Lannan Foundation

About Lannan Foundation

Lannan Foundation’s recent grantmaking is shaped by very large, strategic commitments to institutions and intermediaries. The single largest award in the data is a $70,006,206 grant to Rockerfeller Philanthropy Associates for the Lannan Impact Fund, followed by a $15,000,000 grant to the same intermediary the year before. A separate $13,000,000 commitment to Georgetown University supports an endowed chair fund, a center endowment, and a director’s endowment, showing the foundation’s preference for building long-term institutional capacity rather than making many small awards. That pattern extends across art, literature, and public-interest work. In the arts, Lannan Foundation has used art donations to place collection works with museums, including a $3,390,900 gift to Los Angeles County Museum of Art and a $692,712 gift to Denver Art Museum. It also supports literary and cultural organizations, such as a $1,000,000 grant to National Center for Civic Innovation for the Literary Arts Fund. Alongside these institutional gifts, the foundation funds individuals through fellowships, residencies, awards, and direct support programs in writing, visual art, Indigenous language and cultural work, and cultural freedom advocacy.

What Lannan Foundation Funds

Lannan Foundation’s arts support includes both collection gifts and project-based grants. In 2025, it gave $3,390,900 to Los Angeles County Museum of Art for an art donation, and $527,850 to University of New Mexico Art Museum for an art donation. The foundation also uses exhibitions and collection transfer to expand access to contemporary art through museums. Its literary support reaches publishing and writer-centered organizations. In 2023, Type Media Center received $567,200 for general support, Tom Dispatch, and a Type Media fellowship tied to Project Tom Dispatch. Lannan also gave $400,000 to Cave Canem for general operating support and $1,000,000 to National Center for Civic Innovation for the Literary Arts Fund. The Indigenous Communities Program appears in grants such as $500,000 to Keres Children’s Learning Center for general support and $500,000 to Euchee Language Project Inc for the We Talk Yuchi Master Apprenticeship Program. Cultural freedom and human-rights work is reflected in $500,000 to ACLU of New Mexico Foundation for the NM Legal Program and $400,000 to Truthout for general support.

How Lannan Foundation Gives