A Look at a Former Illinois Governor’s Low-Profile Philanthropic Foundation
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Bruce Rauner. Photo: John Gress Media Inc/shutterstock
From 2015 to 2019, Bruce Rauner served as the governor of Illinois. However, much of his wealth comes from his work with a private equity firm, Golder Thomas Cressey Rauner. Bruce Rauner and his wife, Diana, launched their own philanthropic foundation back in 1995, but the foundation maintains a low profile and has not created a website to this day.
To help Chicago-area nonprofits get to know this foundation better, here’s a look inside the Rauner Family Foundation (RFF) and how it gives in the area.
Top issue areas
Education reform has always been a big topic of interest for RFF, with grants frequently going to charter schools and the Chicago Public Education Fund. Diana Rauner has served as the president of the Ounce of Prevention Fund, which addresses the needs of very young, at-risk children and has steadily received RFF’s support, too.
Health and human services are areas of interest for the Rauners, especially organizations that support children and disaster relief. Past grantees include the American Red Cross of Greater Chicago and the YMCA of Greater Chicago. Beyond this, RFF has provided funding over the years for economic development and Jewish causes. The Chicago-based couple keeps grantmaking close to home, and a majority of grants stay within the city.
Recent grantmaking
In recent years, RFF has awarded between $2 million and $3 million in annual grants. Many of these grants have been in the $10,000 to $300,000 range. Larger $1 million grants recently went to the Ounce of Prevention Fund and A Safe Haven Foundation. In 2022, the foundation supported veteran housing through a project called the Rauner Family Veteran Apartments by A Safe Haven Foundation. This housing is dedicated to low-income, disabled and senior military veterans.
Offshore foundation investments
News has come out in the past questioning RFF’s offshore investments. For example, RFF has invested in a Cayman Islands fund and at least three offshore funds. RFF’s 2016 tax forms showed a $10 million investment in the Roundtable Hedge (Carleon) Offshore Fund. When Rauner ran for governor in 2014, he was said to be the richest person to seek elected office in Illinois history, with a net worth of over $500 million at that time.
Seeking grant support
Unfortunately for local grantseekers in Chicago, RFF is not a very accessible or transparent foundation, and it does not accept unsolicited grant requests. Instead, this family funder typically sticks to causes it is already familiar with and continues to direct large sums of money toward groups with established connections.
More information about the Rauner Family Foundation can be found in IP’s full profile of this funder, which is part of our Chicago and Great Lakes Funding Guide.
