Aleinu Foundation

The Aleinu Foundation is a private family foundation established in July 2021 by Daniel and Zoe Scheinman of San Mateo/San Francisco, California. Daniel Scheinman is a prominent Silicon Valley figure: he spent 18 years at Cisco Systems rising to Senior Vice President and General Manager, then became a highly successful angel investor with early stakes in Zoom Video Communications, Arista Networks, and SentinelOne. The foundation's name — drawn from the Aleinu prayer, one of the most central prayers in Jewish liturgy — strongly signals an alignment with Jewish values, community, and identity, though no explicit mission has been publicly stated.

With approximately $90.6 million in assets and roughly $4.2 million in charitable disbursements in FY2024, the Aleinu Foundation operates as a lean, entirely private institution: zero employees, zero officer compensation, no public-facing grantmaking program, and no published application guidelines. Both Daniel and Zoe Scheinman serve as directors at $0 compensation — hallmarks of a philanthropic vehicle managed by high-net-worth individuals for personal grantmaking purposes rather than a staffed institutional funder.

The foundation's most significant publicly disclosed grantmaking activity was a $3.23 million transfer to the Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund (a donor-advised fund) in FY2022. This structural choice — routing charitable dollars through a DAF rather than making grants directly to nonprofits — means the true end beneficiaries are entirely anonymous in IRS filings. There is no LOI-to-full-proposal progression typical of institutional foundations. There is no review cycle. Grantmaking decisions are made at the Scheinmans' sole discretion.

First-time applicants should approach this foundation with calibrated expectations. Cold outreach via the registered c/o address (One Bush Street, Suite 900, San Francisco) is unlikely to yield a response. Cultivation must be relationship-driven. The most viable pathway is a warm introduction through the Bay Area Jewish philanthropic community, Brandeis University alumni networks (Daniel holds a B.A. from Brandeis), Silicon Valley investor circles, or organizations already closely connected to the Scheinmans. Organizations that have engaged Daniel Scheinman through board service, tech industry civic initiatives, or Jewish Federation events are best positioned. As the foundation matures — it is only four years old — a more formalized public program may emerge; monitoring annual 990-PF filings is essential to detect any such evolution.

Aleinu Foundation's financial profile reflects a rapidly scaling private foundation built on technology-sector wealth. The foundation was capitalized in FY2020 with $94.6 million in initial contributions — almost certainly proceeds from liquidity events tied to Daniel Scheinman's portfolio, given the extraordinary timing of Zoom's 2020 market valuation surge and other tech exits. From this base, total assets fluctuated considerably: $96.4M at initial funding (FY2020), declining to $72.8M by FY2021, recovering to $78.3M (FY2022–2023), and rebounding strongly to $90.6M in FY2024.

Annual giving has followed a steep upward trajectory: $194,902 (FY2020, founding year), $582,064 (FY2021), $3,771,394 (FY2022), and approximately $4,220,000 (FY2024 disbursements). This represents a 21x increase in four years, signaling a foundation moving quickly from passive wealth holding to active grantmaking. The foundation's payout rate stands at approximately 4.7% of assets — just above the federally mandated 5% minimum distribution threshold for private foundations, indicating disciplined compliance without aggressive over-distribution.

The only disclosed grantee on record is the Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund (Massachusetts), which received $3,230,000 in FY2022. This single transaction represents 100% of known grants paid in that period. The DAF structure renders the actual end-beneficiary universe entirely opaque in public filings; the $541,394 difference between total giving ($3,771,394) and grants paid ($3,230,000) in FY2022 likely reflects qualifying distributions for administrative and investment expenses.

Investment income has grown steadily: $1.23M net investment income (FY2021), $1.75M (FY2022), and $2.33M in FY2024 (primarily dividends at $1.66M plus interest at $671K). This growing income stream increasingly funds charitable disbursements organically. No contributions were received in FY2021, FY2022, or FY2023 beyond a nominal $58,560 in FY2024 — the foundation relies entirely on investment returns, not ongoing donor contributions.

Geographic distribution and programmatic breakdown of end grants is unknown due to the DAF intermediary. However, given the Scheinmans' Bay Area base, the Hebrew-prayer foundation name, and Daniel Scheinman's Brandeis education, grant recipients likely include Jewish communal organizations, Bay Area civic causes, and possibly education and technology-adjacent nonprofits. No grant size range below the $3.23M DAF transfer is discernible from public data.

The following table compares Aleinu Foundation to four size-matched peers in the Philanthropy & Grantmaking category (NTEE T20), all holding assets in the $90–100M range:

Among these peers, Aleinu's 4.7% payout rate is the most conservative — particularly when compared to the Patricia Bragg Foundation, which distributes at approximately 10% of assets annually, reflecting a much more activist giving philosophy. The Carl B. & Florence E. King Foundation offers the clearest contrast in accessibility: similar asset size and giving volume, but with a formal two-cycle LOI process and publicly stated program areas in education, arts, children, and aging across a defined Texas-Arkansas geography.

Aleinu's most distinguishing characteristic among peers is its DAF-based giving structure — routing charitable dollars through Fidelity Charitable rather than making direct grants — which is unusual for a foundation of this scale. Most $90M+ foundations establish direct grantee relationships. This opacity places Aleinu in a distinct category: institutionally private to a degree beyond even invitation-only peers like Patricia Bragg Foundation, which at least publishes its priorities and geographic focus.

Public information about the Aleinu Foundation's recent activities is extremely limited given its wholly private, non-public-facing structure. The most current data point is the 990-PF filing submitted August 15, 2025, covering the fiscal year ending September 30, 2024, which reported $90.6 million in total assets, $2.55 million in total revenue, and approximately $4.22 million in charitable disbursements — the highest single-year giving in the foundation's history.

No press releases, grant announcements, program statements, or media mentions of the Aleinu Foundation were identified in searches conducted through April 2026. The registered website (aleinu.org) resolves to an unrelated religious educational resource on the Jewish Aleinu prayer, not to any foundation grantmaking portal.

The administrative contact of record is Christina Humm, reachable at (650) 342-5153, at the One Bush Street, Suite 900, San Francisco address. No new directors or leadership changes have appeared in available filings. Daniel and Zoe Scheinman have served as the sole directors since inception, each receiving zero compensation.

The single most significant trend observable from the public record is the dramatic acceleration in giving: from $195K in FY2020 to $4.2M in FY2024. Daniel Scheinman's continued active engagement on public company boards (SentinelOne, Arista Networks, and Zoom through their growth periods) suggests ongoing wealth generation that may support further disbursement increases. No new program announcements or formalization of an open grant cycle have been detected as of April 2026.

The Aleinu Foundation presents one of the most challenging outreach scenarios in private foundation philanthropy: there is no published application process, no mission statement, no program guidelines, no grantmaking website, and no application deadline. The foundation's own database record lists application instructions as 'none.' Practically, grants flow entirely at the Scheinmans' personal discretion, not through any structured solicitation cycle.

Timing: The fiscal year ends September 30. If grantmaking decisions align with year-end planning — common for private foundations — the August-to-October window is the likely internal decision period. Any relationship cultivation or informal contact should ideally occur by June or July to allow time before year-end grant commitments are finalized.

The Fidelity DAF pathway: Because the only disclosed grant flowed to Fidelity Charitable, direct solicitation of the Aleinu Foundation for a formal grant may be less productive than establishing a relationship and positioning your organization as a Fidelity Charitable favorite charity. Confirm your 501(c)(3) appears in Fidelity's eligible charity database — this requires no application to the foundation itself, just proper nonprofit registration.

Relationship-building pathways: Daniel Scheinman's professional networks include Brandeis University alumni (B.A. Politics), Duke Law School alumni (J.D.), Silicon Valley angel investor circles (Operator Collective, Scheinman Angel Fund), and boards of Arista Networks, Zoom, and SentinelOne. Zoe Scheinman has connections to the North American Foundation for the University of Durham, suggesting transatlantic education interests. Introductions from shared contacts in any of these spheres carry far more weight than cold correspondence.

Alignment language to use: If direct contact is made, frame proposals around measurable impact, technology-enabled solutions, and Jewish communal or civic values. Daniel Scheinman is an investor trained in outcomes — lead with impact metrics and clear theory of change, not organizational history. If your work intersects with Jewish identity, education, or community resilience, state that connection explicitly and early.

Common mistakes: Sending unsolicited LOIs or full proposals to the c/o mailing address without prior relationship is unlikely to generate a response. Do not treat this as an open-grants foundation with a review cycle — it is not. Avoid generic grant-writing language about overhead ratios; a seasoned tech investor understands operational realities.

Most important strategy: Build genuine presence and credibility within the Bay Area Jewish philanthropic ecosystem and Silicon Valley investor community where Daniel Scheinman is professionally and personally active. This is a multi-year cultivation effort, not a single-cycle application.