The Eisner Foundation supports organizations offering intergenerational solutions to society’s greatest challenges. Tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organizations based in Los Angeles County or New York City, or doing work that benefits populations in Los Angeles County or New York City are eligible to apply. Grants are available for general operating expenses, project support, capacity-building, and capital projects. For smaller organizations or larger organizations launching new intergenerational initiatives, we offer Opportunity Grants up to $25,000. Learn more about our grant programs here.
When evaluating organizations as potential philanthropic partners, we focus on the following criteria:
Vision: Our goal is to ally with organizations that use an intergenerational lens to combat structural challenges in today’s society, not merely alleviate the symptoms. A clear vision, combined with a deep understanding of the challenges an organization wants to solve, should inspire a mission with measurable goals and outcomes that lead to success.
Leadership: In a crowded sector with many redundant nonprofits, good leadership gives rise to success. We seek organizations with leadership teams that actively empower their staff and the next generation of leaders.
Efficiency: We generally fund organizations that allocate at least 75% of their operating expenses directly to their programs, whatever they may be. Recognizing that different types of organizations have different expenses, we benchmark organizations against their peers, and compare the efficiencies of nonprofits with similar missions and geographical locations.
Effectiveness: The Eisner Foundation seeks organizations that have demonstrated success, and have measurable patterns of achievement that can be used to benchmark future accomplishments. For those Opportunity Grant applicant organizations that have been in existence less than three years, our review will focus on leadership and expertise or special understanding of issues related to the sector in which the program operates. For those Opportunity Grant applicants that are established organizations starting new programs, we will evaluate the achievements of the organization.