Grants for Jewish Causes
Learn about grants for Jewish causes and nonprofits by exploring the curated list of top Jewish funders below. Members can also research funding opportunities using the search tool for GrantFinder. Become a member. Members can find additional profiles that intersect with Jewish funding on IP’s other pages: grants for refugees and violence prevention.
Key Funders
- Jewish Federations
- Jewish Community Foundations
- Shimon Ben (Jim) Joseph Foundation
- Adelson Family Foundation
- William Davidson Foundation
- Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies
- Wexner Foundation
- Righteous Persons Foundation
- Nathan Cummings Foundation
- Klarman Family Foundation
- United Jewish Appeal – Federation of New York
- Jewish Communal Fund
- The Ojc Fund
- United Jewish Foundation
- Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles
- Crown Family Philanthropies
Funding Trends for Jewish Causes
Funders of Jewish causes and nonprofits — and the organizations they give to — are diverse in terms of type, giving capacity and politics. According to Jack Wertheimer, writing in a study for the Avi Chai Foundation titled “Giving Jewish: How Big Funders Have Transformed American Jewish Philanthropy,” many funders that give to Jewish causes tend to support more “universal” causes, while Jewish giving represents only a portion of their philanthropy. In their report “Connected to Give: Key Findings from the National Study of American Jewish Giving,” Jumpstart Labs echoes a similar sentiment.
Precisely enumerating the scope of present-day grantmaking for Jewish causes is difficult, but by any measure, it is substantial. Jewish federations — communal giving organizations — collectively rank among the top 10 charities in the United States. In the same 2018 report by the Avi Chai Foundation, “roughly” estimated total giving to Jewish causes in the U.S. and Israel amounted to about $5.5 to 6 billion annually. Many in the field say giving has grown since then, with significant rises in giving in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the war on Ukraine.
History and traditions of Jewish Philanthropy
Jewish philanthropy has a deep history, rooted in both religious and secular traditions. Several foundational ideas form the cornerstones of Jewish giving: tzedakah (charitable giving as a form of righteous behavior connected to social justice), which was described in the ancient texts of the Torah and the Talmud; tikkun olam (repairing the world); ma’aser (tithing); and gemach (free-loan funds that provide interest-free loans to community members in need).
In the 19th and early 20th centuries in the United States, Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe supported one another via mutual aid societies known as Landsmanschaftn. Then came Jewish federations, a type of community foundation that has been core to American Jewish communities for more than a century and that has influenced American charitable giving more broadly.
Communal Giving: Jewish federations, community foundations, & giving circles
Addressing a wide range of priorities, grants for Jewish causes often invest in direct services for community members, Jewish education, combating antisemitism, support for the state of Israel and Israeli organizations, and/or support for Jewish religious institutions. While a lot of giving in this sector happens locally — e.g., to local Jewish federations as well as to Jewish schools, synagogues and community organizations — substantial global grantmaking occurs for Jewish causes.
Jewish federations’ model of “federated giving” – raising funds from community members via a campaign and then distributing those funds to nonprofits and people in need across the community – inspired the early-20th-century American charitable movement of Community Chests, which became what we know today as the United Way. Originally organized around an annual appeal, Jewish federations meet needs across the local community while also providing humanitarian relief around the world. Today, there are 146 federations and more than 300 smaller communities within the national network Jewish Federations of North America, which collectively raise and distribute more than $2 billion annually.
In some communities, the local Jewish federation hosts donor-advised funds, while in others, a separate Jewish community foundation hosts DAFs. Federations and community foundations conduct their own grantmaking, and a substantial amount of grantmaking for Jewish causes also happens through the DAFs these institutions host. For instance, the Jewish Communal Fund reports that fundholders made more than 58,000 grants to Jewish organizations, totaling more than $329 million in 2022 alone.
Jewish giving circles offer a smaller scale of funding. After women’s giving circles, Jewish giving circles were the second-most common type of identity-based giving circle in the United States in 2016, according to a survey conducted by the Collective Giving Research Group. The network Amplifier, founded in 2014, reports that it helped launch 120 new Jewish giving circles.
Hillel International, the world’s largest Jewish campus organization, aims to serve as not only a safe haven for Jewish students or Jewish culture, but also works to raise funds for Jewish causes across hundreds of campuses.
Gaps in Jewish grantmaking
The future of giving for Jewish-focused organizations is a big concern. Many funders perceive younger generations as more focused on “universal” grantmaking and less concerned with preserving Jewish identity or education than their elders. In response, the Jewish Future Promise asks donors to pledge that at least half of their planned giving will support the Jewish people and/or the State of Israel.
Additionally, funding for Jewish arts and culture has been a lower priority among grantmakers than other areas of giving. In an effort to reverse this trend, the Jewish Funders Network created the Canvas initiative.
Between the war in Ukraine and the Israel-Hamas war, it’s unclear how Jewish funding will evolve. “We don’t know where things are going to fall,” Andrés Spokoiny, president and CEO of the Jewish Funders Network, said in a 2022 interview for Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Along with rising antisemitism, funding for Jewish causes have been transforming quickly.
Evolving Jewish giving
Funders of Jewish causes have increased their giving in recent years, especially in response to emergencies or “Jewish rescue.” Giving increased to support the community amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In the first year of the war on Ukraine, Jewish federations raised $85 million for humanitarian aid and relief for Ukrainians.
Grantmakers in this space are also joining their peers from across philanthropy in order to advance equity. Typically an overlooked area of Jewish giving, more funders are working to address diversity by looking at concerns related to classism, ableism, racism and sexism, among other concerns, in Jewish philanthropy. For example, funders including Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies and the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation have supported the The Jews of Color Initiative, which makes grants to advance racial equity in the U.S. Jewish community. As well, the Jewish LGBTQ Donor Network made inaugural grants in 2023.
Another trend points to the increasing influence of individual megadonors in a field that was traditionally focused on communal giving. In the report “Giving Jewish,” Jack Wertheimer concludes that “funds allocated by and through federations constitute roughly one-third of giving to Jewish causes, while giving by the largest 250 foundations interested in Jewish causes represents less than one-fifth of the total.” But given how much donor-directed funding happens via DAFs held at federations, it’s hard to know how much grantmaking is based on individuals’ versus community priorities.
Additional Resources for Jewish Philanthropy
In addition to exploring funder profiles below, grant seekers may also find useful information from organizations such as the Jewish Funders Network and the Jewish Philanthropy Research Initiative.
