The Foundations of Andrea and Charles Bronfman

History: Charles R. Bronfman, co-chairman of Seagram’s, established the CRB Foundation in 1986 to support Jewish causes and to promote Canadian heritage and culture.

ALSO SEE:

A New Era for Jewish Philanthropy

For Billionaire Couple, Equal Partnership Fuels Passion for Philanthropy

He started the Chastell Foundation a year later as a “holding foundation” that would transfer assets to the CRB Foundation. In 1998, Mr. Bronfman and his wife started the Andrea and Charles Bronfman Foundation to hold their charitable assets and the Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies to award grants and operate programs in both North America and Israel. They also established a branch office in Jerusalem called Keren Karev.

Purpose and areas of support: The Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies support efforts to provide educational programs to Israeli children and to run educational programs about environmental conservation. It also makes grants to projects that improve relations between the Israeli and Palestinian people and that strengthen connections between Jews in Israel and Jews in the rest of the world. The CRB Foundation supports efforts that strengthen the unity of Jewish people around the world or that promote Canadian culture and heritage.

Assets: Total estimated assets of the four philanthropies: $192-million as of November 1999.

Grants and operating programs: The four foundations distribute about $19-million in grants each year.

Key officials: Charles R. Bronfman, chairman; Andrea Bronfman, vice-chairman; Jeffrey Solomon, president.

Application procedures: The Bronfman foundations generally invite organizations to apply, but they do accept unsolicited proposals. Applicants should submit a brief letter outlining their proposal that includes a summary of their project’s purpose and scope, a budget, and the amount sought from the foundation. The foundation’s board meets quarterly to review grant requests.

Address: The Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies and the Andrea and Charles Bronfman Foundation are at 375 Park Avenue, Sixth Floor, New York 10152; (212) 572-7555; the Chastell Foundation and the CRB Foundation are at 1170 Peel Street, Eighth Floor, Montreal H3B 4P2; (514) 878-5200; Keren Karev is at 1 Marcus Street, Jerusalem 92232; (011) 972-25-664936.