Wunderkinder Foundation
/OVERVIEW: Steven Spielberg’s Wunderkinder Foundation supports arts and culture with a strong focus theater and film. Other areas of interest include women’s causes, civic engagement, violence prevention, criminal justice reform, Jewish causes, K-12 education and health.
IP TAKE: The Wunderkinder Foundation appears to prioritize Los Angeles and New York, but many national and regional organizations in other parts of the U.S. have also received support. Wunderkinder is not transparent or accessible, so grant strategies are hard to come by. It does take a proactive approach and likes collaboration. It is also approachable and responsive. Contact information is provided below.
PROFILE: Founded by Steven Spielberg in Los Angeles in the early 1980s, the Wunderkinder Foundation is a sizable grantmaker, with assets of over $100 million and annual grantmaking of around $9 million. This funder maintains a low-profile; it does not operate a website or employ a staff. According to recent tax filings, Wunderkinder’s largest area of giving is performing arts, specifically theater and film. Smaller areas of giving include women’s causes, civic engagement, criminal justice reform, violence prevention, Jewish causes and K-12 education. It is worth noting that the foundation’s largest recipient is the Righteous Person’s Fund, a Spielberg nonprofit that also supports Jewish causes and arts and culture.
Grants for Arts and Culture
Wunderkinder’s arts and culture grantmaking prioritizes theater and film. A significant portion of the foundation’s grants in this area support theater education, including the Juilliard School, the Educational Theatre Association and the University of Southern California’s School of Dramatic Arts, which received $500,000 in a recent year. Other recipients from the world of theater and film include Los Angeles’s Geffen Playhouse, the Motion Picture and Television Fund, the Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles and the American Screen Actors Guild. Other recent arts and culture grantees include Los Angeles’s Brentwood Art Center, the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers, the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, the New York Public Library and the American Museum of Natural History.
Grants for Women and Girls
Wunderkinder has demonstrated a strong commitment to organizations working to protect the rights of women and girls in the U.S. Recent grantees include the National Women’s Law Center, New York’s Center for Reproductive Rights, Planned Parenthood of Los Angeles and the Feminist Majority Foundation.
Grants for Civic and Democracy
The Wunderkinder Foundation does not outline specific goals for its giving in this area, but grants have gone to the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute, the United We Dream Network, Voto Latino and Vote.org.
Grants for Violence Prevention
Wunderkinder has supported several organizations that support gun reform and violence prevention. Recent grantees include Everytown for Gun Safety, the Sandy Hook Promise Foundation and the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence.
Grants for Criminal Justice Reform
Wunderkinder’s criminal justice reform grants have supported the Vera Institute of Justice, the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights and the Equal Justice Initiative, which provides “legal representation to people who have been illegally convicted, unfairly sentenced, or abused in state jails and prisons.”
Grants for Jewish Causes
In a recent year, the Wunderkinder’s largest recipient was the Righteous Persons Foundation, an organization that Spielberg founded with his portion of proceeds from the film Schindler’s List to “build and support a meaningful and relevant Jewish community.” Other grantees in this area include the progressive Jewish organization IKAR and Philadelphia’s National Museum of American Jewish History.
Grants for K-12 Education
Wunderkinder has given to several initiatives and organizations that aim to improve K-12 education for underserved urban students. Past grantees include City Year Los Angeles, the Coalition for Engaged Education and the National College Advising Corps.
Grants for Public Health and Diseases
Wunderkinder has supported health and disease prevention initiatives broadly in recent years. Grantmaking appears to prioritize organizations in California. Recent grants have gone to the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric Aids Foundation and Los Angeles’s Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. In New York, the foundation has supported the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
Important Grant Details:
The Wunderkinder Foundation made about $9 million in grants in a recent year. Grants have ranged from $5,000 to over $1 million, with an average grant size of about $40,000. Grantmaking appears to prioritize the greater Los Angeles and New York metropolitan areas, although Wunderkind has supported national organizations and organizations in other regions of the U.S., as well.
The Wunderkinder Foundation does not maintain a website or appear to run an open application program. An address and phone number are provided below.
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CONTACT:
Wunderkinder Foundation
11400 W. Olympic Blvd., Ste. 550
Los Angeles, CA 90064-1551
(310) 481-3513