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The Overbrook Foundation

Annual Giving
$9.0M
Grant Range
$5K - $0.3M

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The Overbrook Foundation

Quick Stats

  • Annual Giving: $8,982,524 (2023)
  • Success Rate: Not applicable - invitation only
  • Decision Time: Not publicly disclosed
  • Grant Range: $5,000 - $250,000
  • Average Grant: $50,000
  • Geographic Focus: United States and Latin America (particularly Central America and Mesoamerica)
  • Total Assets: $201,495,759 (2023)

Contact Details

Address: One Grand Central Place, 60 East 42nd St., Suite 565, New York, NY 10165

Phone: (212) 603-9996

Website: https://overbrook.org/

Contact Form: Available at https://overbrook.org/contact-us/

Note on Outreach: Whilst the foundation does not accept unsolicited grant proposals, they encourage organisations working in their areas of interest to share news, ideas, and projects with foundation staff through their contact form or by phone.

Overview

Founded in 1948 by investor Frank Altschul and his wife Helen, the Overbrook Foundation takes its name from Overbrook Farm, the Altschul family home in Stamford, Connecticut. With over $200 million in assets and more than $240 million distributed since inception, the foundation has supported over 2,000 nonprofit organisations. Now in its third and fourth generation of family leadership with a professional staff of six, Overbrook formalised its current focus on human rights and environmental conservation in 2005. The foundation played a pivotal role in achieving marriage equality in the United States as one of 12 founding organisations of the Civil Marriage Collaborative, which provided over $150 million for the successful strategy culminating in the 2015 Supreme Court decision. Overbrook also helped organise the first People's Climate March in 2014, which drew over 300,000 participants and became an annual global event.

Funding Priorities

Grant Programmes

The Overbrook Foundation operates through two main programme areas:

Environment Programme ($20,000 - $100,000 typical range)

  • Coastal Restoration: Supporting restoration of endangered oceans and coastlines through cultivation of coral, seaweed, oysters, sea grass, and marine species
  • Communities and Climate: Funding locally-rooted organisations combating projects that worsen climate impacts, particularly in extractive-industrial zones
  • Drivers of Change: Targeting single-use plastics culture and petrochemical industry expansion; promoting behaviour change towards sustainable reuse society
  • Stand for Forests: Protecting threatened tropical forest ecosystems and preventing deforestation, primarily in Mesoamerica (Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Mexico)

Human Rights Programme ($20,000 - $100,000 typical range)

  • Advancing Reproductive Health, Rights, and Justice: Legal advocacy, healthcare provision, community organising to address abortion access regression
  • Defending Democracy: Supporting civic participation, election integrity, combating voter suppression through organisations working on voting rights, gerrymandering prevention, fair census counts, and electoral innovations
  • Supporting Human Rights Defenders in Latin America: Providing legal assistance, emergency grants, advocacy, capacity strengthening, accompaniment, and networks for defenders, particularly in Central America

Priority Areas

Geographic Focus:

  • United States (domestic human rights and environmental work)
  • Latin America (biodiversity conservation, human rights defenders)
  • Central America and Mesoamerica (special emphasis)

Organisational Characteristics:

  • Led by or partnering with communities most impacted by rights violations
  • Organisations led by women of colour, low-income women, LGBTQ people, and youth
  • Locally-rooted and community-centred approaches
  • Systems-level innovation and change
  • Direct work with communities and stakeholders

Specific Issue Areas:

  • Women and girls' rights
  • LGBTQ rights (post-marriage equality focus on opposing religious exemptions for discrimination)
  • Criminal justice reform
  • Indigenous land protection
  • Community forest governance and management
  • Agroforestry and sustainable production
  • Climate justice in frontline communities

What They Don't Fund

Whilst not explicitly stated, the foundation's preselected approach and focused programme areas indicate they do not fund:

  • Organisations outside their two programme areas (Environment and Human Rights)
  • Work outside the United States and Latin America
  • Individual scholarships or research
  • Capital campaigns or endowment building (not their stated focus)
  • Arts, education, healthcare, or other sectors outside their current mandate (though these were supported historically)

Governance and Leadership

Board of Directors

The Overbrook Foundation is governed by a 13-member Board of Directors, predominantly consisting of third and fourth generation descendants of founders Helen and Frank Altschul and their spouses:

  • Joyce Fensterstock – Chair of the Board
  • Julie Graham – Vice Chair & Secretary
  • Arthur G. Altschul, Jr. – Vice Chair & Treasurer
  • Isaiah Orozco – Vice Chair
  • Stephen F. Altschul
  • James Graham
  • Emily Altschul-Miller
  • Michael Grunwald
  • Alla Broeksmit
  • Olivia Kooyman
  • Elizabeth Lindemann
  • Robert Labaree
  • Kristin Graham
  • Helen Lang
  • Robert C. Graham Jr. – Director Emeritus

Senior Staff

  • Stephen A. Foster – Former President & CEO
  • Risa Kaufman – Director of Human Rights
  • Daniel R. Katz – Lead Environmental Advisor (co-founder and Board Chair of Rainforest Alliance)
  • Jessica Mowles – Human Rights Senior Programme Officer

The foundation employs a professional staff of six with "decades of experience in their fields."

Application Process & Timeline

How to Apply

The Overbrook Foundation does not have a public application process. The foundation only makes contributions to preselected charitable organisations and does not accept unsolicited grant applications.

However, the foundation explicitly encourages organisations working in its specific areas of interest to share news, ideas, and projects with foundation staff. Organisations can reach out through:

Getting on Their Radar

The Overbrook Foundation's approach to identifying grantees involves proactive research and relationship building by foundation staff. Based on specific information about this funder:

Staff-Driven Identification: The foundation's professional staff actively researches and identifies organisations working in their priority areas. Programme officers like Risa Kaufman (Human Rights) and Daniel R. Katz (Environment) are key contacts who evaluate potential grantees.

Relationship Building Through Information Sharing: Whilst they don't accept proposals, the foundation explicitly welcomes organisations to share news and project updates. This suggests that keeping programme officers informed about your work, achievements, and innovations in their focus areas can help you get noticed.

Multi-Year Funding Model: Many grantees receive multi-year funding, which means the foundation develops long-term relationships with partners. This makes breaking into their portfolio competitive, but once funded, organisations benefit from sustained support.

Network and Collaborative Connections: The foundation's history with initiatives like the Civil Marriage Collaborative (12 foundations providing $150M for marriage equality) and organising the People's Climate March demonstrates they work within collaborative networks. Being connected to or recommended by existing grantees or partner foundations could be valuable.

Leadership from Affected Communities: The foundation explicitly prioritises organisations "led by or partnering with communities most impacted" by the issues they address. Organisations led by women of colour, LGBTQ people, youth, and frontline community members align with their values.

Decision Timeline

Not publicly disclosed. The foundation operates on a trustee discretion model with grants approved by the family-led Board of Directors.

Grant Distribution Pattern

  • 2023: $8,982,524 in grants paid
  • 2022: $8,545,565 in grants paid
  • 2021: $6,731,577 in grants paid

Success Rates

Not applicable – the foundation identifies and invites organisations rather than evaluating submitted applications.

Reapplication Policy

Not applicable due to invitation-only model.

Application Success Factors

Since this foundation operates on an invitation-only basis, "success" means being identified and selected by foundation staff. Based on research into this specific funder, the following factors appear critical:

Community-Centred Leadership: The foundation explicitly states they prioritise grantees "led by or partnering with communities most impacted by rights violations." Their example of COLOR as "the only Latina-led Reproductive Justice organisation in Colorado" illustrates this priority. Organisations led by women of colour, LGBTQ individuals, and youth are specifically mentioned as priority partners.

Systems-Level Innovation: The foundation's values include "Be Bold – Address pressing challenges with innovative leaders, recognising that risk-taking can yield important solutions." They support organisations taking innovative approaches to systemic change rather than just service delivery.

Direct Community Connection: Grantee UPROSE's Executive Director Elizabeth Yeampierre emphasises: "All of our work is designed to address [the community's] priorities and concerns." The foundation values organisations responsive to community-identified needs, as demonstrated by UPROSE's evolution into renewable energy leadership.

Long-Term Impact Focus: With many grantees receiving multi-year funding and the foundation's value of "Be Impactful – Ensure support translates to measurable, high-level impact in communities and ecosystems," they seek partners capable of sustained, transformative work rather than short-term projects.

Youth Leadership and Organising: Texas Rising's work with youth organisers demonstrates the foundation's commitment to supporting "a powerful force for social and political change" through youth-led movements creating "lasting, cross-generational change."

Alignment with Five Core Values:

  1. Be Bold – Take risks to address pressing challenges
  2. Be Impactful – Achieve measurable, high-level impact
  3. Be a Partner – Engage in collaborative systemic change
  4. Be Accountable – Maintain transparency and accessibility
  5. Be Humble – Remain open to learning and change

Geographic Alignment: Work must be in the United States or Latin America (particularly Central America and Mesoamerica for environment work; Central America for human rights defenders).

Specific Programme Fit: Organisations must clearly align with one of the foundation's six sub-initiatives across their two programme areas. Generic environmental or human rights work won't fit—it needs to specifically address coastal restoration, communities and climate, drivers of change, stand for forests, reproductive justice, defending democracy, or supporting human rights defenders.

Key Takeaways for Grant Writers

  • This funder does not accept traditional grant applications – Focus instead on building awareness of your work through sharing news, achievements, and project updates with programme staff

  • Community leadership is paramount – Organisations led by those most impacted (women of colour, LGBTQ people, frontline communities, youth, indigenous peoples) receive priority

  • Multi-year funding creates competitive entry but stable support – Once funded, expect sustained engagement with the foundation

  • Innovation and bold approaches matter – The foundation values risk-taking and systems-level change over incremental improvements or traditional service delivery

  • Historic achievements demonstrate commitment – Their $150M+ investment in marriage equality and leadership in organising the People's Climate March show they back major movement-building efforts

  • Geographic and programmatic fit is narrow – Work must fall within their six specific sub-initiatives and be located in the US or Latin America; this is not a general-purpose funder

  • Relationship-building is key – Since staff proactively identify grantees, maintaining communication with programme officers (Risa Kaufman for Human Rights, Daniel R. Katz for Environment) and sharing relevant updates can position you for future consideration

References

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