At least 120 private foundations got PPP loans
Outside of U.S. Small Business Administration building. DCStockPhotography / Shutterstock
Upwards of 120 private foundations – including a number founded by some of the country’s wealthiest residents – were identified as receiving Paycheck Protection Program loans amid the pandemic, NPR reports.
The foundations appear to have been eligible for the program, which was created to help preserve jobs. But the optics of tax-exempt foundations choosing to opt for loans meant to keep small businesses afloat instead of digging into their assets had some nonprofit experts concerned.
“They were competing for the same dollar,” Alan Cantor, a nonprofit consultant, told NPR, “and for the foundation to get that money instead of, let’s say, a food pantry – I just don’t see that as being right.”
The New York-based Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation, which received $100,000 in PPP funds, said its assets are primarily illiquid and cannot be easily used to cover any budget deficits. The president of its board of directors, Michael Ward Stout, said that the foundation didn’t wish to deplete its approximately $4 million cash reserves, having lost potential revenue from selling famed photographer Robert Mapplethorpe’s photos because of art gallery closures.
NYN Media identified several private foundations in New York State that received PPP dollars, according to data from the Small Business Administration, which administered the program. They include: Peter and Elizabeth C. Tower Foundation ($154,800),
Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation ($63,877), Charles & Mildred Schnurmacher Foundation ($57,652), The Celia and Isaac Sutton Foundation ($42,415), and the Rose & Sherle Wagner Foundation ($15,100).