Jack Chester Foundation

The Jack Chester Foundation is a legacy family trust, not an institutional grantmaker — it was established by Holocaust survivor Jack Chester and activated on his death in 2001, and is run today by three trustees (Bernardo Pedro Szwarc, Jorge Lerman, and Chairman Norman H. Lipoff), each drawing $36,000 in annual compensation ($108,000 combined). With roughly $7.8-8.0M in assets and no contributions received in any recent filing year, the foundation operates strictly off investment income and a fixed corpus, which caps its total annual giving near $500,000-$700,000. It funds almost exclusively within two tightly bounded communities: Jewish Miami and Israel. Nearly all of its top 50 grantees are Jewish federations, synagogues, Hillel chapters, Israel-based 'American Friends of' fundraising vehicles, or Holocaust-memory organizations — there is essentially no funding outside this lane. The relationship pattern favors continuity over discovery: the top grantee, Greater Miami Jewish Federation, received three grants totaling $385,000 (roughly $128,000/year), and most of the top 50 recipients show exactly 2-3 grants each, indicating the foundation re-funds a stable, recurring roster rather than seeking new grantees each cycle. First-time applicants should treat this as a long-odds, narrow-fit funder: the foundation's own guidelines state plainly that proposals outside its seven priority areas are 'unlikely' to be funded, and independent funder databases (Instrumentl, GrantForward) describe it as making contributions 'only to preselected charitable organizations,' which sits in tension with the foundation's own published online application process. The practical read is that the foundation nominally accepts applications but functions in practice as a relationship- and reputation-driven funder within Miami's organized Jewish community and Israel-focused nonprofit sector — an organization's best path in is a warm introduction through the Greater Miami Jewish Federation network, a Hillel/campus Jewish life connection, or an existing 'American Friends of' Israeli institution relationship, rather than a cold LOI.

Grant sizes are heavily concentrated at the small end: the foundation's own reported typical grant size shows a median of just $2,000 against an average of $4,862 across 87 recent grants, with a floor of $1,000 and a ceiling of $120,000 (one third-party source cites a top end as high as $175,000 for the broader historical range). This gap between median and average signals a barbell distribution — a large volume of small ($1,000-$15,000) sustaining gifts to synagogues, Hillel chapters, and Israel-support nonprofits, alongside a handful of flagship six-figure grants to anchor institutions. Aggregated grantee-level data (268 recorded grants totaling $1,458,000, averaging $5,440 each) reinforces this: the top recipient, Greater Miami Jewish Federation, alone accounts for $385,000 (over a quarter of that total) across just 3 grants, while the next tier — Holocaust Memorial Committee ($90,000/3 grants), Cuban Hebrew Congregation of Miami ($75,000/3 grants), and PEF Israel Endowment Funds ($54,000/3 grants) — each receive recurring five-figure support. Below roughly the top 10 grantees, amounts drop quickly into the $5,000-$20,000 range, and the long tail (Hillel chapters, day schools, camps, health and disability-service nonprofits) receives $6,000-$15,000 per grant. Annual total giving has ranged from $588,572 (FY2020, pandemic-affected) to $789,468 (FY2011), with the most recent filed year (FY2023) at $680,241 in total giving and $505,000 in grants actually paid — down from $635,600 paid in 2011, a roughly 20% decline over the trust's operating life, consistent with a fixed-corpus legacy vehicle rather than a growing endowment. Geographically, grantee records concentrate in Florida (97 grantees) and New York (98 grantees, largely reflecting NY-headquartered 'American Friends of Israeli institution' fundraising arms), with Pennsylvania (16), New Jersey (14), and Massachusetts (11) trailing — a distribution that matches the foundation's stated geographic focus on NY and FL.

The foundation's closest asset-size peers in Granted's database are other Philanthropy & Grantmaking-classified entities clustered near $7.95-7.96M in assets, though none share its specific Jewish-community/Israel focus — they are asset-matched, not mission-matched, peers.

Jack Chester stands out among this peer set as the only one with a fully public grant guidelines page, published deadline, and named priority areas — most $7-8M-asset family foundations of this type disclose nothing publicly and operate purely on trustee referral. That relative transparency is a genuine advantage for outside applicants, but it should not be mistaken for openness: the foundation's tightly scoped mission (Jewish Miami and Israel only) and its heavy repeat-funding pattern to a stable grantee roster function as a much narrower gate than the published process suggests.

No dated news, press releases, leadership transitions, or new program announcements for 2025 or 2026 were found in web searches — the foundation maintains no visible media presence, consistent with a three-trustee family trust with no communications function. The most recent verifiable financial filing in the data bundle is FY2023 (filed circa 2024), showing $680,241 in total giving and $505,000 in grants paid, both up from the FY2020-2021 pandemic-era trough. Historically, the foundation's most notable documented activity is cumulative: approximately $10 million distributed to Jewish and Israel-focused 501(c)(3) organizations between the trust's 2001 activation and 2019. Leadership has been stable, with the same three trustees (Szwarc, Lerman, and Chairman Lipoff) shown across all available records at consistent $36,000 annual compensation each. Grant seekers should not expect to find recent public statements of new priorities or expanded funding — the safest assumption is that the foundation continues its established annual cycle (December 31 deadline, February/March board approval) with a grantee roster that changes only incrementally year to year.

Because the foundation's own guidelines state that proposals outside its seven listed priority areas are 'unlikely' to receive funding, do not submit unless your program is squarely one of: Jewish education/identity in Miami or Israel; social services for vulnerable Jewish populations (people with disabilities, at-risk children); Israel Experience programs; Israeli higher education; Holocaust education; Israel/Zionist education; or healthcare in Israel or serving Miami's Jewish community. Apply the specific alignment language from the guidelines directly in your proposal's opening paragraph — reviewers are told to screen against these exact categories. The single annual deadline is December 31, with board approval in February or March for that calendar year, so there is no rolling review; a late submission waits a full year. Submit through the online application (the foundation states a preference for paperless submission, though paper applications by mail to 'The Jack Chester Foundation c/o Truist, 333 S. Garland Avenue, 17th Floor, Orlando, FL 32801' are also accepted) and include both the Application Cover Sheet and all supporting material specified in the Grant Proposal Format — incomplete packages are the most common reason cited by comparable small family foundations for rejection without review. Given that independent funder databases (Instrumentl, GrantForward) describe this foundation as funding only preselected organizations, first-time applicants should treat a cold submission as a long shot and instead prioritize relationship-building: an introduction through the Greater Miami Jewish Federation (its single largest grantee at $385,000 across 3 grants), a Hillel campus chapter, or an existing 'American Friends of [Israeli institution]' organization is far more likely to succeed than an unsolicited proposal. Request general operating support or program support rather than large capital asks — the median award is just $2,000 and the average is $4,862, so proposals seeking outsized capital grants should not expect a first-time award anywhere near the $120,000 ceiling reserved for long-standing anchor grantees like the Federation. Before investing proposal-writing time, call (407) 237-4500 to confirm whether the foundation is currently accepting unsolicited applications, since public sources conflict on this point.