Zalik Family Foundation Inc.

The Zalik Family Foundation is a rapidly scaling family philanthropy with an unambiguous, tightly focused mission: Jewish education, Israel, and Jews in need. Founded in 2018 by Helen and David Zalik — David being the founder of GreenSky, the fintech company acquired by Goldman Sachs — the foundation has grown from $176K in assets at inception to $35.7M by 2024, a trajectory that signals both accelerating personal wealth and intensifying philanthropic ambition.

The most critical strategic fact: this foundation explicitly does not accept unsolicited proposals. All grants are made to preselected organizations. This is stated in every IRS filing and confirmed by the foundation's own materials. The traditional grant-seeking playbook — researching deadlines, drafting LOIs, waiting for RFP cycles — is irrelevant here. The only path to funding is being known to the foundation before they seek you.

The foundation operates through two distinct tiers. The first is a sustained annual stream of small general operating support grants ($140–$1,000) to a stable network of approximately 20–30 Atlanta Jewish community organizations: Jewish day schools, the Jewish Federation, the Marcus JCC, Jewish Family & Career Services, Atlanta-area Jewish camps, and Hillel chapters. These relationships appear to be long-standing and semi-automatic — the same organizations appear in consecutive 990 filings. Breaking into this tier requires being visibly embedded in the Atlanta Jewish communal ecosystem and known to Helen Zalik or Executive Director Amanda Abrams.

The second tier is transformational strategic investment: six-figure to eight-figure commitments to bold named initiatives. The $500K Be Well Atlanta matching grant to JF&CS, the reported $19M naming gift to Weber School, and the JAMS scholarship program all share common traits — community-wide reach, naming or legacy recognition, and ambition to address gaps no other Atlanta Jewish funder could fill at comparable scale.

Executive Director Amanda Abrams ($272K, 2024) is the operational gateway. Program Officer Michael Fingerman, added in 2024 at $116K, suggests growing program evaluation capacity. First-time organizations should seek introductions through the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta, Hebrew Union College, or Marcus JCC — all long-standing Zalik grantees and natural connectors to the foundation's inner circle. Helen Zalik (President) and David Zalik (Secretary/Treasurer) remain the ultimate decision-makers at the top tier, both serving without compensation.

The Zalik Family Foundation's total charitable disbursements have grown every year since inception: $339,032 (2019), $380,496 (2020), $456,724 (2021), $576,587 (2022), $745,632 (2023), and $1,164,772 (2024). This 244% increase over five years is exceptional for a foundation in the $35M asset class.

However, the headline disbursement figures require careful interpretation. A significant portion of annual disbursements covers professional staff: Amanda Abrams ($272K salary + $37K benefits in 2024) and Michael Fingerman ($116K salary + $35K benefits) together account for approximately $460K annually. Direct cash grants to external organizations in 2024 totaled approximately $112,000 across 23 grants — a median of $750 and a maximum of $50,000. This means roughly 10% of total disbursements reach external grantees as direct grants, while the majority funds program operations and staff.

The grant portfolio has a bimodal distribution. The modal grant in the small-grants tier is $250–$1,000, providing general operational support to core Atlanta Jewish institutions: Urj Henry S. Jacobs Camp ($4,300 cumulative across 2 grants), The Davis Academy ($2,400 cumulative), Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta ($2,338 cumulative), Marcus JCC ($1,500 cumulative), Anti-Defamation League ($1,500 cumulative), Jewish Family & Career Services ($1,450 cumulative), and approximately 17 other organizations. Grants in this tier are reliable, multi-year commitments — most recipients appear in two or more consecutive 990 filings.

The mid-size tier ($10,000–$50,000) is selective and strategic. In 2024, The Weber School received $50,000 (annual operating support, separate from the $19M major gift), America-Israel Coalition received $10,000, Friends of United Hatzalah (New York) received $10,000, and Orbit Theatrical received $10,000. These grants signal thematic priorities: Jewish day school excellence, American-Israeli engagement, Israel emergency response, and Jewish cultural arts.

Beyond the annual grant budget, the foundation makes major philanthropic investments that do not follow a typical grant cycle — the $19M Weber School naming gift and the $500K JF&CS matching grant are likely multi-year pledges negotiated directly between foundation principals and institutional leadership. Geographically, approximately 58% of recorded grantees are in Georgia, with Pennsylvania, Ohio, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, and South Carolina rounding out the footprint. National Israel-support recipients (Friends of United Hatzalah in New York, Penn Hillel in Philadelphia) break the geographic pattern, suggesting these are driven by the Zalik family's personal network rather than geography.

The following table compares the Zalik Family Foundation to five asset-matched peer foundations identified in foundation databases:

Zalik stands out from these asset-matched peers in three meaningful ways. First, its mission specificity is exceptional — the three-pillar focus on Jewish education, Israel, and Jews in need means applicant screening is essentially decided by sectoral identity before any conversation begins. Second, Zalik maintains paid professional staff (Executive Director + Program Officer combined at roughly $388K annually) — rare for foundations in the $35M range, and a clear signal of serious long-term grantmaking infrastructure rather than a pass-through family vehicle. Third, Zalik's asset growth trajectory — from $352K in 2022 to $35.7M in 2024 — is dramatically faster than typical foundations in this class, suggesting continued capacity expansion. None of the five peer foundations maintains a public website, making Zalik relatively transparent for a preselected-only funder.

The Zalik Foundation's most visible 2025 initiative is the Jewish Atlanta Merit Scholarship (JAMS) program, which held its inaugural celebration dinner on May 18, 2025, at The Dupree in Atlanta. The event honored 11 exceptional Jewish teens for academic achievement, leadership, and Jewish engagement. JAMS is the foundation's first direct scholarship program — a meaningful departure from its prior model of granting to intermediary institutions — and signals intent to build direct, lasting relationships with Atlanta's next generation of Jewish leaders.

In 2024–2025, the foundation provided a $500,000 matching grant to Jewish Family and Career Services Atlanta to launch Be Well Atlanta, a comprehensive teen mental health and wellness program. The matching grant structure — requiring JF&CS to raise an equivalent amount from other donors — demonstrates a sophisticated approach to philanthropic leverage and suggests the foundation's programmatic leadership is thinking beyond check-writing toward ecosystem-building.

The Weber School naming gift — establishing the Daniel Zalik Academy of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Design — represents the foundation's largest known commitment to date. The foundation also continued its annual $50,000 general operating support grant to Weber School in 2024, suggesting the major gift is a multi-year pledge being drawn down alongside annual support.

Organizationally, the addition of Michael Fingerman as Program Officer in 2024 (compensation: $115,885 salary + $34,522 benefits) is the most significant internal development in the foundation's recent history. His hire brings the paid staff to two full-time professionals, consistent with a foundation planning sustained multi-year programmatic work rather than episodic family giving.

This foundation requires a fundamentally different approach than open-application funders. Do not submit unsolicited proposals, LOIs, or grant inquiries of any kind — the foundation explicitly makes contributions only to preselected organizations, and unsolicited materials will not receive consideration regardless of mission alignment. This is not a soft preference; it is the foundation's stated operating model confirmed in every IRS 990 filing.

Build Atlanta Jewish ecosystem presence first. The Zalik Foundation's small-grants network is essentially a directory of organizations the Zalik family personally engages with: The Davis Academy, Hillels of Georgia, Marcus JCC, Hebrew Union College, Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta, Jewish Home Life Communities, Anti-Defamation League. If your organization is not already known within this network, you are not yet in the right professional and social circles. Attend Jewish Federation events, join community coalitions, and ensure your leadership is visible in the Atlanta Jewish communal sector.

Target warm introductions to Amanda Abrams or Michael Fingerman. These two staff members are the programmatic gatekeepers. The foundation's main line is (678) 400-7018; however, a cold call asking for funding is counterproductive. A colleague introduction — particularly from a Federation professional, a board member of an existing Zalik grantee, or a member of the Marcus JCC leadership — carries substantially more weight than any written communication.

Frame your work through the three pillars precisely. The mission statement is specific: quality Jewish education, a thriving Israel, and Jews in need. Generic language about "community benefit" or "Jewish values" will not resonate. Identify which pillar your work most directly advances and build your pitch around that specificity. If your work bridges multiple pillars — for example, a Jewish day school that also provides scholarship support for families in financial need — make that intersection explicit.

Think in terms of naming and legacy for major asks. All of the foundation's transformational investments have created named programs or facilities. If your organization can offer a meaningful naming opportunity tied to a community-wide initiative, the ceiling on potential investment rises dramatically. Organizations seeking $250,000+ should be prepared to discuss how the Zalik name can be attached to the initiative.

Be patient. There are no published deadlines, no review cycles, no portal. Relationship development before any funding conversation typically takes 12–24 months. Maintain periodic contact — event invitations, annual impact updates, brief notes on relevant program developments — without making premature funding asks.