While the Foundation’s strategic planning process usually points Directors toward fewer grants of larger denominations, the Foundation considers all its funding decisions relative to the documented resource requirements of the proposed initiative. For an inquiry to be considered, please submit it through the contact page on this site.
The Foundation funds initiatives for youth, teens, college students, young adults, and families with young children in the United States. It also supports initiatives of organizations that send U.S. youth for Jewish education experiences to Israel and other settings of Jewish significance. Please note that the Foundation does not fund directly in Israel or any place outside of the United States, unless the organization has a U.S. 501(c)(3) and its program directly benefits U.S. Jewish youth or educators.
The Foundation's Board of Directors meets four times annually. The Board meeting schedule for each calendar year is set in December of the preceding year. Please note that the Board of Directors can give their approval to a grant proposal at any regular or special meeting of the Board.
While we do not discourage letters of inquiry, the submitted material should be brief (no more than one page). It should describe an idea or potential initiative; it should not be in proposal-form. Moreover, we urge grant seekers to carefully review the Jim Joseph Foundation website before making any inquiry in order for the prospective grantee to understand the Foundation’s mission, vision, values, strategic funding priorities and its grantmaking process. We respond to all inquiries in as timely a manner as possible.
Inquiries may be sent to:
Jim Joseph Foundation
343 Sansome Street, Suite 550
San Francisco, CA 94104
We are interested in corresponding by email with potential partners who believe that their initiative fits with the Foundation’s strategic plan. Inquiries should be sent to [email protected].
The Foundation’s program professionals examine the field on an ongoing basis. We network with funder colleagues; consult with current partners; reach out to practitioners and observe their work; read professional literature; attend conferences, forums and convenings; and talk regularly with the Jim Joseph Foundation Board of Directors who are knowledgeable of the field. We pride ourselves on a careful, ongoing search for great funding ideas.
The Foundation accepts grant proposals by invitation only. Potential partners are formally invited to work with the Foundation professionals in preparing grant material for proposal development and review by the Board of Directors.
The Foundation does not make grants to capital projects, support operating deficits, or endowments.
The Foundation is also unlikely to support individual schools, camps, congregations, youth groups, etc. except in remarkable cases where programs of a unique nature merit Foundation consideration.
Finally, the Foundation does not support initiatives that are in conflict with its values.
Please stay up-to-date on the Foundation’s work through this website and our newsletter; it is updated often and will reflect how the Foundation's interests are evolving. You also can contact us again if your organization’s work changes in a way that represents a close fit with the Foundation’s mission, vision, values, and its primary levers.
The Foundation released two open RFPs in spring of 2017. Those are now closed. While there are no current plans to release another RFP, we will notify the field if those plans change.