Weiss Asset Management Foundation

Weiss Asset Management Foundation is a US private foundation based in Boston, MA.

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

The Foundation funds programmes and research to alleviate human suffering globally, with activities intended primarily to benefit people in low- and lower-middle-income countries. It supports work across all sectors, including direct delivery of evidence-based programming, research that generates evidence to inform programmes or policies, and catalytic activity that can unlock larger-scale investment and implementation by governments, multilateral development banks and other funders. Eligible applicants include US-based 501(c)(3) nonprofits, nonprofit educational institutions and non-US nonprofits with an equivalency determination; it also invites organisations and researchers whose work is highly cost-effective. It judges proposals by expected impact per dollar and supports work that otherwise might not take place, including risky work where expected value is sufficiently high. Its support includes project-based and general support grants.

Geographic Focus

Priority: Low- and lower-middle-income countries. From its grants, not stated by the foundation: Ohio; New York; South Africa; The Netherlands.

What They Don't Fund

• Individuals
• For-profit entities
• Government entities (U.S. or non-U.S.)
• International organizations (e.g., the United Nations, World Bank)
• Political or lobbying entities
• Activities that are not secular in nature
• Indirect costs (e.g., a percentage for overhead)
• Medical trials with the primary objective of developing new drugs or treatments or medical trials that otherwise advance basic natural or physical science
• Activities to influence legislation, whether in the United States or in other countries

Applicants submit proposals using the Proposal Submission Form.

• Repeat giving: In its TY2024 filing, 6% 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 15 grants to organisations were $200,000 or less.

What the foundation says:

• The Foundation assesses proposals on the expected cost-effectiveness of the intervention.
• It judges proposals on expected return per dollar and weighs the likelihood that other funders would support the proposal.
• For general support, the committee looks favourably on proposals that demonstrate a plausible pathway to sustained funding.
• It is willing to accept greater uncertainty when the potential upside is sufficiently large.
• Prospective applicants are encouraged to review the FAQs and RFP carefully and submit a proposal if they believe their project is a strong fit.