The Derfner Foundation

• The Derfner Foundation makes unrestricted grants across a wide range of causes, including hospitals and medical research, elder care, schools, museums, Jewish communal organisations and social-service charities, so many kinds of nonprofit could in principle fit its interests.
• However, it only gives by invitation and does not accept unsolicited requests, so sending in a cold application is not the way to approach it.
• Giving appears strongly relationship-led: 99% of its grant dollars to organisations went to organisations it had already funded in its two prior filings, so it mainly continues existing relationships rather than taking on new ones through open applications.
• If a connection to the foundation does exist, a realistic request would be modest, since about 8 in 10 of its grants fall between $10,000 and $250,000 and the median grant is $30,000, though it has occasionally given as much as $1,500,000.
• No geographic focus is stated, though the filings show most grants reaching organisations in New York and California.

The largest grants to organisations in the foundation’s latest filing:

• Mount Sinai Department of Surgery · Unrestricted use
  $1,500,0002024 tax year
• Hebrew Home for the Aged · Unrestricted use
  $1,000,0002024 tax year
• Hospital for Special Surgery · Unrestricted use
  $1,000,0002024 tax year
• Southampton Hospital Foundation · Unretricted use
  $550,0002024 tax year
• Green 4 Kids · Unrestricted use
  $500,0002024 tax year
• Baby2Baby · Unrestricted use
  $250,0002024 tax year
• Kessler Foundation · Unrestricted use
  $250,0002024 tax year
• Red Autismo Foundation · Unrestricted use
  $150,0002024 tax year

Grants to organisations listed in the foundation’s Form 990-PF filings. Grants to individuals are not shown.

Figures from the foundation’s IRS Form 990-PF filings. Assets are at fair market value at year end. The document icon links to each year’s filing on ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer.