Ds Foundation

The DS Foundation — formally the Desai Sethi Family Foundation — is a tightly held private foundation operated exclusively by Bharat Desai, Neerja Sethi, and their two adult children, Saahill Desai and Pia Desai. All four serve as directors and trustees without compensation. There are no staff, no program officers, no application portals, and no listed deadlines. The foundation does not accept unsolicited applications.

Bharat Desai and Neerja Sethi co-founded Syntel (now Atos Syntel) in 1980 with $2,000 and built it into a publicly traded IT outsourcing company worth over $3 billion at acquisition. Their philanthropic identity is inseparable from that founding story: immigrant entrepreneurs who succeeded through education and hard work, now channeling resources into the institutions and communities that gave them that pathway. Bharat holds a B.Tech from IIT Bombay and an M.S. from the University of Michigan; Neerja studied at Delhi University and Oakland University. These alma mater connections are not incidental — Princeton has received $10 million, Harvard over $54,000 across six grants, and the University of Michigan $2,500, all consistent with personal institutional loyalty.

The giving pattern is one of deep, long-term relationships with a small number of organizations rather than broad portfolio grantmaking. Princeton received a single $10 million gift. The University of Miami received over $2.1 million across three tracked DS Foundation grants for urology research, culminating in the naming of the Desai Sethi Urology Institute in 2022 — a relationship that likely began years earlier with smaller gifts. The National Philanthropic Trust has received $18.4 million across two grants, suggesting the family uses a donor-advised fund for broader, less publicly visible giving.

For organizations hoping to enter this philanthropic circle, the strategy is relationship-first and patience-intensive. The foundation approaches grantees — not the reverse. Access points include the Indiaspora network (a current grantee), the PanIIT alumni community (a $10,000 grant recipient), South Florida civic organizations such as the Miami Foundation (five grants, $350,000 total), and academic communities at Princeton, Harvard, and the University of Michigan. Organizations in any of these spheres with compelling alignment to the foundation's values — education, healthcare, Indian-American community, and economic mobility — should prioritize visibility within those networks over any direct outreach to the trustees.

The DS Foundation holds $210.9 million in total assets as of the 2024 fiscal year, up from $191 million in 2023 and $165.9 million in 2022 — a 27% increase in two years driven by strong investment performance. Annual revenue in FY2024 reached $12.7 million, almost entirely from dividends and investment income (approximately 90%), with no contributions received. This is a pure endowment-driven grantmaker.

Annual grants paid have fluctuated significantly by year: - FY2023: $7.8M grants paid ($8.2M total giving) - FY2022: $10.4M grants paid ($10.8M total giving) - FY2021: $9.2M grants paid ($9.4M total giving) - FY2020: $10.3M grants paid ($10.6M total giving) - FY2019: $5.7M grants paid ($5.7M total giving) - FY2015: $5.0M grants paid - FY2014: $2.3M grants paid

The five-year average (2019-2023) is approximately $9.0M annually. Given the Giving Pledge commitment and asset growth to $210.9M, future giving is likely to trend upward from this baseline.

Grant size is highly bimodal. The database-tracked typical grant range runs from $500 (American Cancer Society) to a single-grant high of approximately $9.2 million, with a median of $20,000 and an average of $837,455. However, those averages are distorted by a handful of transformational institutional gifts: - National Philanthropic Trust: $18.4M across 2 grants (pass-through DAF vehicle) - Princeton University: $10M in a single gift - University of Miami (Urology Institute): $2.1M across 3 grants - Miami Foundation: $350K across 5 grants - Harvard: $54K across 6 grants

Excluding the NPT pass-through, direct nonprofit giving breaks down approximately as follows by sector: education accounts for roughly 75-80% of direct giving (Princeton, Harvard, Michigan, PanIIT), healthcare 15-18% (University of Miami), Indian-American and community causes 4-5% (Indiaspora, Miami Foundation, NAACP LDF), and wellness/other under 2% (International Association of Yoga Therapists). Geographic giving concentrates in Florida (8 grantees), Massachusetts (8), New Jersey (4), California (4), and New York (3).

The DS Foundation sits at the lower boundary of the large family foundation tier. Its five closest asset-size peers from public records are all private grantmaking foundations in the $210-213M asset range.

Note: Peer annual giving figures are estimates based on the 5% minimum distribution requirement for private foundations; actual figures may vary.

What distinguishes the DS Foundation from its asset-comparable peers is the scale of its single-gift commitments (Princeton's $10M gift is unusually large for a $211M endowment) and its explicit use of a National Philanthropic Trust DAF as a distribution vehicle — a structure more common among ultra-high-net-worth donors who wish to retain flexibility. The Taubman Foundation in Michigan operates in partially overlapping geography and institutional relationships. Hovnanian and Kazarian are similarly structured family foundations with ethnic/community philanthropy dimensions that parallel the DS Foundation's Indian-American giving identity.

The most consequential recent development is the Giving Pledge announcement in 2025, when Bharat Desai and Neerja Sethi committed to donate the majority of their combined ~$2.6 billion fortune. They were among 11 new signatories joining the Pledge's 15th-anniversary cohort — described at the time as the largest new group since 2021. Their public statement emphasized 'a responsibility to give back meaningfully' and highlighted philanthropy's role in creating systemic change for young people facing structural barriers. This commitment almost certainly foreshadows a significant ramp-up in DS Foundation grantmaking over the next 5-10 years.

The most prominent recent programmatic milestone was the dedication of the Desai Sethi Urology Institute at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine on February 28, 2022. The ceremony, held at the Rubell Museum in Miami, marked a $20 million commitment from the Desai Sethi Family Foundation to establish the research and clinical center under founding director Dr. Dipen J. Parekh — himself of Indian origin. The 2024 990 reflects a continuation of this relationship, with an additional $4 million grant to UM's Urology Institute Fund in that fiscal year.

On the DAF side, a $4.6 million grant to the National Philanthropic Trust in 2024 continues the pattern of routing substantial capital through a donor-advised fund vehicle, suggesting ongoing broad-spectrum giving not fully visible in public records. No leadership changes, new program officers, or open RFPs have been announced publicly. The foundation maintains no public-facing web presence of its own.

The single most important fact about the DS Foundation is that it does not accept unsolicited proposals. It is classified as preselected-only in grant databases, carries no application instructions, and lists no deadlines or form URLs. Attempting to submit a cold application — even a well-crafted one — is not an effective use of organizational resources.

The productive path is relationship cultivation over 12-36 months through the networks the Desai-Sethi family engages:

Indian-American philanthropy networks. Indiaspora, which received three grants ($75,000 total including COVID-19 support), is the most direct entry point. Attending Indiaspora convenings, contributing to their programs, or being recognized in their community creates visibility in the exact circles where Bharat Desai and Neerja Sethi are active. PanIIT — the global IIT alumni association — received a $10,000 grant; organizations with ties to IIT networks, particularly IIT Bombay, have a natural alignment to Bharat Desai's undergraduate roots.

University alumni communities. Princeton, Harvard, and the University of Michigan are the three clearest institutional touchpoints. Organizations with board members or advisors who are active alumni of these institutions — particularly Princeton and Michigan — can seek warm introductions through those channels.

Miami civic infrastructure. The Miami Foundation has received five grants totaling $350,000, including support for the Achieve Miami program and Venture Scholarship Fund. Organizations embedded in South Florida's civic and nonprofit ecosystem, particularly those working on youth economic mobility, align with the trustees' geographic base and the Achieve Miami grants' focus on tuition support for gap-funding at-need city residents.

Healthcare and medical research. Given the $20M+ commitment to the University of Miami's urology institute, academic medical centers and research hospitals in South Florida or with strong Indian-American clinical leadership may find resonance — though this appears to be a highly personal relationship rather than a broad healthcare strategy.

Language that resonates: education access, entrepreneurship pathways, economic mobility for underserved youth, Indian-American community impact, and — following the Giving Pledge — systemic change for young people facing structural barriers.