts and culture and more.
IP TAKE: Driven by the descendants of media magnate S.I. Newhouse, this private foundation operates with a thin veil of secrecy, with top-heavy giving anchored by monumental pledges to Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. Because the foundation operates on a strictly “preselected only” basis, standard nonprofits will find its doors firmly locked. The single exception to its closed-door policy is the Wynn Newhouse Awards program, a unique, nationwide initiative that directly funds fine artists with disabilities.
For most nonprofits, this is a relationship-driven funder rather than a direct proposal opportunity. Grantseekers with strong connections to the foundation’s established education, journalism, arts, and medical networks may have the best chance of getting on its radar through trusted institutional relationships or referrals, although the foundation does not describe a formal referral process.
The foundation does not appear to maintain a general public-facing website or grant portal. It does, however, maintain a dedicated website for the Wynn Newhouse Awards.
PROFILE: The Samuel I. Newhouse Foundation was established as the Newhouse Foundation in 1947 by the late billionaire media mogul Samuel Newhouse. Newhouse was the owner of a newspaper company, Advance Publications, which eventually purchased the magazine publishing company Conde Nast. Samuel I. Newhouse, jr. is Newhouse’s son, who became the chair of Conde Nast and steered the Newhouse foundation until his death in 2017. Newhouse and his wife, Victoria, who survives him, were avid art collectors and are said to have spent over $700 million on their collections.
Grants for Higher Education and Journalism
The Foundation often funds institutions of higher education and civic initiatives.
- A defining piece of its recent philanthropic legacy is its monumental support for Syracuse University. S.I. Newhouse provided the initial seed funding to build the university’s communications complex in 1962, and the Foundation has continually funneled tens of millions of dollars into the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications ever since.
- Other higher education grantees include the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement at Tufts University and Yale University.
Grants for Arts and Culture
As a prominent New York family, the Newhouses direct considerable funding to the city’s elite cultural institutions.
- Grantees include New York’s landmark organizations including the Metropolitan Opera Association, the New York City Ballet, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the New York Philharmonic and the Museum of Modern Art.
- It is also a historic funder of the New York Public Library’s Schomburg Center Scholars-in-Residence Program.
- The Foundation also established the Wynn Newhouse Awards, which provide grants to “artists of excellence who happen to have disabilities.” Grant totals appear to hover around $12,000.
- The Wynn Newhouse Awards are named in honor of Newhouse’s grandson, Wynn, a multiple sclerosis sufferer who passed away.
Grants for Medical Research and Public Health
In the public health sector, as with the arts, Newhouse has given to some of New York’s biggest names, including New York-Presbyterian, Memorial Sloan Kettering, the Hospital for Special Surgery, the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation and Planned Parenthood.
- The Foundation previously committed $5 million to the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation and The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration to create the Treat FTD Fund.
- It has also endowed clinical scholar programs in ophthalmology at Weill Cornell Medicine.
Important Grant Details:
The average grant size for this foundation is $10,000, but grants have been awarded in amounts up to $1 million. The foundation awards around $12 million in total grants each year.
- This funder does not maintain a website or provide a clear avenue for getting in touch.
- It does not appear to accept applications for funding.
- Direct general inquiries to the staff at (212) 286-6900.
PEOPLE:
Search for staff contact info and bios in PeopleFinder (paid subscribers only).
CONTACT:
Samuel I. Newhouse Foundation, Inc.
101 Park Ave., 4th Fl.
New York, NY 10178
Telephone: (212) 630-5900
Contact: Steven Markovits
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