Koret Foundation

The Koret Foundation is a quintessential relationship-driven private foundation — invitation-only, long-term-oriented, and deeply embedded with a core set of Bay Area and Jewish community institutions it has supported for decades. Understanding this structure is the single most important factor for any prospective applicant.

Koret operates two distinct grantmaking tracks that should not be conflated. The Bay Area Community track covers higher education, K-12 education, arts and culture, food programs, veterans support, and civic projects — all requiring meaningful Bay Area presence or direct Bay Area impact. The Jewish Community track covers Jewish Peoplehood (cultural and educational programming that reflects Judaism as a living civilization), U.S.-Israel Bridge Building (exchange programs, academic collaborations, humanitarian partnerships), and support for established Jewish institutions (synagogues, JCCs, Jewish federations, day schools). These tracks occasionally overlap — a Bay Area Jewish day school, for instance — but most grantees clearly anchor in one.

The foundation favors anchor institutions with demonstrated track records. Its top three recipients — American Friends of Tel Aviv University ($13M across 15 grants), UC Berkeley ($12M across 47 grants), and Stanford ($11.9M across 51 grants) — illustrate the depth of commitment Koret develops with established partners. Multi-year, multi-grant relationships are the norm, not the exception. Among its top 50 grantees, the average recipient has received 8-15 separate grants, suggesting Koret funds organizations repeatedly as trust is earned.

First-time applicants must accept that there is no public portal, no posted RFP, and no application cycle. The pathway in is through relationship building. Organizations should contact the foundation via koret.org/contact or call (415) 882-7740 to request a conversation with a program officer. The typical progression moves from initial introduction to programmatic dialogue, then an invitation to submit a concept note or full proposal, potentially followed by a site visit before a grant decision. CEO Jeffrey Farber and CFO Marlena Wong lead a lean professional staff, so patience and strategic persistence — not volume outreach — are the right posture.

Alignment language matters. Proposals should echo Koret's framing: "Jewish continuity," "Bay Area community," "student success," "civic engagement," and "U.S.-Israel partnership" are terms that appear repeatedly in Koret's public communications and signal fluency with its mission.

Koret's annual grantmaking fluctuates with investment performance and strategic priorities. In fiscal year 2023 (the most recent available), total giving reached $65.4 million with $47.0 million in grants paid out — a rebound from $37.3 million in 2021 (the pandemic trough). The 2019 peak of $96.9 million ($80.4M paid) reflected a particularly strong investment year and deliberate multi-year commitments; assets have since contracted from $565M (2019) to $392.5M (2023), largely driven by market volatility and ongoing grantmaking.

Across 1,308 tracked grants totaling approximately $177.3 million, the median grant is $25,000 and the average is approximately $136,000 — a gap that reflects a highly skewed distribution. Large multi-million-dollar institutional grants (American Friends of Tel Aviv University averaged $869,000 per grant; Stanford averaged $233,000 per grant) pull the average far above the median. The minimum recorded grant is $1,000 and the maximum is $2.5 million; the $2.5M ceiling appears to apply to single-year installments of larger multi-year commitments.

For practical planning, first-time grantees should expect grants in the $25,000–$150,000 range, with potential to grow substantially over multiple grant cycles. Mature institutional partners like USF ($7.7M across 23 grants over multiple years) illustrate the ceiling of long-term relationships.

Geographic concentration is extreme: 940 of 1,308 grants (72%) went to California-based organizations. New York-based organizations account for 196 grants (15%), primarily Jewish national organizations with NYC offices. DC-based organizations (71 grants, 5%) are almost exclusively national Jewish advocacy groups.

By program area, an estimated 45–50% of total grantmaking supports Jewish community programs (Peoplehood, U.S.-Israel bridge building, Jewish institutions). Higher education absorbs roughly 35–40% — anchored by the five-year, $50M Higher Education Initiative launched in 2020. Arts and culture, K-12, food, veterans, and civic projects together account for the remaining 10–15%, though the 2023 arts recovery round ($6M to 40 institutions) and the $2.2M food security investment in 2024 suggest these verticals are growing.

The foundations below are matched to Koret by asset size and, where possible, by mission overlap. No other single foundation shares Koret's exact dual mandate (Bay Area community + Jewish community worldwide), making direct comparisons inherently imperfect.

Koret stands out among asset-size peers for the scale and geographic specificity of its active grantmaking: $65.4M in annual giving concentrated in a single metro region is unusual for a foundation of this size, and signals deep institutional knowledge of Bay Area grantees. The Avi Chai Foundation, Koret's closest mission-aligned peer in Jewish education, completed its planned spend-down in 2019, leaving Koret as one of the few remaining large private foundations with an explicit Jewish communal mandate and an active, growing grantmaking program. This creates meaningful whitespace for Jewish community organizations that previously relied on Avi Chai — Koret is now the most logical successor funder for well-aligned national Jewish education initiatives with Bay Area roots.

The most significant recent development is the death of Tad Taube, Koret's former board president and the foundation's central philanthropic personality, on September 13, 2025. Taube was the namesake of major grants (the Golden Gate Park Tennis Center bears his name; the Hoover Institution's Taube Center for Jewish Studies was funded through Koret connections) and his passing may prompt a strategic review period. CEO Jeffrey Farber's published remembrance signals continuity in leadership, but prospective applicants should monitor any announcements about board composition or priority shifts through 2026.

In March 2024, Koret's $2.2 million food security investment was covered by the San Francisco Chronicle, with Senior Program Officer Ashley Rodwick serving as the public spokesperson — identifying her as the key program contact for food-related proposals. In February 2024, a Koret-sponsored research study on the Jewish early childhood education ecosystem reached 180+ stakeholders, suggesting an emerging initiative that may crystallize into a formal program in 2025-2026.

The $6 million arts recovery round in May 2023 distributed funding across approximately 40 Bay Area cultural institutions, reversing pandemic-era contractions in that portfolio. Organizations that received recovery grants but haven't engaged Koret since should treat this as an opportunity to rebuild the relationship.

The post-October 7, 2023 environment has visibly intensified Koret's U.S.-Israel bridge-building work. The Israel on Campus Coalition (ICC) received emergency operating support and expanded digital operations funding — a direct response to surging campus antisemitism. Any proposal touching campus Jewish life or Israel advocacy should acknowledge this moment explicitly.

Never submit unsolicited materials. Koret's invitation-only model is firm. Sending a cold proposal or grant inquiry email without prior relationship contact is likely to be ignored and may signal unfamiliarity with the foundation's culture. The correct first step is a brief, direct outreach to (415) 882-7740 or via koret.org/contact requesting a 20-minute introductory call with a program officer.

Know which track you're on before you call. Koret's staff evaluate Bay Area Community and Jewish Community proposals through different lenses. Before any contact, you should be able to articulate in one sentence which of the eight program areas you fit and why your work is distinctively aligned — not just broadly consistent — with Koret's priorities.

Lead with outcomes data, not outputs. Koret's higher education grantmaking has consistently rewarded institutions that track student persistence rates, graduation outcomes, and career placement. First-generation college students, veterans, and underrepresented STEM populations are the highest-priority beneficiaries. If your program serves these demographics, quantify it before any conversation.

Build in a U.S.-Israel component if plausible. For Bay Area universities and Jewish organizations alike, proposals that include a visiting scholars exchange, a research partnership with an Israeli institution, or a campus program connecting students to Israel have repeatedly unlocked additional funding. Stanford's Koret Program for Scholars from Israel and UC Berkeley's visiting scholars program are models worth referencing.

Match your ask to the relationship stage. First-time grantees rarely receive grants above $150,000 at Koret. A realistic first ask — a pilot program, a feasibility study, or a defined project rather than a full operating support request — is more likely to advance to an invitation than an ambitious multi-year request.

Time your outreach to avoid year-end surges. Koret's fiscal year ends December 31, and the board reviews grant recommendations in the fall. Initial outreach in February through June gives program officers time to consider your work before the review cycle intensifies. Avoid outreach in November-December.

Reference specific Koret initiatives. Mention the Koret Scholars Program, the Koret Initiative on Jewish Peoplehood, or the Koret Higher Education Initiative by name. Program officers respond more readily to applicants who demonstrate they understand how their work slots into an existing Koret framework rather than asking the foundation to invent a new category.