Mission: The J.M. Kaplan Fund affirms our founder’s vision to “search for the realization of an ideal society.” For almost 70 years, we have supported efforts to achieve this goal by providing leadership in the fields of the environment, migrations, historic preservation, and civic life. Our grants represent a distinctive blend of old and new, near-by and global.
Grantmaking Program Areas: Historic Preservation; Migrations; Environment; Furthermore
Grantmaking Program Area Descriptions:
Historic Preservation: The Historic Preservation Program concentrates on the conservation of archaeological resources in the Circum-Mediterranean, with a focus in Turkey, and the preservation of U.S. industrial heritage. The Program’s Turkish Site Conservation and Training Initiatives support projects that conserve in situ archaeological resources and conservation training for Turkish nationals. Through the Industrial Heritage Initiative, the Fund supports efforts to shape and influence the protection and reuse of former industrial sites including mines, power plants, grain elevators, and steel plants.
Migrations: The Fund’s Migration program supports a variety of efforts to integrate the 40 million foreign born individuals who call the United States home so they can thrive and contribute fully to the country’s civic, cultural and economic life. We currently fund high-impact, innovative solutions to the integration challenges facing immigrants and refugees today in a few areas: how to engage receiving community members so they embrace the immigrants and refugees living in their communities; how to address the labor market challenges facing foreigners educated and trained abroad who are underemployed in the US; and how to ensure that Dream-Act eligible youth succeed in achieving their educational and professional goals. We are also proud sponsors of the Migration Policy Institute’s E Pluribus Unum prizes for exceptional immigrant integration initiatives.
Environment:The Fund’s Environment Program has focused on High Seas Protection, Ocean Livability, and Marine Protected Areas. The Fund, in collaboration with other partners, helped form the High Seas Alliance, the largest marine conservation group in the world. Other initiatives have supported efforts to: fight environmental havoc caused by overfishing and greenhouse gas emissions in the Pacific Islands; strengthen and safeguard the compliance of marine protected areas in the Sargasso Sea, Costa Rican Dome, and the Ross Sea in Antarctica; and promote the inclusion of marine sites on the World Heritage List. In the Arctic, the Fund has supported efforts for comprehensive regulations governing maritime transport as well as investing in human capital by helping educate and train young natives about marine biodiversity in the arctic.
Furthermore:The Furthermore program is concerned with nonfiction book publishing about the city; natural and historic resources; art, architecture, and design; cultural history; and civil liberties and other public issues of the day. Our grants apply to writing, research, editing, design, indexing, photography, illustration, and printing and binding.
Application Instructions: LOI instructions online.
Furthermore applicants must be 501(c)3 organizations. They have included civic and academic institutions, museums, independent and university presses, and professional societies. Trade publishers and public agencies may apply for Furthermore grants in partnership with an eligible nonprofit project sponsor. Applications* from individuals cannot be accepted. Grants from $500 to roughly $15,000 are awarded in spring and fall with March 1 and September 1 deadlines.
