Rockefeller Family Fund
| Formation | 1967 |
|---|---|
| Founders | Martha, John, Laurance, Nelson, and David Rockefeller |
| Type | Nonprofit |
| 13-6257658 | |
| Legal status | 501(c)(3) organization |
| Purpose | Philanthropy |
| Headquarters | New York, New York |
President | Miranda Kaiser |
| Website | rffund |
The Rockefeller Family Fund (RFF) is a philanthropic foundation created by members of the Rockefeller family, that “initiates, cultivates, and funds strategic efforts to promote a sustainable, just, free, and participatory society.”[1] The president of the RFF is Miranda Kaiser, a great-granddaughter of David Rockefeller.[2] The RFF is active in areas such as environmental protection, promoting economic equality for women, and supporting socially disadvantaged citizens and refugees.
History
[edit]The Rockefeller Family Fund was established in 1967 by Martha, John, Laurance, Nelson, and David Rockefeller. The “Cousins,” as the grandchildren of John D. Rockefeller Jr. were called, were already important supporters of the left-wing counterculture in the 1960s.[3] When John D. Rockefeller Jr.'s widow, Martha Baird Rockefeller, died in 1971, she left $72 million to charity, including $10 million to the RFF.[4] This new foundation asset sparked heated discussions among the cousins about what the money should be used for.[3] Laurance Rockefeller's daughter Marion wrote in an internal memo to her cousins: “We believe that the fund has a duty to support organizations such as the American Friends Service Committee, Friends of the Earth, Pacifica Radio, American Documentary Films [...] regardless of their tax status.”[5] The Rockefeller Family Fund has since become a left-wing foundation.[3]
Activities
[edit]Today, the RFF primarily supports three areas:
- Environment, in the area of climate change and the decommissioning of coal-fired power plants.[6]
- Economic equality for women,[7] whose main focus is to lobby for an increase in the number of paid sick days for working women.[8]
- Democracy work, with a focus on the “adoption of laws for the automatic and permanent registration of all voters.”[9]
Criticism
[edit]RFF has been accused of astroturfing in order to achieve its goals.[10][11][12]
See also
[edit]External links
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "About the Rockefeller Family Fund". www.rffund.org. Retrieved 2025-04-29.
- ^ "The Rockefellers have always believed in welcoming refugees". UNHCR. Retrieved 2024-04-30.
- ^ a b c Martin Morse Wooster (January 2015). "The Rockefeller Brothers Fund and Rockefeller Family Fund - How a Great Capitalist's Fortune Came to Fund Anti-Capitalist Causes". Capital Research Center. Retrieved 2024-04-30.
- ^ "Rockefeller Family Fund". Influence Watch. Retrieved 2024-04-30.
- ^ "11. New Age". Ordo ab Chao. Retrieved 2024-04-30.
- ^ "Environment". Rockefeller Family Fund. Retrieved 2024-04-30.
- ^ "Rockefeller Family Fund: Economic Justice for Women". Woodcock Foundation. Archived from the original on 2024-04-30. Retrieved 2024-04-30.
- ^ "Economic Justice for Women". Rockefeller Family Fund |. Archived from the original on 2024-04-30. Retrieved 2024-04-30.
- ^ "Democracy". Rockefeller Family Fund |. Retrieved 2024-04-30.
- ^ Spencer Wallrath (2020-01-15). "BOMBSHELL: ROCKEFELLER FAMILY FUND BEHIND THE "PAY UP CLIMATE POLLUTERS" CAMPAIGN". Energy in Depth. Retrieved 2024-04-30.
- ^ "Plutocrats at Work: How Big Philanthropy Undermines Democracy". Dissent Magazine. Archived from the original on 2024-04-30. Retrieved 2024-04-30.
- ^ "What influence does philanthropy exert?". Alliance magazine. 2016-09-06. Retrieved 2024-05-01.