Hoffen Family Foundation
/OVERVIEW: The New York City-based Hoffen Family Foundation supports Jewish causes, higher education and arts and culture. Grantmaking prioritizes the New York City area.
IP TAKE: The Hoffen Family Foundation provides ongoing support to a select group of grantees working in it’s areas of funding. It prefers a proactive grantmaking approach, rather than a transparent or accessible one. It doesn’t accept unsolicited applications and isn’t particularly approachable, making it a tough nut to crack. With its low-profile, it will be difficult to catch this funder’s attention without a personal connection to its founders, Howard and Sandra Hoffen.
While this is a great funder to know in that it provides multi-year support, it’s dedication to previous grantees narrows it’s ability to support new grantees.
PROFILE: The New York City-based Hoffen Family Foundation was established in 2007 by Howard I. Hoffen and his wife, Sandra Kim Hoffen. Howard Hoffen chaired Morgan Stanley Capital Partners, which was a division of Morgan Stanley until 2004, when it broke away from its parent company and was renamed Metalmark Capital Partners. Hoffen currently serves as Chair and CEO of Metalmark. Sandra Kim Hoffen, who has an MBA from Harvard and also worked in the finance industry, is the president of the Hoffen Family Foundation. This funder does not maintain a website, limiting information about its grantmaking goals and practices. Tax filings, however, reveal a strong interest in supporting Jewish causes, education and arts and culture. Grantmaking prioritizes the New York City area.
Grants for Jewish Causes
The Hoffen Family Foundation’s grantmaking for Jewish causes appears to prioritize Israel, Jewish education and cultural groups. In a recent year, the foundation gave to Israeli concerns including the PEF Israel Endowment Funds, the American Israel Education Foundation and American Friends of Leket Israel, which is the national food bank of Israel. The foundation has also given to the American Friends of Yahad in Unum, a European organization that aims to find the sites of mass graves of Jews killed by Nazi forces in World War II. In the U.S., the foundation has supported the National Jewish Outreach Program, Birthright Israel, the Jewish Federation of Metro Chicago, New York City’s Lincoln Square Synagogue and the Abraham Joshua Heschel School of New York City.
Grants for Higher Education
The Hoffen Family Foundation’s grantmaking for higher education prioritizes Howard Hoffen’s undergraduate alma mater, Columbia University, as well as Harvard University, where both Howard and Sandra earned graduate degrees in business. The foundation has funded scholarships and fellowships at both schools, but the Hoffen Family foundation does not appear to otherwise fund education beyond the family’s alma maters.
Grants for Arts and Culture
The Hoffen Foundation has provided ongoing support to a handful of arts and culture organizations over the past several years. Grantees include New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Asia Society and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C.
Important Grant Details:
The Hoffen Family Foundation made about $650,000 in grants ranging from $5,000 to $100,000. The foundation’s average grant size is about $10,000. More than half of all grants remain in the New York City area, and Jewish causes are the foundation’s largest giving area. This funder tends to support the same organizations year after year. For additional information about past grantmaking, see the foundation’s recent tax filings.
The Hoffen Family Foundation does not accept unsolicited proposals for funding and tends provide ongoing support to a small group of preselected organizations. A mailing address is provided below.
PEOPLE:
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CONTACT:
Hoffen Family Foundation
Po Box 20891
New York, NY 10023
