OVERVIEW: The Paul E. Singer Foundation is the charitable outfit of hedge fund billionaire Paul Singer, CEO of Elliott Investment Management and a Giving Pledge signatory. Much of the foundation’s grantmaking takes place in New York City. Areas of grantmaking interest include Jewish causes, LGBTQ causes, policy development, health, diseases and education.
IP TAKE: Singer is known for his libertarian-conservative political views and his efforts to garner support for same-sex marriage among conservatives. His foundation’s current giving, however, has zeroed in on Jewish religious and cultural organizations. This is neither an accessible or approachable funder. Networking will be the best way to proceed.
PROFILE: Paul Singer, a signatory of the Giving Pledge and the founder and president of Elliott Investment Management, moves his philanthropy through the Paul E. Singer Foundation. The foundation’s mission is to “support and create innovative and effective organizations and initiatives that strengthen American democracy, the future of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, and Jewish continuity.” Paul Singer was born and raised in New Jersey. He studied psychology at the University of Rochester and earned a J.D. from Harvard Law School. Early in his career, he worked as an attorney with Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, an investment bank. He founded his own hedge fund, Elliot Investment Management, in 1977, focusing on distressed assets and restructuring. The fund manages more than $25 billion in capital.
The Singer Foundation employs a formal staff and operates a website, but information on that website is sparse. The foundation currently focuses its funding on free market and pro-growth economic policies, U.S. national security, individual freedom, Israel, Jewish causes, LGBT equality and healthcare delivery innovation.
Grants for Jewish Causes
Jewish causes have been the foundation’s largest giving area in recent years, with grants supporting a broad range of Jewish organizations in the U.S. and Israel. Areas of focus include education, culture, history and religion.
- Past U.S. grantees include Brooklyn’s Congregation Beth Elohim, Hebrew Language Charter Schools, the Jewish Book Council, the Jewish Federations of North America, the Jewish Museum in New York City and the UJA Federation of New York.
- Grants for Israel have gone to the Jewish Agency for Israel, Onward Israel, the Israel America Academic Exchange, Friends of the Israel Disabled and the Tamid Israel Investment Group.
Grants for Public Health and Diseases
The Paul E. Singer Foundation’s website does not provide detailed information about its grantmaking priorities, but the foundation does have a stated interest in “health-care delivery innovation.”
- This is one of the foundation’s larger giving areas, with grants mainly prioritizing disease research and care in New York.
- Grantees include the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America, the Lupus Research Alliance and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
Grants for Global Security and Human Rights
In the global security space, the Singer Foundation awards grants to organizations that advocate for peace building and human rights, although this giving has tapered off somewhat in recent years. Israel is a focus of this grantmaking.
- Grants have supported the Friends of Israel Defense Forces and Start-Up Nation Central, an “organization committed to solving global problems through deepening ties between Israel’s start-up ecosystem and the global innovation economy” that Singer helped to found.
Grants for LGBTQ
Singer became involved in LGBTQ rights advocacy after his son came out. Since then, Singer has been instrumental in advocating for the legalization of same-sex marriage in the state of New York.
- Singer started the American Unity PAC with $1 million in initial funding, in order to “encourage Republican candidates to support same-sex marriage.”
- He has also supported the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.
Grants for Civic and Democracy
The Singer Foundation is a major supporter of conservative think tanks and policy outfits, especially those that promote free-market capitalist principles.
- Singer serves as chair of the board of trustees of the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, which receives ongoing support from the foundation.
- He has also supported the nonpartisan organization Intelligence Squared US, which aims to “restore critical thinking, facts, reason and civility to American public discourse.” Grants have also supported the Aspen Institute.
Grants for K-12 Education
K-12 education is a smaller area of giving for the Singer Foundation.
- The foundation does not name priorities for its grantmaking but appears to prioritize schools and initiatives for underserved communities in New York City.
- Grantees include the Harlem Children’s Zone, Prep for Prep, Success Academies and the Children’s Museum of Manhattan.
Grants for Higher Education
The Singer Foundation does not name higher education as an area of focus but has supported New York University’s School of Law, Washington University in St. Louis and the University of Pennsylvania.
Important Grant Details:
Grants typically range from $5,000 to about $2.3 million. Note that this funder channels a significant portion of its giving through the J.P. Morgan Charitable Giving Fund and provides funding in the millions to the Singer Family Charitable Foundation. The remainder of its grantmaking approached $15 million in a recent year.
Jewish causes have become this funder’s largest area of giving over the years, while the foundation appears to have de-emphasized its global security and human rights work.
- New York City is a clear geographic priority for this funder’s giving.
This funder “works proactively and conscientiously to identify potential grantees” and does not accept unsolicited proposals.
- Submit general inquiries to the foundation via its contact page. The foundation’s phone number is listed as (212) 896-7635.
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