V Kann Rasmussen Foundation
The V Kann Rasmussen Foundation is a private 501(c)(3) grantmaking foundation established in 1991 and based in New York, NY. The foundation operates as an independent foundation focused on addressing global environmental challenges and systemic sustainability issues.
Key facts about V Kann Rasmussen Foundation
- EIN
- 46-2283123
- Latest 990 filing
- Form 990-PF, 2025
- Annual giving (2025)
- $8,105,392
- Grants made (2025)
- 18
- Average grant
- $450,300
- Median grant
- $458,165
- New grantees (estimate)
- 69% first-time grantees (11 of 16, 2025)
- Primary geography
- New York (13% of itemized 2025 grant dollars)
Data from IRS Form 990-PF, 2025; updated September 2026. New grantees are estimated by matching recipient names across years (methodology).
Who V Kann Rasmussen Foundation funds
By grant dollars, the top recipient states for V Kann Rasmussen Foundation's 18 itemized 2025 grants were New York (13%), District of Columbia (12%) and North Carolina (6%). The most frequent recipient cities were New York, NY (3 grants) and Washington, DC (2 grants). None of its 18 grants with a stated purpose were described as general or operating support.
Is V Kann Rasmussen Foundation open to new grantees?
69%
first-time grantees, 2025
In 2025, 11 of 16 grantees (69%) were first-time recipients. First grants averaged $542K; repeat grants $428K. How we count
Medians: $474K first-time, $245K repeat.
- 25% of 2025 grantees were also funded in 2024. Method
- Giving held roughly steady from 2022 to 2025 (+5%). Method
Estimate from itemized IRS Form 990-PF grant lists (2019–2025). Recipient names are matched across years, so a renamed or misspelled grantee can look new; grants to individuals are left out. Methodology.
Next steps with V Kann Rasmussen Foundation
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Financial Overview
From 2025 IRS Form 990-PF · View filing
Total Assets
—
Annual Giving
$8.1M
+8.6% YoY
Grant Count
18
-40.0% YoY
Avg Grant Size
$450K
+81.1% YoY
Mission & Focus Areas
Since its establishment in 1991, the V Kann Rasmussen Foundation has made over 850 grants totaling approximately $170 million.
The foundation's overarching themes center on the urgency of addressing unsustainable consumption and its impacts on natural systems. In recent years, the foundation has focused on developing toolboxes for exploring and working with complex and dynamic processes involved in societal and natural systems simultaneously reaching irreversible tipping points.
Primary Funding Interests
The foundation works primarily on international-level issues, with selective engagement in national and place-based local projects that support international learning tools and resources for meaningful action.
The foundation favors projects that:
- Consider all life equally important
- Use a systems approach to address root causes and achieve change
- Take stock of and tell the truth about the scale, complexity, and urgency of dealing with environmental problems
- Are based on original thinking, creative ideas, and experimentation
- Alter power dynamics related to decision-making and influence
- Have international significance and perspective, even if locally based
Current Program Focus
Over the last four years, the foundation has concentrated on:
- Cultural Resilience and Global Leadership under the Conditions of Environmental Breakdown
- Development of systems-level responses to ecological, economic, and social stresses, destabilization, and collapse
- Furtherance of research related to social capacities for dealing with serious tipping points and the collapse of natural systems
- Exploration of sociocultural transformations and strategic planning frameworks that can enhance mitigation under conditions of environmental breakdown
Typical Grantees
The foundation's typical grantees are innovative non-profit organizations with demonstrated leadership in developing specialized strategies, communicating their vision, and effective project performance.
Grantmaking
Notable recent grants include:
Average Grant
amount: $249,000
Ready to take the next step with V Kann Rasmussen Foundation?
Geographic Focus
Where this funder awards grants
The foundation works primarily on international-level issues. Recent grant recipients are located across multiple U.S. cities, including:
- Washington, DC (3 grants)
- New York, NY (2 grants)
- San Francisco, CA
- Santa Monica, CA
- Dillon, CO
- Libertyville, IL
- Boston, MA
- Cambridge, MA
Grant Distribution by State
Share of all 18 itemized 2025 grant dollars.
States
Cities
Financial History
Multi-year comparison from IRS filings
As of June 2024:
| Metric | Amount |
|---|---|
| Total Assets | $88,235,809 |
| Total Revenue | $1,829,600 |
| Total Expenses | $8,755,662 |
| Total Liabilities | $0 |
Fiscal Year End: June
| Metric | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Assets | — | — | — |
| Revenue | — | — | — |
| Expenses | — | — | — |
| Qualifying Distributions | — | — | — |
| Net Investment Income | — | — | — |
| Distributable Amount | — | — | — |
Data update history
When this profile's IRS filing data changed on Grantable
- IRS filings on file for fiscal years 2019–2025
Giving Over Time
Total grant dollars and number of grants per year
Grant Insights
How this funder distributes its grants
Top Recipients
Top 10 recipients in 2025
Grant Size Distribution
123 grants across all recorded years
Open Grants
1 open opportunity from V Kann Rasmussen Foundation
Giving History
Grant recipients and amounts by year
Among its reported 2025 grants, the largest recipients include Transition Network ($1,079,926 across 2 grants), United Nations Foundation ($1,000,000), United Nations Development Programme ($1,000,000).
| Recipient | Purpose | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| UNITED NATIONS FOUNDATION Washington, DC | IN SUPPORT OF ASRA'S OPERATIONS AND CORE ACTIVITIES | $1,000,000 |
| UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME New York, NY | IN SUPPORT OF "ADVANCING NATURE IN UNDP DEVELOPMENT THINKING AND PRACTICE FOR HUMAN DEVELOPMENT" PROJECT | $1,000,000 |
| UNIVERSITY OF COPENHAGEN | IN SUPPORT OF THE CENTER FOR APPLIED ECOLOGY | $809,532 |
| THE UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY - CAMPERDOWN | IN SUPPORT OF THE "INCLUDING THE MORE-THAN-HUMAN IN DECISION MAKING" PROJECT | $620,268 |
| TRANSITION NETWORK | IN SUPPORT OF THE PROJECT "ACCELERATING NATURE-CENTRIC DECISION-MAKING AND LIVING SYSTEMS THROUGH BIOREGIONAL GOVERNANCE PARTNERSHIPS" | $549,081 |
| TRANSITION NETWORK | IN SUPPORT OF THE PROJECT "FIELD RECORDINGS FROM A THRUTOPIAN FUTURE" | $530,845 |
| URBAN SUSTAINABILITY DIRECTORS NETWORK Sanford, NC | IN SUPPORT OF CARBON NEUTRAL CITIES ALLIANCE'S PROJECT "DESIGNING URBAN CLIMATE GOVERNANCE FOR REGENERATIVE FUTURES" | $500,000 |
| OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY Corvallis, OR | IN SUPPORT OF "ALIGNING NATURE-CENTRISM WITH ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE AND PURPOSE" PROJECT | $496,883 |
| HET NIEUWE INSTITUUT | IN SUPPORT OF THE "GROWING ZOOPS" PROJECT | $474,363 |
| CLUB OF ROME | IN SUPPORT OF THE "EMBEDDING A NATURE-CENTRIC SYSTEMS APPROACH IN EU POLICYMAKING & GOVERNANCE" PROJECT | $441,967 |
Leadership & Key People
Leadership team and compensation from IRS filings
Irene Krarup – Executive Director (Compensation: $271,931 as of 2024)
Jennifer Kupinse – Operations and Grants Manager
The foundation has approximately 2-4 employees.
Compensation Overview
From 2025 IRS filing
From 2025 IRS filing
| Name | Title | Hours | Compensation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kristian Kann Rasmussen | Director and Chair | 2 | — |
| Astrid Kann-Rasmussen See STMT 14 | Director and Vice Chair | 1 | $10,000 |
| Andrew Bowman | Director and Treasurer | 1.5 | $20,000 |
| Kristian Cedervall Lauta STMT 14 | Director | 1 | $10,000 |
| Diane Ives | Director | 1 | $10,000 |
Recent News & Activity
Recent developments and announcements
The foundation continues to actively solicit applications for environmental projects and maintains engagement with organizations working on systemic responses to environmental breakdown, climate governance, and research on ecological and social resilience.
Applications Open for V. Kann Rasmussen Foundation's ...Subject Areas
Focus areas based on grantmaking activity
Frequently Asked Questions
What does V Kann Rasmussen Foundation fund?
Since its establishment in 1991, the V Kann Rasmussen Foundation has made over 850 grants totaling approximately $170 million. The foundation's overarching themes center on the urgency of addressing unsustainable consumption and its impacts on natural systems. In recent years, the foundation has focused on developing toolboxes for exploring and working with complex and dynamic processes involved in societal and natural systems simultaneously reaching irreversible tipping points. The foundation …
How do I apply for a grant from V Kann Rasmussen Foundation?
**2024 Fiscal Year:** • Number of grants awarded: 30 • Total grants given: $7,461,013 • Average grant amount: $249,000 **Historical Activity:** • Total grants made since 1991: Over 850 • Total funding distributed: Approximately $170 million Notable recent grants include: • United Nations Foundation: $1,250,000 (In Support of the Systemic Risk Assessment Accelerator Symposium) • United Nations Foundation: $685,000 (In Support of A Deep Dive on Biocentric Approaches) • RAND Corporation: $399,843 …
Where does V Kann Rasmussen Foundation make grants?
The foundation works primarily on international-level issues. Recent grant recipients are located across multiple U.S. cities, including: • Washington, DC (3 grants) • New York, NY (2 grants) • San Francisco, CA • Santa Monica, CA • Dillon, CO • Libertyville, IL • Boston, MA • Cambridge, MA
What size grants does V Kann Rasmussen Foundation award?
In 2025, V Kann Rasmussen Foundation awarded 18 grants totaling $8.1M — an average of about $450K per grant, based on its IRS Form 990 filings.
What is V Kann Rasmussen Foundation's EIN?
V Kann Rasmussen Foundation's EIN (Employer Identification Number) is 46-2283123. IRS Form 990 filing data is available on this page for 2019–2025.
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Browse active grant opportunities in V Kann Rasmussen Foundation's focus areas in our free grants database
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Data last updated September 2026. Sourced from IRS Form 990-PF filings. Research dossier generated April 2026.