Terumah Foundation Inc.

Terumah Foundation Inc. is a family-controlled private non-operating foundation rooted in the Orthodox Jewish community of New York, incorporated in 1993 and headquartered at 160 Broadway, 1st Floor in lower Manhattan. Its giving philosophy is deeply relational and community-bound: every documented grant carries the designation 'General Support,' and the foundation explicitly makes contributions only to preselected charitable organizations, accepting no unsolicited requests for funds. There is no formal grants portal, no published RFP, and no application deadline — the path to funding runs exclusively through personal relationship, community standing, and invitation by the founding family.

The foundation's governance is concentrated within two family units: President Moses Marx and Treasurer Marga Marx lead the board, with Vice President Joseph Fink, Secretary Philippe Katz, and Directors Eva Fink and Esther Katz rounding out the family leadership team. All six officers receive $0 compensation, a hallmark of a family philanthropy vehicle. With $71.8M in assets (FY2024) and annual giving ranging from $1.71M (FY2020) to $4.47M (FY2023), the foundation wields significant discretionary capacity, but it does not publicize how or when it deploys that capacity.

The grantee universe is both narrow and deep: overwhelmingly Orthodox Jewish institutions — yeshivas, beit midrash programs, synagogues, and Israeli hospitals via American Friends organizations. The Riverdale and Washington Heights neighborhoods of New York City represent the heaviest concentration, with marquee multiyear grantees including Young Israel of Riverdale, Yeshivas Ohavei Torah of Riverdale, Congregation Khal Adath Jeshurun (Washington Heights), and Yeshiva Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch — institutions directly tied to the German-Jewish (Yekke) and Litvish Orthodox communities where the founding family has deep roots.

For organizations seeking to enter this funder's orbit, the realistic progression begins not with a proposal but with community credibility: becoming a recognized institutional peer among existing grantees and their leadership networks, particularly within Agudath Israel, the Orthodox Union, and Yeshiva University circles. No cold approach to the foundation's registered address or phone line (212-349-2875) is likely to succeed. First-time applicants should prioritize building relationships with individuals who have existing ties to Moses Marx, Joseph Fink, or Philippe Katz — and should expect a cultivation timeline measured in years, not months.

Terumah Foundation Inc.'s grantmaking is entirely general operating support — across 165 documented grants and all tracked fiscal years, not a single grant carries a program-specific or restricted-use designation. This structural consistency reflects a funder that trusts its institutional partners to deploy resources according to their own operational priorities.

Annual giving fluctuates significantly: $4.03M (FY2019), $1.71M (FY2020), $3.27M (FY2021), $2.5M (FY2022), $4.47M (FY2023), and approximately $1.86M (FY2024). The six-year average is roughly $2.97M/year. This volatility tracks closely with net investment income — in FY2023, when investment income hit $4.73M, giving peaked at $4.47M; in FY2020, when markets were disrupted, giving fell to $1.71M. Prospective grantees should expect no guaranteed year-over-year continuity.

The median individual grant is $10,000, but the mean is $66,419 — a spread that reflects a bimodal portfolio. At the top are anchor relationships: five grantees have received cumulative totals exceeding $1M each across the documented period. Yeshiva Telshe Alumni leads at $2.35M (4 grants, averaging ~$587,500 each). Young Israel of Riverdale ($1.19M), Yeshivas Ohavei Torah of Riverdale ($1.16M), Congregation Khal Adath Jeshurun ($1.03M), and American Committee for Shaare Zedek Hospital ($1.0M) follow. These five anchor grantees represent approximately $6.73M of $11.43M in total documented giving — 59% of cumulative dollars flowing to just five organizations.

Geographically, New York receives 75% of grants by count (124 of 165), New Jersey 16% (26), Florida 3% (5), with Pennsylvania, Texas, Maryland, and Oklahoma accounting for the remainder. By sector: Torah educational institutions and yeshivas (~50% of dollars), Orthodox congregations (~25%), Israeli hospital American Friends organizations (~15%), and Jewish chesed/charitable organizations (~10%). No grants to secular, arts, or non-Jewish organizations appear in any year.

Grant size ranges from $36 (minimum documented) to $857,775 (maximum documented in a single grant). New relationships typically begin in the $5,000–$25,000 range, scaling to six and seven figures over multi-year engagement.

Positioning Terumah Foundation Inc. against comparable funders in the Orthodox Jewish philanthropic space reveals a mid-tier family foundation with concentrated impact and a purely relationship-driven operating model — distinctive even among preselected-only foundations.

Terumah is considerably smaller than the sector's major institutional funders — the Jim Joseph Foundation and Avi Chai combined made more than 15x Terumah's annual grants at their peaks — but its preselected, family-governed model most closely resembles Gruss Life Monument Funds, another New York Orthodox-focused foundation that concentrates giving in Torah educational institutions without a public application process. Terumah's narrower geographic focus (primarily Riverdale/Washington Heights) and tighter community network make it less accessible than even its closest peers. Organizations should not expect Terumah to behave like a foundation with a programmatic strategy — it operates as a vehicle for family-directed community philanthropy.

No press releases, public announcements, media coverage, or social media presence were identified for Terumah Foundation Inc. in research conducted through April 2026. The foundation maintains complete public silence, consistent with its character as a private family philanthropy.

The most recent verifiable activity is the FY2024 Form 990-PF, filed November 6, 2025, which reported 47 grants totaling approximately $1.86M in charitable disbursements, total assets of $71.8M, and investment income of $3.16M. The filing shows total expenses of $1.96M with 95% directed to charitable activity.

FY2023 was the foundation's most active documented grantmaking year: $4.47M in total giving ($4.34M in grants paid), supported by $4.73M in net investment income. Notable FY2023-era grants include $400,000 to Yeshiva Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, $300,000 to Yeshiva Ohavei Torah Riverdale, and $250,000 to the American Committee for Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem.

Leadership has remained completely stable throughout all documented filings. Moses Marx has served as President, Marga Marx as Treasurer, Joseph Fink as Vice President, Philippe Katz as Secretary, and Eva Fink and Esther Katz as Directors across every filing year reviewed. There is no evidence of board expansion, leadership transition, or succession planning in the public record. Total assets have grown from $36.9M (FY2012) to $71.8M (FY2024), a roughly 5.4% CAGR, providing a steadily expanding philanthropic base despite year-to-year giving fluctuations.

The foundational reality of approaching Terumah Foundation Inc. is that there is no application process. The foundation's own documentation states it 'makes contributions only to preselected charitable organizations and does not accept unsolicited requests for funds.' This is not a procedural hurdle — it is the operating model. Organizations that submit unsolicited proposals to 160 Broadway, 1st Floor, New York, NY 10038, or contact (212) 349-2875 without an existing relationship should expect no meaningful response.

Path to consideration begins with community standing. The board consists entirely of two Orthodox Jewish family units — the Marx family and the Fink/Katz family. Decision-making is internal and discretionary. The only realistic entry point is a personal introduction from someone with a direct relationship to Moses Marx, Marga Marx, Joseph Fink, Philippe Katz, Eva Fink, or Esther Katz. This requires becoming a recognized institutional leader within their community network before any funding conversation.

Use existing grantees as bridges. Yeshiva Telshe Alumni, Young Israel of Riverdale, Agudath Israel of America, the Orthodox Union, Yeshiva University, and the Mesorah Heritage Foundation are all active Terumah grantees with leadership networks that intersect with the board. A letter of introduction or referral from the executive director or board chair of one of these organizations carries more weight than any proposal document.

Frame all communication around general operating needs. Every documented Terumah grant is 'General Support.' Never pitch a capital campaign, restricted program, or special initiative. Emphasize your institution's operating budget, community dependence, and long-term sustainability — not a project deliverable or outcome metric.

Emphasize Riverdale/Washington Heights geography. Organizations based in or primarily serving these neighborhoods align directly with the foundation's known institutional network. Israel-connected giving is also meaningful — American Friends organizations for Shaare Zedek and Laniado hospitals are consistent grantees, suggesting board members value connections to Israeli healthcare and educational institutions.

Plan for multi-year cultivation. Core grantees have received 3–4 documented grants each, suggesting relationships predating the IRS records by years. New grantees likely begin with modest $5,000–$25,000 gifts that grow over time. Position any initial relationship as the beginning of a long-term institutional partnership.