Richard and Maureen Chilton

SOURCE OF WEALTH: Chilton Investment Company, Chilton Trust Company

FUNDING AREAS: Arts & Culture, Education, Environment

OVERVIEW: Richard Chilton is a trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Chairman Emeritus of Greenwich Academy, a girls' school in Greenwich, CT. Maureen Chilton is the chairwoman of the board of the New York Botanical Garden. The couple also runs an extensive scholarship programs for children in China. According to available tax filings, the Chilton Foundation, where Richard and Maureen serve as trustees, awarded $2.7 million in grants in 2017.

BACKGROUND: Chilton grew up in New Jersey, and attended Alfred College in New York before going to work on Wall St. He worked at Allen & Company, Alliance Capital, and Merrill Lynch before founding both the Chilton Investment Company, and Chilton Trust Company.

ISSUES:

ARTS & CULTURE: “Environment and culture,” Chilton has said, are two of his main priorities. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, where Chilton is a trustee, is the largest recipient. Tax filings indicate that the museum received a $432,000 grant from the foundation in 2017. Richard and Maureen also on the Director’s Roundtable at the Pierpont Morgan Library, to which Chilton Investment provided corporate sponsorship.

ENVIRONMENT: Perhaps it is because Chilton spends much of his time in New York City and other major metropolitan areas that he has a different definition of environmental giving than we might ordinarily think of. According to available tax filings,the foundation gave $1.2 million to the Land Trust of Darien Connecticut in 2006. The foundation and has also made gifts such to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and the Everglades Foundation. For Chilton, however, environment is closely linked to culture, so his focus is less on conservation, climate change, or clean technology than on creating escapes within an urban environment, which explains why the New York Botanical Garden, where Maureen Chilton is Chairwoman of the Board, is one of their largest beneficiaries, and why the Foundation’s list of donees also includes various historical home preservation societies.

EDUCATION: Chilton is Chairman Emeritus of the Darien Foundation for Technology and Community, which funds capital projects for technology and education. Chilton has also reached out to China by establishing a scholarship fund for students at universities in Chengdu, which suffered an earthquake in 2008. This is not an instance of mere charity, however. Chilton worries about Chinese companies’ “limited access to capital,” and wants to “help support the economic recovery and expansion of the region by pursuing promising investment opportunities.” Helping disadvantaged Chinese students will fuel the economic growth of China, which Chilton sees as good for business in the future rather than a threat.

Several schools have also received funds, such as Berkeley Divinity School and Bucknell University, although the Chiltons’ alma maters, Alfred University and Marymount Manhattan College, do not seem to have been on the receiving end for some time. 

NYC & SURROUNDING COMMUNITY: Chilton used to be the Director of the Robin Hood Foundation, a venture philanthropy organization that fights poverty in New York City. Based on his philosophy that charity starts at home, he also makes significant contributions to a number of organizations in Darien, CT, including St. Luke’s Parish, as well as the Nantucket Golf Club.

LOOKING FORWARD: The recent change in the Chilton Family Foundation's giving is somewhat troubling, but could also mean the Chiltons are rethinking their strategy and may be planning bigger things. At 56, Chilton still has plenty of productive years left in his career though, so we may have to wait a bit longer before we see a major increase in giving. 

CONTACT:

 Chilton Foundation

1290 E. Main Street, 1st Floor

Stamford, CT, 06902

(203) 352-4000