Sackler Family Foundation: Grants for Global Development

OVERVIEW: The Sackler Family Foundation backs diverse global development efforts around the world.

IP TAKE: The Sackler name may be familiar, as it is one of the three names behind the narcotic painkiller OxyContin, which has fueled the opioid crisis in the U.S. Note that the Sacklers are still under investigation for fueling the U.S. opioid crisis. It is also a well-known funder of the far-right, Anti-muslim and anti-immigrant and conspiracy theorist movements in the U.S.

This is not an accessible or approachable funder. Networking won’t get you far here, either.

Despite being worth billions, this family’s given is small in relation to their wealth. Most of the foundation’s grants amount to just a few hundred dollars. The foundation also gives very few grants in any giving cycle. It remains to be seen if the Sacklers will ramp up giving in coming years.

PROFILE: The Sackler Family Foundation keeps a low public profile, does not operate a website and does not employ a formal staff. The foundation doesn’t award a large number of annual grants, and a good number of the ones it does award go to education in the United States.

Grants for Global Development

Some Sackler grants support global development efforts, though it doesn’t appear to have specific areas of focus. On a smaller scale, the foundation awards one or two grants to global health each year; however, so far, the Sacklers have not dedicated grantmaking towards drug abuse.

Grant for Higher Education

The family’s grants for higher education typically fund elite universities across the U.S. like Yale and Tufts. However, many universities are scrubbing the Sackler name from funds.

Important Grant Details:

Sackler’s grants range widely in dollar amounts, coming in anywhere from $500 up to $100,000. The foundation appears to back smaller, perhaps lesser-known organizations. For example, Invisible Children and the Global Poverty project are past grantees.

The Sackler Family Foundation does not accept unsolicited grant applications or requests for funding, opting instead to make grants to preselected organizations.

PEOPLE:

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CONTACT:

Sackler Family Foundation

17 East 62nd Street

New York, New York 10065

(212) 832-7900