OVERVIEW: The Nando and Elsa Peretti Foundation is based in Rome and supports initiatives for humanitarian aid, environmental conservation, animal welfare, human rights, health and disease research.
IP TAKE: This Italian funder works broadly in its areas of interest. It supports both large global organizations, as well as smaller projects. Italy and Africa appear to be geographic priorities, but organizations in 80 different countries have received grants in recent years.
The Nando and Elsa Peretti Foundation paused grantmaking in 2020 to focus on its response to the COVID-19 crisis. The foundation expects to begin accepting applications for funding again in December 2021. Prospective grantees are advised to check the foundation’s website for guidelines.
PROFILE: The Nando and Elsa Peretti Foundation was founded by Elsa Peretti in 2000 and is based in Rome. Peretti, a famous model and jewelry designer, named the foundation for her father, Nando Peretti, who was an Italian businessman and founder of Anomina Petroli Italiana, an oil company. The foundation names charity, education, conservation, medical research, construction, the arts, health, human rights and COVID-19 as focus areas for its grantmaking. Since its inception, the foundation has supported nearly 500 projects with over €30 million. Grantmaking is global in scope, but about half of all grants remain in Italy. The foundation paused its programs in 2020 to focus on emergency grantmaking for COVID-19 response. The foundation expects to resume regular grantmaking in June 2021.
Grants for Disaster Relief and Humanitarian Aid
The Peretti Foundation’s disaster and humanitarian aid grantmaking is responsive, with most recent grants supporting COVID-19 relief efforts. In Rome, the foundation has given to Interstos, which supplied protective gear and other anti-COVID measures to homeless people. In Sicily, the foundation gave to the Fondazione di Comunità Val di Noto, which provided tablets for online learning to children of disadvantaged families. And in India, the Peretti supported the Fondazione Albero della Vita, which distributed food, supplies and protective equipment to vulnerable people in West Bengal.
Grants for Environmental Conservation and Justice
The Peretti Foundation does not name specific goals for its conservation funding, but supports several organizations in this area. One grantee partner, the Rainforest Trust, supports various organizations involved in fighting fires in the rain forests of the Amazon. Another grantee, the Peruvian organization Madre de Dios, works to conserve the biodiversity and critical habitats of the Rio Tambopata, Puerto Maldonado and the Manu National Park. In Italy, the foundation has supported the Associazione Posidonia, which creates and implements conservation education programs for disabled children.
Grants for Animal Welfare and Wildlife
A significant portion of Peretti funding has funded organizations working to protect domestic and wild animals. Grants for domestic animal welfare include the Italian organization L’Arcobaleno sul Felcetone, which used funding to pilot an ethical slaughtering program. Wildlife conservation grants have gone to Fauna and Flora International, the Wildlife Justice Commission, Birdlife International and a program to preserve the Italian falcon population at the University of Palermo.
Grants for Global Security and Human Rights
Human rights funding represents a smaller portion of the Peretti Foundation’s work. Recent grants have gone to No Peace Without Justice, which supported the investigation of human rights violations and war crimes resulting from recent conflicts in South Sudan. Other human rights grantees include Human Rights Watch and the Italian organization Associazione Babinisenzasbarre Onlus, which advocates for the rights of children whose parents are serving prison sentences in Italy.
Grants for Global Health
Peretti’s health funding has focused on domestic initiatives in Italy and organizations operating in the nations of Africa. Italian grantees include the Associazione Cittadine del Mondo, which provides health assistance to asylum seekers in Italy, and the San Giovanni Battista Hospital in Rome. African grantees include Operation Smile, which provides free surgeries to correct facial deformities including cleft palate in Madagascar, and South Africa’s Breede River Hospice.
Grants for Disease Research
The Peretti Foundation supports research on the effectiveness of treatments for various diseases, prioritizing projects at universities and research institutions in Italy. Grantees include the University of Sapienza, the Associazione Nazionale Genitori Soggetti Autistici, the Fondazione Policlinico Tor VErgata and Fondazione Isal, which used funding to study predisposing factors of fibromyalgia.
Important Grant Details:
In recent years, the Nando and Elsa Peretti Foundation has given away about €50 million to over 1,000 grantees in 80 countries. Italy and Africa appear to be geographic areas of interest. Grantees represent a range of large global organizations and smaller grassroots operations. For additional information about past grantmaking, see the foundation’s projects page.
The Peretti paused grantmaking in 2020 in order to focus on its response to the COVID-19 crisis. It expects to resume its acceptance of applications in December 2021. General inquiries may be submitted to the foundation via its contact page.
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