Sabrina Merage Foundation

The Sabrina Merage Foundation is one of the most clearly invitation-only, relationship-first private foundations in the Rocky Mountain region. Founded in 2008 by Sabrina Merage Naim — daughter of David and Laura Merage — the foundation operates within the Merage Foundation Network, a consortium of eight foundations representing three generations of one of Colorado's most prominent philanthropic families. Laura Merage serves as President; David Merage as Secretary; Sabrina Merage as Director, all without compensation, reflecting a lean, mission-driven governance model with deep family alignment.

The foundation's philosophy is explicitly venture-philanthropic: grants are paired with hands-on strategic engagement, problem-solving, and business acumen alongside capital. Sabrina Merage Naim has publicly characterized traditional nonprofits as "overhead-heavy and clunky," favoring lean, agile organizations capable of rapid pivoting and scalable social impact. Over 16 years, the foundation has cultivated just 32 unique partnerships — a deliberately small portfolio that prioritizes depth, multi-year continuity, and strategic co-investment over broad, transactional grantmaking.

Three formal program pillars define the grantmaking framework: Building Community (leaders who create collaborative communities), Driving Diversity (social change-makers bridging diverse societies), and Empowering Women (organizations elevating women as innovators and leaders). In practice, these pillars converge most powerfully in arts and media — the foundation's own subsidiary, Evoke Media, operates at the intersection of documentary film, scripted content, and podcasting with social impact messaging. Major grants to Lemonada Media ($100,000), Sugarcane Film ($75,000), Lowland Kids Films ($75,000), and the Sundance Institute ($60,000 across two grants) confirm media production as the highest-value investment area by dollar volume.

Jewish community programming represents a second durable thread running through the grantee record: Jewish Colorado ($50,000), Moishe House, World's Jewish Museum, and the Jewish Federation Council all appear as recipients, reflecting the Merage family's deep communal roots alongside the foundation's broader cross-cultural bridge-building mission.

First-time applicants must internalize one critical fact: the foundation explicitly states it does not accept unsolicited proposals. No grant portal, RFP, or application form exists. Partnerships are initiated through direct foundation outreach to selected organizations. The realistic pathway involves sustained presence in media, arts, Jewish community, or women's leadership spaces where the Merage network operates, followed by warm introductions through existing grantees and a 6–18-month relationship-building horizon before any formal funding conversation.

The Sabrina Merage Foundation's financial trajectory reveals strong growth from $1.8M in assets in 2010 to over $15.5M currently — an 8.5x increase over 14 years. This growth was anchored by strong investment returns and a pivotal $2.0M contribution received in 2019, which pushed total revenue to $2.28M that year and fueled significantly expanded grantmaking from 2021 onward. Net investment income reached $477,026 in 2022, providing a reliable endowment runway for continued giving.

Annual grants paid directly to operating organizations have ranged from $48,555 in 2020 — a COVID-influenced trough — to $242,040 in 2018, with the most recent two-year band running $200,100 (2021) and $239,100 (2022). Total giving figures, which include disbursements through the National Philanthropic Trust donor-advised fund ($110,000 across two grants), run materially higher: $425,523 in 2021 and $461,077 in 2022. The DAF pass-through represents a significant channel — grant seekers should note that a portion of the foundation's reported giving does not reach operating nonprofits directly.

Grant size distribution follows a pronounced bimodal pattern. The top tier consists of media production and DAF investments: National Philanthropic Trust ($110,000), Lemonada Media ($100,000), Sugarcane Film ($75,000), and Lowland Kids Films ($75,000) — four recipients representing approximately 74% of all recorded grant dollars. The mid-tier captures arts and community institutions: Sundance Institute ($60,000), Jewish Colorado ($50,000), and TED Foundation ($7,000). The bottom tier consists of responsive community gifts averaging $1,250 each: Club Q Tribute Fundraiser ($2,600), Visionary Women ($2,000), Moishe House ($255), and similar symbolic grants.

The database-recorded typical grant figures show median: $1,500, average: $18,235, range: $500–$120,000 (count: 12). However, for organizations seeking a substantive programmatic partnership, the realistic first-grant range is $50,000–$100,000, with multi-year commitments available — the foundation publicly announced a 3-year grant commitment to Warm Cookies of the Revolution, confirming that long-term partnerships do exist.

Geographically, identified grantees cluster in California (7 grants), New York (4), Colorado (2), Pennsylvania (2), and Utah (2). Media production grantees skew toward New York and California production hubs; Jewish community organizations are more nationally distributed. Israel is listed as a geographic focus through the Merage Foundation Israel affiliate, though no direct international grants appear in IRS filings through 2022. Annual giving has grown from $94,380 in 2010 to $461,077 in 2022, confirming a sustained upward trend.

The following table compares the Sabrina Merage Foundation to its parent-network affiliate and three asset-equivalent peer foundations identified in the same NTEE Philanthropy & Grantmaking category:

Among private foundations with comparable assets ($15–$16M), the Sabrina Merage Foundation stands apart in three ways. First, its invitation-only partnership model and clearly articulated programmatic focus — arts, media, and cross-cultural bridge-building — create a well-defined grantmaking identity, while asset-equivalent peers like the Balloun, Caddell, and Schrodt foundations operate as undifferentiated family philanthropy vehicles with no visible programmatic infrastructure. Second, integration into the eight-foundation Merage Network provides leverage and collaborative funding capacity unavailable to solitary family foundations at this asset tier. Third, the foundation's active subsidiary (Evoke Media) and named fellowship programs at Black Cube represent a level of programmatic sophistication rarely seen at the $15M asset level. For grant seekers, a successful relationship with the Sabrina Merage Foundation may also open doors to the broader Merage consortium.

The most notable recent development is the establishment of the Sabrina Merage Foundation Artist Fellowship at Black Cube, Denver's nomadic contemporary arts organization — the first named fellowship at the institution. Inaugural fellows Lenka Clayton and Phillip Andrew Lewis created an 8-foot bronze plaque installed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a public art commission aligned with the foundation's community bridge-building mission. This fellowship represents the foundation's most visible institutional arts partnership and signals a deepening of long-term programmatic embeds over one-off grants.

On the media front, the foundation's subsidiary Evoke Media continues active production and distribution work. The documentary 'The 8th' received a major premiere at HotDocs, the world's largest documentary festival, and subsequent theatrical release in Ireland — bringing the foundation's social impact media work to international audiences. 'Too Young to Wed,' a documentary addressing child marriage, received coverage in The New York Times in connection with Afghan women's advocacy, elevating the foundation's portfolio into mainstream news visibility. The 2022 grant of $100,000 to Lemonada Media — a podcast company focused on social justice content — marks the most recent identified major media investment and confirms expansion into audio formats.

In November 2022, the foundation responded to the Club Q attack in Colorado Springs with a $2,600 grant to the Club Q Tribute Fundraiser, demonstrating both its Colorado roots and a practice of responsive community giving alongside programmatic grantmaking.

No public leadership changes have been announced for 2025–2026. The governance team — Laura Merage (President), Sabrina Merage (Director), David Merage (Secretary) — remains consistent with available IRS filings. Michael Niyompong serves as Executive Director across the Merage Foundations consortium, and Jamie Newton holds the role of Director of Impact and Storytelling — the primary staff contact for media-aligned organizations.

Given the foundation's explicit no-unsolicited-proposals policy, successful engagement requires a fundamentally different approach from traditional grant seeking. Every strategy below is grounded in the foundation's documented partnership model and publicly stated preferences.

Map the Merage Network first. The foundation is embedded in an eight-foundation family consortium. Organizations already in relationship with the David & Laura Merage Foundation, Jonathan Merage Foundation, or Merage Foundation Israel carry established network credibility. Current Sabrina Merage Foundation grantees — Sundance Institute, Moishe House, Jewish Colorado, Black Cube, and Lemonada Media — are natural connectors for warm introductions. Research this network thoroughly before making any contact.

Lead with media and storytelling credentials. The foundation's highest individual programmatic grants ($75,000–$100,000) consistently go to documentary film and podcast production organizations. If your nonprofit produces, distributes, commissions, or amplifies social impact media around inclusivity, gender equality, or cross-cultural understanding, this is your strongest programmatic entry point. Contact Jamie Newton, Director of Impact and Storytelling, directly rather than through the general inbox.

Use precise pillar-alignment language. In all materials, explicitly map your work to one of the three pillars: Building Community, Driving Diversity, or Empowering Women. Use the foundation's own mission language — "achieving tangible change" and "shifting dialogue toward inclusivity and solidarity" — and provide concrete evidence of grassroots social movement outcomes, not just service delivery metrics.

Demonstrate venture-philanthropy readiness. Sabrina Merage Naim has stated a preference for organizations showing "mission clarity, strong leadership, financial viability, scalability potential, and evidence of genuine community need." Before any outreach, prepare documentation of efficient overhead ratios, clear impact metrics, evidence of financial sustainability beyond grant dependence, and a specific vision for how strategic partnership — not just capital — would amplify your work.

Engage Jewish community and women's leadership networks. Roughly 35–40% of identified grantees are Jewish community organizations or women-focused institutions. Introductions through Jewish Federations of North America, ADL Mountain States, or networks like Visionary Women directly access the foundation's core relationship ecosystem.

Contact: info@sabrinameragefoundation.org, (303) 789-2664. All initial outreach should be under 300 words, reference a specific shared connection, name the relevant program pillar, and request a brief exploratory conversation rather than funding.