OVERVIEW: The Gottesman Fund supports Jewish causes in the United States and Israel. It also funds organizations focused on K-12 and higher education, public health, housing and homelessness, community development, and arts and culture.
IP TAKE: The Gottesman Fund is probably best known to nonprofits as the family foundation of Ruth Gottesman, the woman behind a relatively recent $1 billion mega gift to the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University. However, as IP has reported, this funder should also be on your radar as one whose “assets have grown five-fold, following a 2023 infusion that increased its endowment to $1.3 billion.” Unfortunately, it’s a bit of a black box. This funder is not transparent or accessible. It prefers a proactive grantmaking approach, while keeping a low profile with no website or a clear way to get in contact or apply for support. It does not accept unsolicited proposals or requests for funding. Nor is this low-key funder particularly approachable, making it a tough nut to crack. Nevertheless, contact information is provided below.
PROFILE: Established in 1965, the Gottesman Fund is a private family foundation based in Washington, D.C. This is a low-key foundation that does not have a website to guide grantseekers. David and Ruth Gottesman created this foundation, which has largely given money to Jewish causes over the years. The late David Sanford “Sandy” Gottesman graduated from Trinity College in Connecticut and received an MBA from Harvard. He met Warren Buffett in 1962 and was an early investor in Berkshire Hathaway. Gottesman founded his own investment firm, First Manhattan Co., in 1964. Ruth Levy Gottesman is a graduate of Barnard College and holds an Ed.D. degree in educational psychology from Columbia University’s Teachers College.
The Gottesman Fund works to enhance and perpetuate Jewish life in the United States and improve the quality of life in Israel. The details of its grantmaking in Israel is not entirely discernible, though, because Gottesman directs millions through P.E.F. Israel Endowment Funds. The Gottesman fund also supports groups and organizations focused on K-12 and higher education, public health, housing and homelessness, community development, and arts and culture.
Grants for Jewish Causes
The Gottesman Fund is a major contributor to Jewish organizations in the United States and in Israel.
- In the last two decades, it has given over $70 million to P.E.F. Israel, an endowment fund that collects and distributes funding to charitable Israeli organizations.
- The Gottseman Fund is one of Yeshiva University’s largest donors in New York. In 2024, Ruth Gottesman also made headlines by donating $1 billion — apparently in addition to what was transferred to the foundation — to the Albert Einstein College of Medicine to make free tuition available to all future students. Ruth Gottesman has been connected to the Einstein medical school since 1968, where she was once a professor and a pioneering specialist in children’s learning disabilities — and later, a board member.
- It has also made donations to over 250 Israeli school libraries and the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo, which used the funding to establish the Gottesman Family Israel Aquarium.
- The Gottesmans’ daughter, Alice, is a longtime board member of the Jewish Community Center of Manhattan, and the family has steadily supported this and other JCC chapters in the U.S.
- Other past grantees include Birthright Israel, the Center for Initiatives in Jewish Education, the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces and the UJA-Federation of New York.
Grants for Higher Education and K-12 Education
The Fund’s education grants tend to focus on Jewish education of all levels, as well as investments in universities with which the family is affiliated.
- In 2024, Ruth Gottesman gave a $1 billion donation the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, where she was a professor, to provide free tuition in perpetuity, and the Gottesman Fund gave a $25 million gift to the college in 2008 to establish the Ruth L. and David S. Gottesman Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine.
- The Fund has also strongly supported Yeshiva University, where David Gottesman was a chair emeritus.
- Other higher education grantees include Barnard College, Champlain College, the University of Wisconsin, and Teachers College at Columbia University, which established the Gottesman Libraries in the family’s name.
- Gottesman have supported many Jewish K-12 schools in the New York area including the Abraham Joshua Heschel School; SAR Academy in Riverdale, New York; the Golda Och Academy and the Solomon Schechter School of Westchester County, New York.
Grants for Public Health, Housing, Homelessness and Community Development
The Gottesman Fund’s health funding broadly prioritizes organizations in New York City.
- Past grantees include the Bachmann-Strauss Dystonia & Parkinson Foundation, the Center For Reproductive Rights, the Hospital for Special Surgery and New York University’s Langone Medical Center.
- Gottesman also funds organizations that address hunger, homelessness and at-risk youth. In the past, it has supported New York’s City Harvest and, in Vermont, the Committee On Temporary Shelter and the Lund Family Center, which offers services and support to individuals and families living in poverty or suffering from addictive disorders.
Grants for Arts and Culture
Gottesman’s philanthropy in the area of arts and culture has been directed mainly toward organizations operating in New York City.
- The Central Park Conservancy received a $5 million gift in 2023, as did the Linnaean Society of New York.
- Other past grantees include American Museum of Natural History, Bronx Children’s Museum, and the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum.
Important Grant Details:
Grant amounts vary wildly based on the nature of the organization receiving funding, and, in a recent year, ranged between $5,000 and $8.4 million. The foundation awarded over $37.8 million in grants recently and held more than $1.4 billion in assets.
- While Gottesman should not be considered a regional funder, much of its grantmaking stays in New York and New Jersey.
- It does not accept or review unsolicited proposals or requests for funding.
PEOPLE:
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CONTACT:
The Gottesman Fund does not provide a clear avenue of contact but below is an address and phone number:
The Gottesman Fund
1818 N St. N.W., Ste. 400
Washington, DC 20036
(202) 785-2727