Tikvah

Private operating foundation · EIN 13-3676152 · since 2025tikvah.org·Israel, New York·Updated 13 October 2026

At a glance

$7.2M
Annual giving, 2024 tax year
From the Form 990-PF filing
$360 to $4.3M
Grant range
From grants in the 990-PF filings
$1.4M
Typical grant (median)
4 grants in the latest filing
Invitation only
Unsolicited applications are not accepted

This funder does not accept unsolicited applications. The foundation chooses the organisations it funds itself.

Key takeaways

  • Tikvah's stated themes are Jewish education, Jewish leadership, and Jewish ideas and media, so only work that squarely fits those areas is worth considering.
  • The foundation does not accept unsolicited requests, so a cold application is not a route here, and any approach needs to come through a relationship.
  • Its grants are mostly small: half of its nine grants to organisations were $15,000 or less and the median was $15,000, although its largest grant was $4,350,000, so a request in the low tens of thousands is a realistic size to plan around.
  • None of its grant dollars in the latest filing went to organisations it had also funded in the two earlier filings, so past support should not be counted on.
  • The filing shows grants mainly in New York and Israel, but no geographic focus is stated, so a charity elsewhere should not assume it is excluded.

Overview

Tikvah is a US private foundation based in New York, NY.

What they fund

Profile derived from the foundation's IRS Form 990-PF filings (TY2024, TY2023, TY2022) and its website, with every statement checked against those sources. Sources read on 7 October 2026.

Priority Areas

Tikvah advances Jewish excellence and Western civilisation through education and ideas. Its educational programmes aim to form young Jews with moral confidence and civic courage, informed by Jewish history and committed to strengthening Jewish civilisation in civic life. It operates schools, intensive fellowships, summer institutes and honours programmes for students of different ages, and works closely with Jewish parents, educators, day schools and colleges. Its offerings include seminars and online courses for pupils in middle and high school, gap-year students and university students. Tikvah also produces publications, podcasts and courses that bring its ideas to a wider audience, and convenes conferences and events to encourage serious thinking about challenges facing the Jewish people.

Themes

  • Jewish education
  • Jewish leadership
  • Jewish ideas and media

Geographic Focus

No geographic focus is stated; the filings show grants mainly in New York and Israel.

How to apply

The foundation states that it does not accept unsolicited requests.

Application success factors

  • Repeat giving: In its TY2024 filing, none of its grant dollars to organisations went to organisations it had also funded in its TY2022 or TY2023 filing.
  • Grant size: Across its TY2022, TY2023 and TY2024 filings, half of its 9 grants to organisations were $15,000 or less.

Where grants go

From grants to organisations in the foundation’s filings for tax years 2022–2024.

Grant dollars by state

New York53%
Florida<1%
New Jersey<1%
District of Columbia<1%
Massachusetts<1%

Outside the US or with no state on the filing: 47%

  • The largest single recipient received 47% of grant dollars to organisations.
  • In tax year 2024, 0% of grant dollars went to organisations Tikvah had funded in earlier filings.
  • 47% of grant dollars went directly to organisations outside the US (Israel).
  • 53% of grant dollars went to intermediaries that regrant to other organisations.

Grants

4 grants in the latest filing analysed · median $1.4M

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

  • Jewish Communal Fund · General support
    $4,319,6252024 tax year
  • Shalem Foundation · General support
    $2,825,0002024 tax year
  • University of Florida · General support
    $12,3762024 tax year
  • Lubavitch Chabad Jewish Center in Gainesville · General support
    $5,0002024 tax year

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

Officers and directors

  • Amiad Cohen — Director-General, Israel
  • Rabbi Hershel Lutch — Senior Vice President / CFO
  • Eric S Cohen — President / CEO
  • Shelly Kassen — Trustee
  • Terry Kassel — Trustee
  • Steven Price — Trustee
  • Jay Lefkowitz — Member / Trustee
  • Moshe Koppel — Trustee
  • Mem Bernstein — Member / Trustee
  • Raanan Agus — Trustee
  • Gary Rosenthal — Vice Chairman / Trustee
  • Hon Elliott Abrams — Chairman / Member / Trustee

From the latest Form 990-PF filing

3 years of tax filings

YearTotal expensesGrants paidAssetsFiling document
2022 tax year$21,069,673$3,216,360$87,364,382Filing for 2022 tax year
2023 tax year$22,841,569$3,100,000$86,056,647Filing for 2023 tax year
2024 tax year$25,736,010$7,162,001$87,030,381Filing for 2024 tax year

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.

Sources

Other sources

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