Leichtag Foundation

The Leichtag Foundation operated for 34 years as a deeply relationship-driven, invitation-only private foundation headquartered at 441 Saxony Road in Encinitas, California. Its giving philosophy honored the legacy of Lee and Toni Leichtag through three active strategic focus areas: vibrant Jewish life in coastal North San Diego County, renewal and social entrepreneurship in Jerusalem, and San Diego-Israel relationship building. A fourth area — self-sufficiency and poverty alleviation in North County — was formally closed to new applicants before the merger.

Critical context for 2025-2026: Leichtag Foundation merged its operations into Jewish Community Foundation San Diego effective August 1, 2025. It is now in wind-down as an independent grantmaker. Organizations aligned with its priorities should engage JCF San Diego, which absorbed the Leichtag program team.

Historically, the foundation's model was entirely staff-driven. The board relied fully on staff to identify, vet, and invite prospective grantees — unsolicited proposals were not accepted and the policy was strictly enforced. If a board member expressed interest in an organization, the directive was to contact staff at grants@leichtag.org rather than apply directly. This reflected the foundation's belief that effective philanthropy requires organizational knowledge built through sustained relationship, not proposal review.

The typical engagement pathway moved from: staff identification through community networks → exploratory conversations → mission alignment assessment → formal invitation to develop a concept → collaborative proposal writing with staff → monthly board presentation. This cycle often spanned 6-12 months for new relationships. Grants were awarded monthly once organizations were formally in the pipeline.

Top grantees confirm the depth-over-breadth model. Coastal Roots Farm (a Leichtag-incubated agricultural nonprofit) received 36 grants across two entities totaling $2.96M — the farm was literally built on Leichtag Commons property. Interfaith Community Services received 17 grants totaling $612K over multiple years. Jerusalem grantmaking flowed through trusted fiscal sponsors — Keren Shituf Tormin Donor-Advised Fund ($3.14M, 8 grants) and PEF Israel Endowment Funds ($466K, 42 micro-grants) — reflecting Leichtag's preference for local infrastructure over direct international grantmaking.

For organizations carrying mission alignment with Leichtag's priorities, the viable path forward runs entirely through JCF San Diego, where former Leichtag CEO Charlene Seidle now serves as President and Chief Philanthropy Officer alongside Sharyn Goodson (SVP Philanthropy), Paige Milgrom-Hills (Program Officer), Jessica Kort (VP Strategic Communications), and the full Impact Cubed team.

The Leichtag Foundation's grantmaking tracked a clear decade-long contraction. Total giving peaked at $16.4M (FY2013) and $16M (FY2014), declined through mid-range figures ($14.1M in FY2015, $12M in FY2018), stabilized around $11M (FY2019-FY2023), then dropped sharply to approximately $2.7M in FY2024 as merger preparations advanced. Foundation assets simultaneously declined from a $143M peak (FY2012-2013) to $83.2M in FY2024, as investment returns — $732K in net investment income in FY2022-2023 compared to $10.9M in FY2020 — failed to offset annual distributions.

From the grants database (710 recorded grants, $18.27M total), the average grant was $25,729. The database-reported median of $2,500 reflects the large volume of donor-advised fund pass-throughs, Farm Founders Circle memberships, and small programmatic stipends — not program grant norms. Actual operational program grants typically ranged from $30,000 to $250,000, with the core range at $50,000-$200,000. Major capital and special-purpose grants reached $300,000-$735,288.

By program area, approximately 40% of top-50 grantee dollars flowed to Jerusalem and Israel-focused work: Keren Shituf Tormin ($3.14M, 8 grants), Jerusalem Philanthropic Initiatives ($731K, 7 grants), PEF Israel Endowment Funds ($466K, 42 grants), Jerusalem Intercultural Center ($130K), and New Israel Fund ($110K). The remaining 60% concentrated on coastal North County: Coastal Roots Farm combined entities ($2.96M, 36 grants), Interfaith Community Services ($612K, 17 grants), Impact Cubed ($552K, 29 grants), Moishe House ($647K, 10 grants), Lawrence Family JCC ($213K), Hebrew Free Loan of San Diego ($150K), and Hillel of San Diego ($158K).

Capital grants were exceptional: $500K to UC San Diego Foundation (Biomedical Research Building) and $500K to San Marcos Promise (Joli Ann Leichtag School) were named-gift anchor investments. Emergency response grants included $300K to I Am Your Protector (Ukraine evacuation, 2022) and $156K to AJJDC (Ukraine relief). Geographically, California dominated with 485 of 710 grants; New York received 125, reflecting national Jewish intermediaries. Grants-paid from 990 filings: $12.2M (FY2013), $10.7M (FY2014), $9.1M (FY2015), $5.9M (FY2019), $5.2M (FY2020), $4.4M (FY2021), $4M (FY2022), $2.7M (FY2024).

Leichtag occupied a distinctive niche: a mid-sized Jewish private foundation with deep hyper-local roots in North County San Diego and Jerusalem specifically, operating entirely by invitation, and incubating social enterprises on its own 67.5-acre agricultural property (Leichtag Commons). Unlike the San Diego Foundation's broad community mandate or JCF's donor-advised infrastructure model, Leichtag was programmatic, place-based, and visibly values-driven through its on-site farm and coworking campus.

Its merger into JCF SD effectively consolidates the region's Jewish philanthropy infrastructure. Organizations previously in Leichtag's orbit now gain access to JCF's substantially larger donor pool, expanded programming (Endowment Leadership Institute, Governance Leadership Institute, Jewish Women's Foundation, Jewish Teen Foundation), and broader geographic reach — representing a net resource expansion despite Leichtag's wind-down. Note: JCF and Nathan Cummings asset/giving figures are estimated from public sources; Weinberg figures are from known public reporting.

The defining recent development is Leichtag Foundation's merger with Jewish Community Foundation San Diego, announced May 27, 2025 in the Times of San Diego and effective August 1, 2025. The strategic rationale cited was expanding 'capacity, expertise, and strategic relationships' in the post-October 7 environment, with combined priorities encompassing Jewish community life, combating antisemitism, and rebuilding Israel.

Leadership transitions are complete. Charlene Seidle — who served as Leichtag's EVP and Executive Director (290-344K in annual compensation per recent 990 filings) — is now President and Chief Philanthropy Officer at JCF San Diego under CEO Jeremy Pearl. The entire Impact Cubed team (Leichtag's philanthropy arm, which also received $552K from Leichtag over 29 grants) transitioned: Sharyn Goodson (SVP Philanthropy), Jessica Kort (VP Strategic Communications), Jenny Camhi (VP Philanthropic and Community Engagement), Paige Milgrom-Hills (Program Officer), and Michelle Clemans (Information Officer) all joined JCF staff.

In FY2024, the final full year of independent operations, the foundation distributed approximately $2.7M in grants against $6.3M in revenues (including $2.4M in rental income from Leichtag Commons) and $10.2M in expenses — a deliberate drawdown. Notable FY2024 grants included $363,383 to Impact Cubed and $120,000 to JCF San Diego, foreshadowing the merger. Staff changes were reported in October 2024. The foundation filed a 2024 federal tax return extension, posted on leichtag.org in July 2025. Leichtag Commons (67.5 acres) and Coastal Roots Farm remain as separate entities during the wind-down period.

Given the August 1, 2025 merger, the most critical strategic guidance is: do not apply to Leichtag Foundation as an independent entity for new grants. Engage JCF San Diego directly. The following tips address both the transition and the strategic framing for JCF conversations informed by Leichtag's documented values.

Contact the former Leichtag team at JCF San Diego. Charlene Seidle, Sharyn Goodson, and Paige Milgrom-Hills were the primary relationship managers for Leichtag programming. They moved to JCF with the same priorities, networks, and institutional memory intact. A warm introduction through a mutual Leichtag grantee — Coastal Roots Farm, Interfaith Community Services, Moishe House, Hillel of San Diego, or Hebrew Free Loan — is more effective than cold outreach.

If you are an existing Leichtag grantee, your grant agreement remains in force. Contact grants@leichtag.org (active during wind-down) or JCF San Diego to confirm disbursement schedules and reporting requirements. Some grants are being transferred to JCF field-of-interest funds — get clarity on your specific agreement in writing.

For new applicants, approach JCF San Diego through jcfsandiego.org. When framing your proposal, use language consistent with Leichtag's documented selection criteria: co-funding partners demonstrating broad community support, measurable outcomes with clear evaluation processes, sustainability pathways beyond single-funder dependency, and strong leadership quality. These were explicit screening criteria and the Leichtag team carries them to JCF.

Lead with community rootedness, not polish. Leichtag historically favored organizations with deep authentic ties to North County or Jerusalem over well-resourced organizations with generic programming. Demonstrating specific neighborhood relationships, bilingual capacity (for North County Latino-Jewish partnerships), or genuine Jerusalem-based operational experience carries more weight than a polished proposal from a distant organization.

Avoid entirely: fundraising events, endowments, individual synagogue support (without broader community programming), political campaigns or lobbying, medical or scientific research, and capital campaigns. These exclusions were explicit Leichtag policy and are likely to persist in successor programming at JCF.