Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation
/OVERVIEW: The Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation does not name specific goals or initiatives for its funding but has demonstrated support for organizations working in the areas of arts and culture, mental health, public health, the environment, K-12 education and journalism.
IP TAKE: This funder aims to serve organizations where small grants may have a significant impact, and it makes about 200 grants each year. Grants provide project and general operating support, and many grantees receive multi-year funding. Dreyfus accepts three-page letters of request for its spring and autumn grant cycles. Its streamlined application process and high number of annual grants make the Dreyfus Foundation a viable source of support, especially for smaller organizations.
PROFILE: The Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation was established in 1965 upon the death of Max Dreyfus, the renown German-born songwriter, composer and president of Chappell and Co., which published music for composers including Jerome Kern, George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Rodgers and Hammerstein and Lerner and Loewe. Dreyfus was also a founding member of American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. Based in Washington, D.C., the Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation does not maintain specific funding initiatives, but funds “worthwhile activities for which an organization has made a compelling case to receive funding.” The foundation aims to maximize the effects of its grantmaking by selecting grantees “for which a small amount of money can have a large impact.” Its grantmaking tends to be concentrated in the areas of arts and culture, mental health, public health, environmental causes, K-12 education and journalism.
Grants for Arts and Culture
Arts and culture grantmaking is the foundation’s largest area of giving, with grants going to a broad range of organizations in music, dance, theater, visual arts and writing. As with its other areas of grantmaking, arts grants tend to support projects and organizations that have broad impact with audiences and provide opportunity for community involvement.
Grants for Music
Given Max Dreyfus’s roots in the music industry, music represents a significant area of grantmaking at this foundation. Although the foundation does not outline specific goals for its music grants, grantees tend to be organizations offering free or low-cost performances and community involvement in music. Past grantees include North Carolina’s Asheville Symphony, the Choral Arts Society of Washington, the DC Youth Orchestra Program and the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra.
Grants for Theater
Many of Dreyfus’s theater grants support small- to medium-sized theaters or ensembles that court broad audiences, provide free or low-cost performances or engage youth and community in their productions. Past grantees include the Los Angeles Women’s Theatre Festival, the D.C. Theater Arts Collaborative, the New York Shakespeare Festival and the Chatham Orpheum Theater in Massachusetts.
Grants for Dance
Dance is one of this funder’s smaller areas of giving but mirrors grantmaking in other areas of the arts in that it targets dance companies with broad audience appeal and outreach. Past grantees include the Washington Ballet, Rhode Island’s Island Moving Company, CityDance Ensemble of Maryland and Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, a comedic drag ballet company based in New York City.
Grants for Visual Arts
Dreyfus’s visual arts grantmaking supports a broad range of large and small art museums, galleries and organizations. The foundation has provided ongoing support to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Smaller grantees include the Norman Rockwell Museum, the Columbus Museum of Art, the Chatham Historical Society, Louisiana’s Studio in the Woods and Arts for the Aging in Bethesda, Maryland.
Grants for Writing
Dreyfus supports a broad range of organizations that run creative writing programs, as well as publications, journals and lecture series about the writing process. Past writing grantees include the D.C. Creative Writing Workshop, the Massachusetts Review, New York’s Community Word Project and a series of lectures about writing at the Henry Morrison Flagler Museum in Palm Beach, Florida.
Grants for Film
Dreyfus’s film grants have gone mainly to theaters around the country that bring art films, short films, independent films, documentaries and film festivals to communities that otherwise would not have access to these types of works. Past grantees include the Maryland-based American Film Institute’s Silver Theatre and Cultural Center and the Amherst Cinema Arts Center in Massachuesetts.
Grants for Mental Health
The Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation is committed to mental health causes, although it does not name any specific goals or initiatives in this area preferring a broad grant strategy in order to cast a wider net. One apparent area of interest reflects therapy involving animals. In this area the foundation has supported Medical Service Dogs, Inc. Gabriel’s Angels and the Latham Centers’ asino (donkey) therapy program. Other mental health recipients include San Francisco Suicide Prevention and a program for survivors of torture at the University of Louisville’s Kent School of Social Work.
Grants for Public Health
In the area of public health, the Dreyfus Foundation funds organizations involved with healthcare access, aging, disabilities, dental health and nutrition. It does not name specific goals for its funding in these areas. Past public health grantees include Washington D.C.’s Sibley Memorial Hospital, the Dental Lifeline Network, the Visiting Nurse Association of the Hudson Valley in New York, Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington, the Zen Hospice Project and Community Health and Emergency Services of Cairo, Illinois.
Grants for Environmental Conservation and Justice
Environmental conservation is a growing area of grantmaking for this funder. In addition to funding conservation in the U.S., Dreyfus has supported U.S.-based organizations that work in conservation abroad. Past grantees include Urban Land Conservancy, the Barnstable Land Trust, the San Francisco Conservation Corporation, the Klamath Lake Land Trust, the D.C. Preservation League and the Rainforest Action Network, which works to prevent deforestation and pollution by corporate interests around the world.
Grants for Animals and Wildlife
This funder has demonstrated strong support for animal and wildlife protection over the past several years, supporting U.S.-based organizations that work both in and outside of the U.S. in animal protection and wildlife conservation. Past grantees include Elephant Aid International, the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries, the Humane Society International, the California Wildlife Center, the Cheetah Conservation Fund and the University of California, Davis’s Raptor Center.
Grants for Marine and Freshwater Conservation
Marine and freshwater conservation appears to be another area of priority of the Dreyfus Foundation’s environmental grantmaking. Areas of interest watershed and water protection, coastal conservation and the prevention of overfishing. Grantees include watershed protection programs run by Clean Ocean Action, a clean water initiative at the Surfrider Foundation, the Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen's Alliance, the Gulf of Maine Research Institute and the Chatham Marconi Maritime Center.
Grants for K-12 Education
K-12 education is another significant area of Dreyfus’s grantmaking. The foundation works broadly in this area, supporting schools, youth programs, afters chool programs and other community-based programs geared toward K-12 populations. Past grantees include Harlem Academy, the Ivymount School, children’s programs at the public library system in Westchester County, New York and Everybody Wins Iowa, a reading promotion program for children.
Grants for Journalism
The Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation broadly supports nonprofit media outlets including National Public Radio, the Connecticut Radio Information System and the public television station WETA, which serves greater Washington, D.C.
Important Grant Details:
The Dreyfus Foundation’s grants generally range between $10,000 and $20,000, but the foundation awards over 200 grants per year.
Grantees include organizations of all sizes, with grants going to those organizations that make compelling cases for funding and demonstrate the potential for broad impact.
For additional information about this funder’s past grantmaking, see its recent tax filings.
This funder accepts brief, three-page letters of request for project or general operating support and runs two yearly grant cycles. Letters are due on November 10th for its spring grants, and on May 10th for its autumn grants and should include a description of the organization, a program outline and detailed budget, if applicable.
This funder’s application is a one-step process; decisions are made based only on these three-page applications, which must be submitted through the foundation’s application portal.
General inquiries may be directed to foundation staff via email or telephone at 202-337-3300.
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