Segal Family Foundation
/OVERVIEW: The Segal Family Foundation is the philanthropic vehicle of Crate and Barrel founders Gordon and Carole Segal, who support Northwestern University, their alma mater, as well as health, education, youth, human services, arts and culture and Jewish causes.
IP TAKE: The foundation keeps a low profile and does not appear to accept unsolicited proposals. Networking will be key for getting on this funder's radar.
PROFILE: Established in 2000, the Segal Family Foundation is a family foundation based in Northbrook, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. Chicago area couple Gordon and Carole Segal founded Crate and Barrel as a family business in 1962. Today, Crate and Barrel is one of the most successful furniture and housewares retailers in the nation. The Segals have put some of their wealth towards philanthropy and move their charitable contributions through the Segal Family Foundation, which steadily supports Chicago area organizations. Grantmaking includes education and youth, arts and culture, health and human services and Jewish causes.
The foundation does not have a website to guide grantseekers. However, the family strongly supports Northwestern University, from where Carole and Gordon graduated. The school is home to the Segal Design Institute, and Carole has served in several leadership positions at Northwestern. The Segals, via their family foundation, have also supported Chicago schools like the Art Institute of Chicago, DePaul University, the Illinois Institute of Technology and the Music Institute of Chicago. The foundation's grantmaking has also touched places like the Chicago Foundation for Education, Accelerate Institute and After School Matters, which works with underserved teens.
The Segals also support arts and culture in Chicago. Past grantees in this funding area have included the Chicago History Museum, the Chicago Lyric Opera, the Chicago Shakespeare Theater, the Field Museum and Lincoln Park Zoo. The Segals also support Jewish causes, and in Chicago the family has supported the Congregation Bene Shalom, Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center and The Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago. Health and human services are two other interests of this family foundation. Grantees have included Children's Memorial Medical Center, Lurie Children's Hospital, the United Way of North Shore, and the University of Chicago which has received particularly large sums of late towards a pancreatic cancer research initiative. The family also has supported Chicago Council on Global Affairs, Chicago Community Foundation and several public media organizations.
Most recent grants have been less than $50,000, an yearly funding totals about $2.3 million. Review the funder’s recent tax records to learn more about past grantees. Foundation giving is not exclusively restricted to the Chicago area, but this is where much of the couple’s giving takes place.
The foundation does not appear to accept unsolicited grant applications from nonprofits. To get in touch, the foundation’s phone number is 847-380-4440.
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CONTACT:
Segal Family Foundation
1474 Techny Rd.
Northbrook, IL 60062-5447
(847) 380-4440
