Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation 

OVERVIEW: The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation supports the arts, education, global development and global health. 

IP TAKE: This funder does not maintain a website, limiting information about its specific grantmaking practices. According to recent tax filings, visual arts organizations in New York and Philadelphia have received strong support. Funding for global development and health has decreased somewhat in recent years. This funder does not appear to accept unsolicited proposals, which suggests it is not accessible. Don’t hesitate to contact this foundation at the number provided below. This is a tough nut to crack.

PROFILE: The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation was established in the 1950s by Horace Goldsmith, who was the owner and founder of a stock brokerage firm in New York City. He became involved in philanthropy during his lifetime, bankrolling Goldsmith Hall at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and other buildings at Brandeis and New York University. When Goldsmith died in 1980, half of his assets were split between the Vital Projects Fund and the Charina Endowment Fund; the remaining half staying at the Goldsmith Foundation. Today the foundation supports arts and culture, education and global development and health. This funder does not maintain a website, making it difficult to understand its specific grantmaking goals. 

Grants for Arts and Culture 

Arts and culture are the Goldsmith Foundation’s largest funding area. While the foundation does not name specific goals for its arts funding, tax filings suggest a strong interest in the visual arts with an emphasis on organizations in New York City and Philadelphia. Past arts grantees include New York’s Asia Society, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum, the Studio Museum of Harlem, New York City’s Artists’ Space and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. The foundation also provided funding for Art21 documentary television series “Art in the 21st Century.” Music grantees include Opera Philadelphia, the Curtiss Institute of Music, Philadelphia’s Settlement School of Music and the Concerto Soloists Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia. Theater is another apparent interest, with grants going to New York’s Roundabout and Signature Theaters and Philadelphia’s Mann Center for the Performing Arts. 

Grant for Higher Education 

Goldsmith’s higher education is inherently broad. Its giving through this interest has supported a mix of public and private colleges and universities in the U.S. At Harvard, the foundation supports the Goldsmith Fellowship Program, which is awarded to seven MBA students who have experience and interest in social enterprise each year. Other higher education grantees include the Yale Drama School, the University of Virginia, Drexel University, the City University of New York and Lake Forest College in Illinois. Goldsmith has also given to College Track, a program that helps students facing systematic barriers to complete bachelors’ degrees. 

Grants for K-12 Education

In K-12 education, the foundation tends to support initiatives for underserved children and youth. Past grantees include Reading Partners of the San Francisco Bay Area, More than Me of New Jersey, Philadelphia Futures for Youth, the Boys and Girls Clubs of San Francisco and Bay Area Scores, a reading program. 

Grants for Global Development

Goldsmith’s global grantmaking has waned somewhat in recent years. One recent grantee is the San Francisco-based Living Goods, which supports entrepreneurship and rural development in Kenya, Uganda and Zambia. Other development grantees include Evidence Action, the One Acre Fund, Precision Agriculture for Development and Global Witness, which is known for its work to stop “environmental and human rights abuses driven by the exploitation of natural resources and corruption in the global political and economic system.”

Grants for Global Health

Goldsmith’s global health funding mainly works to expand and improve basic health services and prevent the spread of contagious diseases in areas of high need around the world. One grantee, Medic Mobile, aims to provide healthcare to homeless, minority and migrant groups in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Another health grantee, the End Fund, aims to prevent the spread of tropical diseases in countries with poor healthcare infrastructures. Other global health grantees include PATH, Last Mile Health and Vision Spring. 

Important Grant Details:

The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation makes about $20 million in grants each year, with grants ranging from $5,000 to $1 million. The average grant size for this foundation is about $50,000. Grantees tend to be large, well-established organizations and to receive multi-year support. For additional information about past grantmaking, see the foundation’s recent tax filings

This funder does not maintain a website or provide a direct avenue for getting in touch. A mailing address and phone number are provided below. 

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CONTACT: 

Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation

375 Park Avenue, Suite 1602

New York City, New York 10152

(212) 319-8700