New York · Private foundation
Lessing Foundation
Its FY2025 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.
- $10k
- Granted FY2025(still arriving)
- 7
- Grants FY2025
- 9
- Organizations funded FY2024
- 22%
- First-time grantees FY2024
- Median grant, FY2025
- $500
- Largest grant, FY2025
- $6,000
- Organizations funded a year
- 1 to 9
- FY2018 to FY2024
- States reached, FY2025
- 1
- Total assets, FY2025
- $179k
- Applications
- Preselected organizations only
- Per its most recent filing; check its own site
How open it is to new grantees
In FY2024, 22% of the organizations Lessing Foundation funded were first-time grantees, receiving 1% of its grant dollars.
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2024, 99% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $150 went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
The numbers by year
| Fiscal year | Organizations funded | To those organizations | First-time grantees |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025still arriving | 7 | $10k | 0% |
| FY2024 | 9 | $13k | 22% |
| FY2023 | 7 | $15k | 29% |
| FY2022 | 4 | $5k | 25% |
| FY2021 | 1 | $5k | 0% |
| FY2020 | 2 | $8k | 0% |
| FY2019 | 4 | $16k | 25% |
| FY2018 | 7 | $43k | 29% |
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.
Top grantees
Largest recipients by total granted, FY2017 to FY2025, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.
| Grantee | Total granted | Years | Share of their budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| American Friends of the Israel Museum | $68,400 | 8 | 0% |
| American Friends of Tel Aviv Univ | $36,500 | 6 | 0% |
| Leo Baeck Institute Inc | $35,600 | 6 | 0% |
| Israel 21c | $1,250 | 5 | 0% |
| American Friends of Kishorit Inc | $1,000 | 3 | n/a |
| Park Avenue Synagogue Inc | $720 | 4 | n/a |
| Nli USA Inc | $500 | 1 | 0% |
| Dorot Inc | $305 | 3 | 0% |
| The Blue Card Inc | $300 | 3 | 0% |
| Upper East Side Hatzolah Inc | $100 | 1 | 0% |
Show all 12 grantees
| Grantee | Total granted | Years | Share of their budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| American Friends of the Israel Museum | $68,400 | 8 | 0% |
| American Friends of Tel Aviv Univ | $36,500 | 6 | 0% |
| Leo Baeck Institute Inc | $35,600 | 6 | 0% |
| Israel 21c | $1,250 | 5 | 0% |
| American Friends of Kishorit Inc | $1,000 | 3 | n/a |
| Park Avenue Synagogue Inc | $720 | 4 | n/a |
| Nli USA Inc | $500 | 1 | 0% |
| Dorot Inc | $305 | 3 | 0% |
| The Blue Card Inc | $300 | 3 | 0% |
| Upper East Side Hatzolah Inc | $100 | 1 | 0% |
| Share Self-Help for Women With Breast or Ovarian Cancer Inc | $100 | 1 | 0% |
| American Association of Museums | $50 | 1 | 0% |
Plus 3 recipients with no EIN on record ($16k), not named here.
Where it is load-bearing
Each grantee by its size and the share of its budget Lessing Foundation supplied at peak.
Tap a dot to name the grantee.
How this is measured
Co-funders
Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.
Open a dossier: Jewish Communal Fund · Nash Family Foundation · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Amazonsmile Foundation
How this is measured
About Lessing Foundation
- How much does Lessing Foundation give?
- Lessing Foundation reported 7 grants totaling $10,080 in its FY2025 IRS filing. It funded between 1 and 9 organizations a year over FY2018 to FY2024.
- What does Lessing Foundation fund?
- By grant dollars over FY2017 to FY2025, its largest causes are Arts & Culture (67%), Education (21%), International (10%).
- Who are Lessing Foundation's largest grantees?
- By total granted over FY2017 to FY2025: American Friends of the Israel Museum ($68k), American Friends of Tel Aviv Univ ($37k), Leo Baeck Institute Inc ($36k).
- Does Lessing Foundation fund new organizations?
- In FY2024, 22% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
- Does Lessing Foundation accept unsolicited applications?
- Its most recent filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and does not take unsolicited requests. Check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.
- Which funders back the same organizations as Lessing Foundation?
- Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include Jewish Communal Fund, Nash Family Foundation, Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc.
- Where is Lessing Foundation based?
- Lessing Foundation is based in NY.
Play a game based on Lessing’s filings →