Perelman Family Charitable Trust I

The Perelman Family Charitable Trust I is one of the most opaque and relationship-locked grantmakers in the United States. With $396M in assets and approximately $15-21M in annual giving, it operates from a near-zero public footprint: no staff, no stated mission, no grant guidelines, and an explicit policy of funding only preselected organizations. Understanding this funder means understanding Ronald O. Perelman's personal philanthropic universe rather than a traditional institutional grant program.

The trust is a 2017-formed vehicle linked to MacAndrews & Forbes, Perelman's privately held holding company. The Perelman Family Trust Company LLC serves as the sole trustee, with FLSV LLP in Garden City, NY handling administration. Notably, a secondary trustee name — Matthew H Kamens — appears in ProPublica records, suggesting a specific advisor relationship worth identifying for relationship-building purposes.

Organizations that receive funding share several characteristics. They are elite, nationally recognized institutions — not community nonprofits or grassroots organizations. Major medical centers (NYU Langone, NY-Presbyterian, Weill Cornell, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia), performing arts flagships (Perelman Performing Arts Center, Apollo Theater), leading research universities (Brown, Drexel, Rockefeller), and established Jewish communal organizations (Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, East Hampton Jewish Charitable Foundation) make up virtually the entire grantee universe.

Geographically, 63% of identified grants flow to New York-based organizations, with Pennsylvania (particularly Philadelphia) representing the second most common destination. Institutions in Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Virginia, and West Virginia appear only in single small grants.

For first-time seekers: there is no formal application process, no LOI stage, and no published deadlines. The relationship progression here is personal and pre-existing. Organizations that have received funding typically have buildings, departments, or programs named after Ronald O. Perelman or members of his family — a strong signal that naming rights and legacy recognition matter far more to this funder than programmatic alignment documents.

Available IRS 990-PF records document 35 identified grants totaling $66.3M, though a significant portion of disbursements is reported under the IRC §642(c) charitable deduction election mechanism rather than direct named grants. Excluding the 642(c) election entries, the typical grant size profile is:

• Median grant: $462,924 (per the foundation's own typical grant size data)
• Range: $250 (United Way of Massachusetts) to $9.3M (Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia)
• Average grant across identified grantees: approximately $1.9M (heavily skewed by 4-5 mega-grants)
• Most common grant range: $5,000-$500,000 per Grantable.co aggregated data
• Grants over $1M: 5 documented (Perelman Performing Arts Center ×4, Jewish Federation, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia ×2)

Annual giving has shown notable volatility over six fiscal years. FY2019 was the largest giving year at $24.9M ($23.1M in grants paid). FY2020 dropped dramatically to $3.6M total giving with only $1.3M in grants — almost certainly due to COVID-related portfolio contraction and the trust's investment-dependent revenue model. Recovery came sharply: FY2021 saw $21.9M in total giving and $18.5M in grants paid, buoyed by a $131.3M capital infusion. Since 2022 the trust has stabilized at $15-21M in annual giving ($15M-$19.1M in grants paid).

By sector, arts and culture institutions account for the largest share of identifiable named grants by dollar volume, led by the Perelman Performing Arts Center ($11.4M cumulative). Health and medical research is the second-largest category, with Children's Hospital of Philadelphia ($2M across two entries), Multiple Myeloma Research ($462K), NYU Langone ($410K combined), and Rockefeller University ($25K for COVID-19 research all represented. Jewish communal causes represent the third pillar, with $9.3M to the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia alone.

Higher education receives smaller but consistent grants: Brown University ($500K), Drexel University ($100K), and Stony Brook Foundation ($1K). The trust does not appear to fund advocacy organizations, environmental causes, housing, workforce development, or K-12 education.

The following foundations have been selected as asset-comparable peers (all in the $395-400M range) across the Philanthropy & Grantmaking NTEE category, illustrating how the Perelman trust compares on transparency, accessibility, and giving focus.

The Perelman trust is among the most closed of these asset-comparable peers. Craig H Neilsen Foundation stands out as the outlier — despite similar assets, it operates a competitive grant program with published deadlines and accepts LOIs from qualifying organizations, making it genuinely accessible. Howard G Buffett and Zilber Family are invitation-based but maintain more defined program portfolios and occasional public RFPs. Inasmuch Foundation is geographically restricted to Oklahoma but has a more transparent process.

The Perelman trust's giving is notably broader in sector scope than Neilsen (pure SCI focus) or Buffett (international development), but its access is the most restricted of the group. Organizations better positioned for the peer group overall should prioritize Neilsen and Inasmuch before attempting to cultivate Perelman relationships.

No public news announcements, press releases, or leadership changes have been issued by the Perelman Family Charitable Trust I in 2025 or 2026. The trust maintains an exceptionally low profile consistent with its private-family structure and zero-staff operating model.

The most significant recent activity in the broader Perelman philanthropy universe is the sustained investment in the Perelman Performing Arts Center at the World Trade Center site in Lower Manhattan, which opened in September 2023. The trust's four documented grants totaling $11.4M toward this project span the construction and launch phases — likely continuing into the center's operating years given the naming relationship.

The FY2024 filing (most recent available) shows $17M in total revenue and approximately $16.1M in charitable disbursements, suggesting the trust maintained its post-2021 grantmaking pace. No extraordinary grants comparable to the $9.3M Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia disbursement appear to have been made in FY2023-2024 based on available data.

The trust was formed in October 2017 (ruling date), relatively recently for a foundation of this size, and has no historical record of publicly announced new initiatives or program launches. Ronald O. Perelman, as Chairman and CEO of MacAndrews & Forbes, has been described as among the top philanthropists in the United States, but the Perelman Family Charitable Trust I operates in the background of his better-publicized activities through the separately incorporated Perelman Family Foundation (EIN: 13-4008528).

Given that the Perelman Family Charitable Trust I explicitly funds only preselected organizations and accepts no unsolicited proposals, traditional grant-writing advice is largely inapplicable here. The following guidance is specific to this funder's access model.

Relationship architecture over applications. The only documented path to funding is a personal relationship with the Perelman family or their advisors. Identify current grantees in your sector and explore board or leadership connections. Organizations like the Apollo Theater Foundation, Brown University, and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia share a grantee profile — examine what board members or event sponsors connect these institutions to the Perelman network.

Target the right entry point. The trust's administrative contact is FLSV LLP, 1475 Franklin Ave, Garden City, NY 11530, (516) 874-8800. The MacAndrews & Forbes contact page (macandrewsandforbes.com) is the publicly listed inquiry channel. A brief, professionally written message explaining your organization's fit with Perelman giving priorities — women's health, performing arts, Jewish causes — is the appropriate format if you pursue cold outreach.

Naming rights and legacy framing are essential. Every major identified grantee has a named Perelman facility, department, or endowment: the Perelman Performing Arts Center, the Ronald O. Perelman Center for Emergency Services at NYU Langone, the Perelman Department of Emergency Medicine. If your institution can offer a meaningful naming opportunity tied to a capital campaign or endowment, frame it explicitly.

Timing around capital campaigns. The trust makes large single grants ($500K-$9.3M) as capital contributions, not operating grants. Align outreach with a capital campaign launch rather than an annual operating cycle. The trust has no published review calendar or grant deadline.

Avoid common misalignments. This funder does not support grassroots or community-based nonprofits, advocacy organizations, environmental causes, or K-12 education programs. Proposal language should reflect elite institutional positioning, research excellence, and long-term capital investment — not programmatic outcomes or community impact metrics.