Funders › Pennsylvania

Herman & Helen Lipsitz Charitable Trust

Pittsburgh, PA · EIN 25-6134327. Reported 129 grants totalling $2,373,010 to 60 recipients across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$7,000median grant
$2,373,010granted, 2021-2024
60recipients, as named on its returns
69%of grantees funded again the next year
$6,116,859assets, latest filing

Does this foundation accept applications?

Yes -- on its own tax return. Form 990-PF asks every private foundation whether it makes grants only to organizations it selects itself. Of the 91,758 foundations in our data that made a grant and answered, 78% said yes -- and applying to those is wasted effort. Herman & Helen Lipsitz Charitable Trust did not check that box on its most recent filing, which puts it in the minority that is at least open to being approached.

This is the foundation's own statement to the IRS, not our judgement, and it says nothing about whether they have a form, a deadline, or an appetite for new grantees. Treat it as the reason this foundation is worth your research time, not as an invitation. Many small foundations of this kind have no website and no application process -- a letter of inquiry is the normal first step.

How big are its grants?

The median grant is $7,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $3,953 and $15,000; the smallest was $200 and the largest $220,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
5 grants
$1,000 - $5,000
35 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
43 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
27 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
8 grants
$50,000 - $100,000
4 grants
$100,000 and Up
7 grants

Every organization it funded

This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Recipients are grouped by name and state as they were written on the returns, so an organization entered under two different names appears twice. Years funded is the number of separate tax years in which that name received money.

OrganizationLocationTotal receivedGrantsYears fundedLast
Yeshiva SchoolsPittsburgh, PA$412,500332024
Friends of United HatzalahNew York, NY$320,000222024
Friends of United HatzalaNew York, NY$200,000112021
Classrooms Without BordersPittsburgh, PA$165,000332024
United HazalahJerusalem$150,000112022
Lubavitch CenterPittsburgh, PA$130,307442024
Bnei Emunah ChabadPittsburgh, PA$105,123442024
Ohr ChadashDenver, CO$92,000442024
Kollel Jewish Learning CenterPittsburgh, PA$68,273442024
Hillel AcademyPittsburgh, PA$62,500222022
Chabad of the South HillsPittsburgh, PA$45,947442024
Aleph InstitutePittsburgh, PA$42,000442024
Camp Gan Israel FcPittsburgh, PA$40,000222022
Chabad of MonroevilleMonroeville, PA$37,290442024
Chabad of Squirrel HillPittsburgh, PA$33,302442024
Chabad on CampusPittsburgh, PA$29,500442024
Chabad of PsuState College, PA$29,000442024
Congregation Kether TorahPittsburgh, PA$27,043442024
Pz Special FundPittsburgh, PA$26,153442024
Young Israel of PittsburghPittsburgh, PA$25,102442024
American Friends of Leket IsraelTeaneck, NJ$25,000222024
Pef Israel Endowment Funds IncNew York, NY$25,000112023
Temple David Rabbi's Mitzva FundMonroeville, PA$24,585442024
Camp Gan Israel Bnei Emunah ChabadPittsburgh, PA$20,000112024
Keren Rachaim FundPittsburgh, PA$20,000112022
Temple Emanuel of South HillsPittsburgh, PA$18,453442024
Temple Ohav Shalom Rabbi's Disc FundAllison Park, PA$16,620332024
American Friends of Magen David AdomNew York, NY$15,000112023
Camp Gan Israel Chabad of Squirrel HillPittsburgh, PA$15,000112024
Chasdei AvosMonroe, NY$14,000332024
Friendship CircleWest Bloomfiedl, MI$14,000222024
Community Day SchoolPittsburgh, PA$12,500112022
The Ne Eman Foundation USABoston, MA$10,000112023
Gemilas Chesed Charity FundWhite Oak, PA$9,377442024
Beth El CongregationPittsburgh, PA$8,565332024
Shaare Torah CongregationPittsburgh, PA$7,170442024
Friendship CirclePittsburgh, PA$7,000112021
Temple Ohav ShalomAllison Park, PA$6,200222022
American Friends of Natal IncNew York, NY$5,000112023
American Friends of One FamilyTeaneck, NJ$5,000112023
Friends of the Israel Defense ForcesNew York, NY$5,000112023
NcsyNew York, NY$5,000112024
NcsyPittsburgh, PA$5,000112021
The Pfap Foundation IncWellington, FL$5,000112023
Zaka Tel AvivBrooklyn, NY$5,000112023
Rabbi's Discretionary Fund (adat Shalom)Cheswick, PA$4,050112021
American Friends of Leket IsraelRaanana$3,500112021
Kesser TorahPittsburgh, PA$3,450112022
The Jewish SparkPittsburgh, PA$3,000112022
Temple DavidMonroeville, PA$2,550112024
Chabad of PittsburghPittsburgh, PA$2,200222023
Congregation Poale ZedeckPittsburgh, PA$2,000112024
Beth El Congregation of the South HillsPittsburgh, PA$1,700112024
Rabbi's Discretionary FundPittsburgh, PA$1,650112021
Congregation Beth ShalomMonroe, NY$1,400112023
Martin Pear Jewish Community CenterScottsdale, AZ$1,000112021
Congregation Beth ShalomPittsburgh, PA$700112024
Rodef Shalom CongregationPittsburgh, PA$600112021
Parkway Jewish CenterPittsburgh, PA$500222024
Greater Pittsburgh Community Food BankDuquesne, PA$200112023

30 of 60 (50%) received money in more than one year over the 4 years we hold.

Measured the way we measure every foundation -- what share of one year's grantees are funded again the next -- this one retains 69%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is about typical. This measures how often it paid the same organizations again. It says nothing about whether it would consider a new one.

What the money was for

Taken verbatim from the purpose field of its filings. This is the closest thing to a statement of what this foundation cares about, in its own words.

What kind of organizations it funds

By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 35 grants where we could match the recipient to a registered organization. The categories are the IRS's. The match, made from the name and address on the return, is ours.

Religion
18 grants
International Affairs
6 grants
Philanthropy & Grantmaking
3 grants
Arts & Culture
2 grants
Youth Development
2 grants
Education
2 grants
Food & Nutrition
1 grant
Human Services
1 grant

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202131$539,900$6,600
202229$580,350$7,400
202336$676,100$7,600
202433$576,660$6,500

Tax years, not calendar years, and the most recent year is usually incomplete -- filings arrive about a year late, so a low final year means late paperwork rather than a foundation winding down.

Where its money goes

66% of its giving went to organizations in Pennsylvania. If your organization is based elsewhere, look in the recipient list for grants to your area before writing.

Pennsylvania
$1.5M
New York
$595K
Colorado
$92K
New Jersey
$30K
Michigan
$14K
Massachusetts
$10K
Florida
$5K
Arizona
$1K

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Funders that support the same organizations

These funders gave to organizations this one also funded -- some private foundations, some community foundations and other grantmaking charities. Shared grantees are a sign of overlapping priorities and nothing more: they do not show that any of these funders would consider a new organization. Each page says what its filings show.

Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund22 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc20 shared recipientsJewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh19 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc13 shared recipientsNational Philanthropic Trust12 shared recipientsMorris Charles M Tr Ua-Char9 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $7,000. A request many times that size asks for something it has rarely or never given.
  2. Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in Pennsylvania.
  3. Read the recipient list above for organizations like yours. If nothing on it resembles your work, that is a real answer, and a cheap one to get.
  4. Look up the current filing before writing. The 990-PF names the foundation's officers and, where one exists, its application procedure. We link it below.

Related guides

Foundations funding arts & culture in PennsylvaniaEvery funder in this groupFoundations funding religion in New YorkEvery funder in this groupFoundations funding international affairs in New YorkEvery funder in this groupFoundations funding arts & culture in New YorkEvery funder in this group

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Herman & Helen Lipsitz Charitable Trust's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2021-2024). Grant figures are from its returns. Matching recipients to registered organizations, their IRS classifications, the retention rate and the funders that support the same organizations are our own calculations, described in how we build this.

Address of record on the latest return: 1900 Murray Avenue 203, Pittsburgh, PA, 15217. This is the address the foundation gave the IRS; many small foundations file through an accountant or a bank trust department, so it may not be where post to a programme officer should go.

EIN 25-6134327 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this

This is history, not an open call. Foundation returns are published about a year after the tax year ends. Nothing on this page is a deadline. It is a record of who this foundation has actually funded.

Is something here wrong about your foundation? Email [email protected] and we will correct it.