Centrally Managed Foundations

What is a “Centrally Managed Foundation?”

On behalf of Johns Hopkins University and Johns Hopkins Medicine, the Office of Foundation Relations helps manage institutional relationships with a number of private foundations (both nationally-focused and regionally-focused) that fund higher education and research initiatives.  Our team of specialists partner with faculty and staff to identify funding opportunities and develop strategies for engagement to maximize private foundation support for the Johns Hopkins institutions.

We encourage all faculty and staff to contact the Office of Foundation Relations if planning to seek support from any private grantmaking foundation. More importantly, we strongly encourage contacting our team before communicating with or submitting a proposal/letter of inquiry to selected foundations – those our office considers centrally managed foundations – due to long-standing institutional relationships or specific requirements set forth by selected foundations that merit a more strategic approach.

Some reasons why relationships with foundations might need to be strategically managed include:

1. The foundation has asked the university to only submit only one or a specific number of proposals in a year or funding cycle.
2. The foundation is managed by family members or directors who are closely engaged with university leadership.
3. The foundation requires that proposals include a letter of endorsement from the University President or Provost in support of a faculty member’s work.

Please consult our office before contacting any of the following foundations listed below:

• Additional Ventures Foundation
• Allen – Paul G. Allen Philanthropies/Paul G. Allen Frontiers Group
• Allen – Rita Allen Foundation
• ARCS Foundation
• Arnold Ventures/Laura and John Arnold Foundation
• Beckman – Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation
• Blaustein Philanthropic Group
• Blavatnik Family Foundation
• Bloomberg Philanthropies**
• Brain Research Foundation
• Burroughs-Wellcome Fund
• Carnegie Corporation of New York
• Chan Zuckerberg Initiative
• Donaghue – The Patrick and Catherine Weldon Donaghue Medical Research Foundation
• Doris Duke Charitable Foundation
• Dreyfus – Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation
• Scholl Foundation
• Emerson Collective
• Ford Foundation
• France-Merrick Foundation
• Goldseker Foundation
• Grant – William T. Grant Foundation
• The Hartwell Foundation
• Hearst Foundations
• Heising Simons Foundation
• Helmsley – The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust
• Hewlett – William + Flora Hewlett Foundation
• Hodson Trust**
• Kavli Foundation**
• Kahlert Foundation
• Keck – W.M. Keck Foundation**
• Kleberg – Robert J. Kleberg, Jr. and Helen C. Kleberg Foundation
• Luce – Henry Luce Foundation
• MacArthur Foundation
• Macy – Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation
• Mallinckrodt Foundation
• Marcus Foundation
• Mathers – G. Harold & Leila Y. Mathers Charitable Foundation
• Mellon – Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
• Meyerhoff – Joseph and Harvey Meyerhoff Family Charitable Funds
• Middendorf Foundation
• Moore – Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
• Niarchos – Stavros Niarchos Foundation**
• NoVo Foundation
• Oak Foundation
• Open Philanthropy Project LLC
• Packard – David and Lucile Packard Foundation
• Parker B. Francis Foundation
• Rockefeller Foundation
• Schmidt – Schmidt Futures/Eric and Wendy Schmidt Fund for Strategic Innovation/Schmidt Family Foundation
• Simons Foundation
• Silicon Valley Community Foundation
• Sloan – Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
• Smith – W.W. Smith Charitable Trust
• Surdna Foundation
• Templeton – John Templeton Foundation
• Thrasher Research Fund
• Vallee Foundation
• Wellcome Trust/Wellcome Leap Fund

** JHU leadership maintains distinct institutional relationships with Bloomberg Philanthropies, Kavli Foundation, W.M. Keck Foundation, and the Stavros Niarchos Foundation; those organizations should not be contacted directly by faculty or staff. Inquiries regarding their programmatic interests and funding mechanisms may be sent to foundationrelations@jhu.edu, where they will be forwarded to the appropriate JHU relationship manager(s).