MCJ Amelior Foundation

OVERVIEW: The New Jersey-based MCJ Amelior Foundation supports a broad range of organizations across the United States. While its grantmaking interests are varied, it does not maintain a website and lacks transparency.

IP TAKE: Amelior’s grants are spread fairly evenly between larger organizations and smaller groups. Its largest focus areas appear to be health and education, but grants also support housing, global development and arts and culture, as well. Amelior does not set geographic limitations on its grantmaking, but organizations operating in New York and New Jersey receive a significant portion of funding.

Lacking transparency, the foundation does not have a website to guide grantmaking, which means grantseekers will have to find another way to get on the foundation’s radar. An address and phone number are provided below. However, the foundation is neither accessible or approachable - by design.

PROFILE: The New Jersey-based MCJ Amelior Foundation awards a large number of grants to a variety of organizations across the country. Amelior does not have a website, which limits transparency, but tax filings suggest that its primary funding areas are health, education, community development and arts and culture. This funder does not name geographic priorities, but a significant portion of its grantmaking go to organizations in New Jersey and New York.

Grants for Public Health and Diseases

Health is Amelior’s largest giving area, but the foundation does not outline specific goals for its giving in this space and has supported a broad range of health causes. Past grantees include the Cancer Hope Network, the Alan T. Brown Foundation to Cure Paralysis, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, the Malaria No More Fund and the Alliance for Lupus Research. The vast majority of grants are for general operating support.

Grants for K-12 Education and Higher Education

Amelior’s grants for education broadly support K-12 education and higher education, although it has been known to also support graduate and professional education, and vocational training. Previous primary and secondary education grantees include Kent Place School, Boys Town Jerusalem Foundation of America, Teach for America and the Newark School of the Arts in New Jersey. Recipients of higher education grants include the Rutgers University Foundation, Case Western Reserve University, Pennsylvania State University and Cornell University.

Grants for Housing and Community Development

The foundation’s grants in this area fund youth projects, family services, homelessness, immigrant support and disability services. More than half of all housing and community development grants remain in the state of New Jersey. Previous grantees include Covenant House, Save the Children Federation, America’s Promise — The Alliance for Youth, Father Flanagan’s Boys’ Home, Sigma Community Enrichment Initiative, The Future Project, International Rescue Committee and Pillar Care Continuum.

Grants for Arts and Culture

Amelior supports arts and culture broadly. Its grantmaking is spread evenly over the performing arts, visual arts, historical preservation and other cultural organizations. Recipients include the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, New York City’s Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Mayo Performing Arts Center in New Jersey, the Newark Museum Association, the National Museum of African American History and Culture and the Museum of Early Trades & Crafts.

Grants for Global Development and Global Health

Based in Morristown, New Jersey, the MCJ Amelior Foundation awards a number of grants to a variety of global health and development-related organizations around the world. Past Amelior global development-related grants have gone to Pencils of Promise, the Eastern Congo Initiative and Goods for Good. In the area of global health the foundation has supported Doctors Without Borders, Every Mother Counts and the Global Health Corps. The vast majority of Amelior’s grants are for general operating support. 

Important Grant Details:

The Amelior Foundation awards $7 million to $8 million in grants each year. While it does make a handful of high-dollar grants annually—for instance, it has supported Malaria No More with a $1.3 million grant—it appears that its main funding approach is to support a larger number of organizations with modest grants, anywhere from $500 up to over $400,000. The vast majority of grants are for general operating support. This funder appears to prioritize organizations in New York and New Jersey but grantmaking is national in scope.

The Amelior Foundation does not run a formal grant application program and does not provide information about how to get in touch. The foundation’s mailing address and phone number are provided below.

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CONTACT:

MCJ Amelior Foundation

310 South Street

Morristown, New Jersey 07960

(973) 540-1946