Nathan Cummings Foundation
/OVERVIEW: The Nathan Cummings Foundation supports organizations working for climate change, political accountability, and social justice in the Unites States and Israel.
IP TAKE: This accessible funder has a streamlined application process, but does not award grants for direct services or social services. The Nathan Cummings Foundation accepts unsolicited letters of inquiry; however, LOI submissions do not guarantee funding. An accessible funder, Cummings lacks the bureaucracy of other grantmakers and likes to extend support in other ways.
PROFILE: The Nathan Cummings Foundation was established in 1949 by Nathan Cummings, the founder of international food conglomerate Sara Lee. Upon his death in 1985, Cummings left the majority of his estate to his foundation, which is “rooted in the Jewish tradition of social justice, working to create a more just, vibrant, sustainable and democratic society through our grantmaking in the United States and Israel.” Its five current focus areas are Racial and Economic Justice, Inclusive Clean Economy, Corporate and Political Accountability, Voice, Creativity, and Culture, and Israel. It also offers a fellowship that can examine an array of issues related to the foundation’s focus areas.
Grants for Racial and Indigenous Justice, Criminal Justice, Work and Opportunity
The Nathan Cummings Foundation’s Racial and Economic Justice grantmaking works to “reverse generations of concentrated wealth and racialized power and patriarchy to get to the root causes of inequality and inequity.” It prioritizes work programs that “improve working conditions for the most vulnerable communities,” “build assets and wealth that lead families to greater economic security and mobility,” “reimagine our criminal justice system and overturn policies that disproportionately target low-income people, women and communities of color,” and “support necessary interventions at the intersection of increasing income, building wealth and disrupting mass incarceration.”
Past grantees include Action Center on Race and the Economy, Living Cities, and Vera Institute of Justice.
Grants for Civic Engagement and Democracy
The Nathan Cummings Foundation’s Corporate and Political Accountability grantmaking works to “decrease concentrated corporate power and limit corporate influence in our political system.” It currently prioritizes organizations that address inequality and climate change by advocating for increased transparency, focusing on antitrust laws and competition policy to decrease the concentration of power, working to mitigate corporate influence on politicians and regulatory agencies, and “challenging the dominance of the consumer welfare theory.”
Past grantees include the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute, Open Markets Institute, and First Peoples Investment Engagement Program.
Grants for Climate Change and Clean Energy
The foundation conducts its climate change funding through its Inclusive Clean Economy program; however, grantmaking to climate change overlaps with all of the foundation's giving interests. The program was inspired to address the climate crisis "from an equity perspective and to hold accountable the deeply entrenched political and corporate interests that have left our nation’s infrastructure and communities vulnerable and have stalled the energy and economic transformation we need."
The NCF's climate change grantmaking emphasizes getting the progressive movement to think beyond its usual approaches. NCF has also signaled a past friendliness to fracking that has rankled allies. The foundation has also partnered in the Climate Justice Alliance, Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, Jobs to Move America and the NAACP Environment and Climate Justice Program.
Past grantees include the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy and Earth Day Network, Inc.
Grants for the Arts
The foundation’s Voice, Creativity, and Culture program works “to shift dominant narratives about race, class, gender, and ethnicity and build radical solidarity and empathy through voice, creativity, and culture.” The program has a two-pronged approach that funds both artistic endeavors and religious traditions. It supports arts organizations and creative programs with a commitment to racial justice that utilize storytelling to promote empathy, understanding, and a “culture of shared responsibility.” Cummings also makes grants to groups that are religious and spiritually oriented and use “spiritual, cultural, artistic, and contemplative practices” to advance social change.
Past grantees include Hyperallergic, Urgent Action Fund for Women’s Human Rights, Bend the Arc, and Rise Up Initiative.
Grants for Jewish Causes
The foundation’s Israel program works toward a “multiethnic democracy” in Israel and funds initiatives for justice and equality in the country. To that end, it supports organizations and programs that promote “a just and lasting political agreement between the Israeli government and the Palestinians that would end the ongoing Israeli military occupation of Palestinian territories, provide for safety and security for Israelis and Palestinians, build a national homeland for both the Jewish and Palestinian people, and advance a more peaceful future.”
Past grantees include Shaharit, B’Tselem, and New Israel Fund.
Grants for Women and Girls
Cummings’s inequality grantmaking invests in catalytic work that can potentially “transform the influence of implicit bias and discrimination that currently exist in our public policy, systems and markets.” Although the foundation does not have a program specifically directed at girls and women’s organizations, its tax filings indicate an interest in this space.
Past grantees include the Economic Policy Institute, which received a grant for its work addressing economic inequality with a focus on women of color; and JOIN for Justice, which received support for its Jewish women leaders of color (JWOC) Resilience Project.
Important Grant Details:
The Nathan Cummings Foundation has an annual grantmaking budget of around $20 million. Though grant amounts vary widely, the average award is $180,000. The foundation is currently restructuring its strategic planning process and has temporarily closed its unsolicited LOI portal and suggests that grantseekers check its website for updates at the beginning of 2023. To learn more about the types of organizations Cummings supports, explore its grants approved page.
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