Spend-Down Announcement

Over the years, the V. Kann Rasmussen Foundation has reflected on its role in the light of this era of planetary emergency, an emergency that is now magnified by our entry into the defining decade for humanity’s ability to confront climate change. After several years of deepening concern over the continuing lack of an appropriate global response, the board concluded, at its meeting in January, that we have to do much more to meet this existential threat within the rapidly dwindling time left to address it.

In order to do so, the board of the V. Kann Rasmussen Foundation is announcing its plan to spend down its endowment over the course of the next fifteen years, allowing us to double our annual grantmaking during these crucial years. The foundation enters this new chapter of its history as we celebrate our thirtieth anniversary, and as we announce the opening of new program areas focused on dealing with both long-term systemic risks and the need for specific climate mitigation efforts in the present time.

As we stand up to the challenges humanity has created for itself, we look forward to continuing to partner with all our peers in philanthropy and all those involved in the environmental movement, from those on the front lines of advocacy to those in science and the academy. Although we recognize the deep threat that COVID-19 has created for all of us, we felt compelled to share this important development with you, as it will frame our work, and as the existential climate crisis which continues in the background of the COVID-19 crisis cannot be forgotten.