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Bader Family Foundation

Annual Giving
$3.6M
Grant Range
$10K - $0.1M

Bader Family Foundation

Quick Stats

  • Annual Giving: $3,629,000 (2023)
  • Success Rate: Not publicly disclosed
  • Decision Time: Not publicly disclosed
  • Grant Range: $10,000 - $106,735 (average)
  • Geographic Focus: National (United States)
  • Total Assets: $76 million

Contact Details

Address: 1236 N Stafford St, Arlington, VA 22201

Phone: 703-399-6738

Website: No public website

Email: Not publicly available

Note: This foundation does not have a public website or email for inquiries.

Overview

The Bader Family Foundation was established as a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization in April 2010. Based in Arlington, Virginia, the foundation manages approximately $76 million in assets and distributed $3.6 million in grants during 2023. The foundation is overseen by sole trustee Hans F. Bader, an attorney who previously served as senior attorney at the Competitive Enterprise Institute (2003-2017) and later worked with the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights. The foundation describes itself as being concerned with civil rights and free speech issues, funding organizations that advocate around conservative and libertarian policy issues including campus free speech, federal bureaucracy reform, science policy, and addressing what it views as conservative censorship. Between 2009 and 2022, the foundation made nearly $36 million in contributions to various organizations. The foundation made 34 grant awards in 2023, 42 in 2022, and has maintained consistent grant-making activity with 40-50 awards annually in prior years.

Funding Priorities

Grant Programs

The Bader Family Foundation operates as a private foundation making grants at the discretion of its trustee. There are no formal grant programs with specific names or designated funding streams. Grants are awarded on a discretionary basis without public application deadlines or structured cycles.

Grant Amounts: Based on recent 990 filings, individual grants have ranged from $10,000 to over $100,000, with an average grant size of $106,735 in recent years.

Priority Areas

The foundation funds organizations focused on:

  • Campus free speech and academic freedom: Supporting organizations that advocate for free expression and intellectual diversity in higher education
  • Conservative and libertarian policy research: Funding think tanks and policy organizations advancing free-market principles and limited government
  • Civil rights and constitutional law: Supporting legal advocacy around First Amendment rights, federalism, and civil liberties from a conservative/libertarian perspective
  • Federal bureaucracy and regulatory reform: Organizations examining and critiquing government regulation and administrative state issues
  • Science policy: Supporting organizations addressing science policy from free-market perspectives

Notable Grant Recipients (based on Form 990 filings):

  • Heritage Foundation
  • Cato Institute
  • Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty
  • Competitive Enterprise Institute (regular large grants)
  • Manhattan Institute (regular recipient since 2014)
  • James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal (multiple grants ranging $15,000-$30,000)
  • Thomas B. Fordham Foundation (grants of $10,000-$17,000)
  • Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy ($50,000)

What They Don't Fund

As a private foundation focused on conservative and libertarian policy advocacy, the foundation does not appear to fund:

  • Direct service organizations
  • Individual scholarships or direct support to individuals
  • Progressive or liberal policy organizations
  • General operating support for organizations outside their ideological focus
  • Arts and culture programs
  • Healthcare or medical research
  • International development

Governance and Leadership

Hans F. Bader - Sole Trustee

Hans Bader is an attorney who serves as the foundation's sole trustee, dedicating approximately 5 hours per week to foundation activities (compensation: $25,000). Bader has extensive experience in conservative legal advocacy, having served as senior attorney at the Competitive Enterprise Institute from 2003 to 2017, where he specialized in constitutional law, First Amendment issues, federalism, and civil rights. He graduated from the University of Virginia with a B.A. in economics and history and earned his J.D. from Harvard Law School. Before joining CEI, Bader was Senior Counsel at the Center for Individual Rights, where he worked on notable cases including United States v. Morrison (2000) and Gratz v. Bollinger (2003). After leaving CEI in 2017, he took a position with the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights. Bader is also a contributor to various conservative publications including Law & Liberty, Truth on the Market, and Minding the Campus, and is associated with the Federalist Society.

Application Process & Timeline

How to Apply

The Bader Family Foundation does not have a public application process.

As a private foundation with a sole trustee, grants are made at the discretion of Hans F. Bader. The foundation does not maintain a website, email address for grant inquiries, or formal application portal. Organizations are not invited to submit unsolicited proposals through any public channel.

Grants appear to be awarded based on the trustee's knowledge of organizations working in the foundation's areas of interest, primarily conservative and libertarian policy research and advocacy.

Decision Timeline

Not applicable - the foundation does not accept public applications. Grant decisions are made at the sole discretion of the trustee throughout the year.

Success Rates

Not applicable - no public application process exists.

Reapplication Policy

Not applicable - no public application process exists.

Application Success Factors

Since this foundation does not accept unsolicited applications, traditional "application success factors" do not apply. However, based on the foundation's documented grant-making patterns, organizations that receive funding share these characteristics:

Ideological Alignment: All documented grant recipients are conservative or libertarian organizations focused on free-market principles, limited government, and constitutional rights from a conservative perspective.

Policy Focus Areas: Organizations working on campus free speech, federal regulatory reform, civil rights litigation (from a conservative standpoint), and science policy debates are well-represented in the foundation's grant portfolio.

Established Track Record: Grant recipients tend to be established think tanks and policy organizations with national profiles, such as the Heritage Foundation, Cato Institute, and Competitive Enterprise Institute.

Connection to Trustee's Expertise: Many grant recipients work in areas where trustee Hans Bader has professional experience, including higher education policy, civil rights law, and First Amendment issues.

Regular Recipients: The foundation maintains ongoing relationships with certain organizations, providing repeat funding year after year (e.g., Manhattan Institute since 2014, Competitive Enterprise Institute as a regular large recipient).

Key Takeaways for Grant Writers

  • No Public Application Process: This foundation does not accept unsolicited proposals or maintain any public application mechanism. Do not attempt to submit a grant application.

  • Ideological Focus: The foundation exclusively funds conservative and libertarian organizations. Organizations outside this ideological framework will not be considered.

  • Trustee Discretion: All grant decisions are made at the sole discretion of trustee Hans F. Bader, based on his knowledge of and relationships with organizations in the conservative policy space.

  • Focus on Policy, Not Service: The foundation funds policy research, advocacy, and legal work rather than direct service delivery organizations.

  • Relationship-Driven: Grant recipients appear to be organizations known to the trustee through his extensive network in conservative legal and policy circles.

  • Consistent Funding Partners: The foundation maintains long-term relationships with certain organizations, suggesting that once an organization receives funding, continued support may follow if the relationship is productive.

  • Asset Size vs. Grant Volume: With $76 million in assets and $3.6 million in annual giving, the foundation maintains a relatively conservative spending rate, focusing on a select number of organizations rather than broad distribution.

References

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