Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation

About Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation

Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation backs early-stage social impact organizations with unrestricted capital, multi-year support, and operational help, and its recent grants show that model in practice. The foundation gave $150,000 to Amani Global Works in 2024 for general operating support, its largest recent grant in the data, and repeated $100,000 awards are common across the portfolio. Recent recipients include Reboot Rx, Open Supply Hub, and Public Rights Project, each receiving $100,000 for general operating support. That pattern points to a funder that is comfortable supporting organizations before they reach scale, while leaving room for flexibility in how grantees use the money. The portfolio includes nonprofits and mission-driven for-profits working on social and environmental problems, with support flowing to organizations in education, health, food security, social justice, water and sanitation, shelter, economic empowerment, mental health, sustainability, transparency and accountability, and energy and peacebuilding. Several grantees recur across years, including Rocket Learning Foundation, Define American, Educationsuperhighway, American Journalism Project, and Labhya Foundation, suggesting ongoing relationships rather than one-time awards. Grants in the recent list also reach organizations outside the U.S., including London-based Influencemap and Harare-based Friendship Bench, alongside U.S. groups in New York, California, Massachusetts, and Washington, DC.

What Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation Funds

In education, the foundation supported Rocket Learning Foundation with $100,000 in 2023 and again in 2024, both for general operating support. In school-access and digital infrastructure work, it gave $100,000 to Educationsuperhighway in both 2023 and 2024, also as general operating support. That recurring pattern appears in policy and advocacy as well: American Journalism Project received $100,000 in 2023 and 2024, while Define American received $100,000 in 2023 and 2024. The grant list also shows health and mental health work. Reboot Rx received $100,000 in 2024, and Friendship Bench received $100,000 in 2023. On the social justice side, Public Rights Project received $100,000 in 2024, and Recidiviz received $100,000 in 2023. The foundation’s portfolio includes climate and systems-focused work as well, with Open Supply Hub receiving $100,000 in 2024.

How Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation Gives