OVERVIEW: The Adelson Family Foundation primarily supports organizations working to strengthen Israel and Jewish communities. Its interests span Jewish and Zionist education, Israel advocacy, Holocaust awareness, Israeli institutions, healthcare and social services. Although the foundation lists six programmatic categories, these are broad and overlapping interests rather than separately administered grant programs.
IP TAKE: The Adelson Family Foundation is a major but hard-to-access funder with one clear priority: strengthening Israel and Jewish life. Its giving spans advocacy, education, Holocaust remembrance, universities, hospitals, emergency services and communal institutions, though its six official funding categories often blur together.
This is not a funder for cold outreach. Adelson supports preselected organizations and directs much of its money to large, repeat grantees such as Birthright Israel, the Maccabee Task Force, the Israeli American Council and major Israeli institutions working through U.S. affiliates. The best route in is a warm introduction from a current grantee, Jewish communal leader, Israeli institutional partner or trusted co-funder.
Smaller grants do appear, especially in Las Vegas or where personal and institutional ties are strong. Still, nonprofits without a meaningful connection to Israel or Jewish communities are unlikely to compete. Capital and endowment requests are also poor fits.
There are no verified open calls, rapid-response funds, fiscal-sponsorship pathways or public nomination processes. Focus on relationships and network mapping, not proposal writing. The family’s philanthropy may continue through the Adelsons’ children and grandchildren, but the scale and timing remain uncertain. The couple also founded a separate philanthropic entity, the Adelson Medical Research Foundation.
PROFILE: Established in 2007, the Adelson Family Foundation was founded by the late Sheldon and Dr. Miriam Adelson. Born in 1933, Sheldon Adelson grew up sleeping on the floor of a Boston tenement house and bought his first newspaper corner with a small loan from his uncle when he was 12 years old. He attended City College of New York but did not finish. In 1995, Adelson sold the Comdex tech conference for $862 million and then spent $1.5 billion building the Venetian hotel and casino in Las Vegas. Before his death in 2021, he was known as “Kingmaker” in political circles because of his money’s influence in advancing conservative causes. Dr. Miriam Adelson is an Israeli-American physician who specializes in drug addiction and has continued her family’s interests in Israel and health.
The Adelson Family Foundation’s grantmaking is focused “primarily on programs that benefit the State of Israel and the Jewish people.” The foundation names areas of grantmaking interest including Holocaust and Antisemitism Awareness, Israel Advocacy, Israel Programs, Jewish and Zionist Identity and Education, Social Services and Health, and Welfare.
Grants for Jewish Causes
Holocaust and Antisemitism Awareness
- Holocaust and Anti-Semitism Awareness is one of the foundation’s six official funding categories. The foundation does not publish a detailed strategy, eligibility criteria or separate application process for this work.
- Grantmaking has included substantial, recurring support for Holocaust education and remembrance organizations. The American Society for Yad Vashem received approximately $14.8 million across five reported grants from 2019 through 2024. Other Jewish educational, historical and public-awareness organizations also appear in the foundation’s broader portfolio.
- Grantseekers should not interpret this category as an open Holocaust-education grant program. The strongest prospects are likely to be prominent institutions with an established record in Holocaust remembrance, education, documentation or public engagement and strong relationships within the foundation’s existing networks.
Israel Advocacy
- The foundation supports organizations that advocate for Israel, engage students and the public, produce policy or media work, and build support for Israel in the United States.
- Recent grantees include the Maccabee Task Force Foundation, Israeli American Council, Christians United for Israel, Zionist Organization of America, Students Supporting Israel, Middle East Media Research Institute, Jewish News Service and the Jewish Institute for National Security of America. The Maccabee Task Force received approximately $57.8 million across six grants from 2019 through 2024, while the Israeli American Council received approximately $49.1 million over the same period.
- The foundation does not define the boundaries of this portfolio or publish a list of preferred advocacy strategies. Observed grants support campus engagement, public education, communications, leadership development, policy work and institutional capacity. Media and public-narrative grants appear within this portfolio, but “Media and Culture” is not a separately named foundation program.
Israel Programs
- “Israel Programs” is a broad official category encompassing institutions, services and initiatives based in or closely connected to Israel. The foundation does not explain how this category differs from Israel Advocacy, Jewish and Zionist Education, or Social Services and Health.
- Major recent grants include $10.85 million to American Friends of Ariel University, $5.5 million to the Jewish Agency for Israel’s North American organization, $4 million to Hashomer Hachadash, $3.83 million to PEF Israel Endowment Funds, nearly $1.8 million to Friends of United Hatzalah and $1 million to Friends of Ir David.
- The foundation also approved significant future commitments in 2024, including $9.7 million to American Friends of Bar-Ilan University. In February 2026, Bar-Ilan announced that Adelson support was helping establish an institute that will use robotics and artificial intelligence to accelerate the development of smart materials with potential applications in medicine, energy and electronics. This is a designated institutional investment, not an open Adelson research program.
Jewish and Zionist Identity & Education
- Jewish and Zionist Identity & Education is one of the foundation’s clearest and largest areas of interest. Its grantmaking supports Israel experiences, Jewish education, schools, campus programs, religious and cultural institutions, intellectual development and Jewish communal leadership.
- Birthright Israel Foundation is the foundation’s largest recent grantee, receiving $89 million across six grants from 2019 through 2024, including $9 million in 2024. Other recent recipients include the Adelson Educational Institute, Tikvah Fund, Gateways Access to Jewish Education, Kadima Hebrew Academy, Chabad at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and several Jewish federations.
- This portfolio extends beyond classroom education. It supports organizations working on identity formation, Israel engagement, leadership development, community building and institutional infrastructure. The foundation does not publish age restrictions, geographic quotas or separate guidelines for schools, universities or informal educational organizations.
Grants for Health and Human Services
In comparison with Adelson’s Jewish grantmaking, health and wellness are small areas of giving, with only a few grants supporting these causes each year.
- The foundation’s Social Services and Health portfolio includes hospitals, emergency medical organizations, disability services, medical research institutions, bone-marrow matching, elder care and other health-related work.
- Recent recipients include Friends of Sourasky Tel Aviv Medical Center, Friends of United Hatzalah, Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation, the ALS Association, Rockefeller University, Chelsea Jewish Nursing Home and American Friends of Jordan River Village.
- The foundation paid approximately $5.7 million to Friends of Sourasky in 2024 and reported an additional commitment of approximately $49.3 million for future payment. The latter should not be treated as money fully distributed in 2024.
- Health organizations with a strong connection to Israel or Jewish communities appear to be the best fit. Occasional grants to other medical organizations suggest some flexibility, but they do not establish a generally open domestic health program.
Welfare is listed as a separate programmatic category, but the foundation does not define it or explain how it differs from Social Services and Health. Its tax filings also provide little help because most grants are described only as supporting “general charitable purposes.”
Other Opportunities:
The foundation occasionally supports organizations outside its dominant Israel and Jewish communal portfolio. Recent grants include $100,000 each to the Las Vegas Philharmonic, Rockefeller University and the ALS Association, along with smaller awards to arts, education and local community organizations.
These grants appear selective and may reflect personal, institutional or geographic relationships. They should not be interpreted as evidence of open national programs in the arts, general science, disability services or community development.
Important Grant Details:
The foundation reported 55 paid grants in 2024, totaling approximately $66.9 million. It has a median grant of $100,000 and a paid-grant range of approximately $6,800 to $10.85 million. The average grant was about $1.2 million, but that figure is skewed by a relatively small number of multimillion-dollar awards.
- The Adelson Family Foundation does not accept unsolicited proposals. It publishes no application form, deadline, LOI process or open RFP. Its latest tax filing says it makes contributions only to preselected organizations. The foundation’s website advises grantseekers to check back for possible future changes. (Application process)
- The foundation funds public charities and certain other qualified nonprofits, primarily in Israel and the United States. It generally does not support capital projects and does not provide endowment funding. (Grant guidelines)
- The foundation primarily supports organizations in Israel and the United States. New York, Nevada and California account for a large share of U.S. recipient addresses, although this can be misleading: Many New York-based recipients are national Jewish organizations or U.S. affiliates supporting institutions in Israel.
- Funding is highly concentrated among recurring grantees. From 2019 through 2024, 85 recipients received more than one grant. Birthright Israel Foundation, Maccabee Task Force Foundation, Israeli American Council, the Jewish Agency for Israel’s North American organization and Adelson Educational Institute each received support in all six years covered by the available data.
- The foundation lists questions@adelsonfoundation.org for inquiries. Grantseekers should use this address cautiously and only for a concise, well-researched inquiry, preferably following a referral. They should not send an unsolicited full proposal. The foundation’s phone number is listed as (781) 972-5950.
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