Gross Foundation Inc.

The Gross Foundation Inc. is a private family foundation based in Brooklyn, New York, directed by Pearl Gross and Dov Gross. The foundation operates with a preselected-organizations-only model, meaning it identifies and chooses its own grantees without accepting unsolicited proposals or applications. Its grantmaking focus is on furthering Jewish studies and charitable causes, reflecting the family's religious and cultural priorities. With approximately $70.6 million in assets and roughly $2.9 million in annual giving, the foundation maintains a low profile with no public website, no published strategy documents, and minimal online presence beyond IRS filings. The listed website (gross.org) belongs to a musician and is unrelated to the foundation. The foundation's mailing address is PO Box 040-308 Parkville Station, Brooklyn, NY 11204, in the heart of the Borough Park neighborhood, a major center of Orthodox Jewish life in New York City. The foundation's approach is entirely internally directed, with no staff, no programs, and no public engagement.

The Gross Foundation distributed approximately $2.9 million in grants in its most recent fiscal year (2025 filing). The foundation makes a very small number of grants per year — as few as one in recent years. This extreme concentration suggests that the bulk of annual giving flows to one or two primary organizations, likely Jewish educational or charitable institutions in the Brooklyn area. The foundation's assets of approximately $70.6 million represent a healthy endowment for its modest level of annual distribution, suggesting conservative spending well below the typical 5% payout rate for private foundations. The foundation's focus categories are classified as Philanthropy, Voluntarism and Grantmaking and Private Grantmaking in IRS filings. Given the Borough Park, Brooklyn location and focus on Jewish studies, likely recipients include yeshivas, synagogues, Jewish community organizations, and charitable funds serving the Orthodox Jewish community.

The Gross Foundation is a small family foundation compared to the major Jewish philanthropy institutions. While foundations like Jim Joseph and Schusterman operate at institutional scale with professional staff and open application processes, Gross operates as a private family giving vehicle with no public infrastructure. Its most direct peers are the hundreds of small Orthodox Jewish family foundations concentrated in Brooklyn that collectively channel significant funds to yeshivas and community institutions but operate without public visibility or formal application processes. The foundation's per-grant giving is significant, but its reach is narrow compared to professionally managed Jewish foundations.

The Gross Foundation's most recent IRS filing (990 for 2025, updated March 17, 2026) shows total assets of $70,578,652 and grants paid of $2,873,031. The foundation made only one grant in the most recent year reported, continuing its pattern of highly concentrated giving. The board remains Pearl Gross (Director) and Dov Gross (Director). No public announcements, press releases, or news coverage of the foundation's activities were found in web searches. The foundation maintains no website, no social media presence, and no public communications. Its operations appear entirely private and family-directed.

The Gross Foundation explicitly does not accept unsolicited requests for funds and only makes contributions to preselected charitable organizations. There is effectively no path for organizations to apply for or seek funding from this foundation through standard channels. However, for context: (1) The foundation is based in Borough Park, Brooklyn, and focuses on Jewish studies — organizations in the Orthodox Jewish community in Brooklyn may have natural connections to the foundation's directors. (2) Pearl Gross and Dov Gross direct all giving decisions. Any relationship to the foundation must be through direct personal connection. (3) The foundation has no website, no email, and no public phone number. The mailing address is PO Box 040-308 Parkville Station, Brooklyn, NY 11204. (4) Monitor the foundation's 990 filings on ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer to identify current grantees and understand giving patterns. (5) Organizations that are already grantees of similar Brooklyn-based Orthodox Jewish family foundations may have visibility in the same philanthropic networks. (6) This is not a foundation that can be approached through conventional grant-seeking strategies.