Frankfort Family Foundation

OVERVIEW: The Frankfort Family Foundation primarily funds grantmaking related to education and youth, arts and culture, health and human services, and Jewish causes.

IP TAKE: The foundation lacks transparency, which limits information available on its grantmaking priorities and activities. Grantmaking seems to support a small cohort of organizations year after year. This will be a difficult funder to approach. While an address and phone number are provided below, grantseekers may have more success networking with past grantees of the foundation.

PROFILE: Established in 2003, the Frankfort Family Foundation was founded by businessman Lewis “Lew” Frankfort and family. Lew was the longtime CEO of Coach Inc., which specializes in luxury accessories such as handbags. The foundation does not maintain a website, which limits information available on its grantmaking priorities and activities. According to tax filings, the Frankfort Family Foundation primarily funds grantmaking related to education and youth, arts and culture, health and human services, and Jewish causes.

Lew is on the board of overseers of his alma mater Columbia Business School. Lew Frankfort and his wife Bobbie pledged $3 million to the Hunter College Foundation to establish and name the Frankfort Education Library. Lew received his undergraduate degree from Hunter College. Bobbie, meanwhile, holds a PhD in the history and philosophy of education, and was president of the Tenafly Board of Education. She once chaired the board of NJ SEEDS, which the family has been supporting for some two decades.

Grants range from $100 to $50,000. In a recent fiscal year, the foundation gave away around $1.2 million. Past grantees include Ethical Culture Fieldston School, Breast Cancer Research Fund, Stephen Wise Free Synagogue, East Harlem School, Columbia University, and New York City Center.

The foundation keeps a low profile and does not accept unsolicited proposals. An address and telephone number are provided below.

PEOPLE:

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CONTACT:

The Frankfort Family Foundation
1624 Fourth Avenue, Suite 400
Seattle, WA 98101

(206) 838-4880