The Barbara McDowell and Gerald S Hartman Foundation is available to accept cy pres awards from class action settlements to support our grantmaking efforts.

The term cy pres is derived from a French phrase meaning “as near as.”  When class actions are settled or tried, there are times that it’s not possible to distribute all the money recovered to some or all of the class members. When that occurs, the cy pres doctrine allows the funds to be distributed to a nonprofit charitable organization to support work that indirectly benefits the class and advances the public interest.

Because of the precedent-setting litigation and breadth of issues addressed by our grantee organizations, a cy pres award to the Barbara McDowell and Gerald S. Hartman Foundation could be an appropriate use of funds in many class actions.

If you’d like to designate the Foundation as a recipient of cy pres funds in your class action suit, please contact us.