The Koret Foundation is a charitable foundation located in San Francisco that supports community and educational institutions in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Foundation also makes substantial contributions to support the Jewish community and promote strengthened relations between the United States and Israel.

The Foundation has made a number of grants to politically engaged nonprofit organizations across the ideological spectrum, including contributions to the left-of-center Center for American Progress (CAP) and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and grants to the right-of-center Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy and the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies. ¹

Founding and History

The Koret Foundation was founded by Joseph and Stephanie Koret, immigrants who came to the United States from Eastern Europe as children with their families. Together, the Korets established a successful garment business in San Francisco. Their private family foundation, the Koret Foundation, secured tax-exempt status in 1966 and began its operations in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1979. ^{2 3}

The Koret Foundation ended fiscal year 2018 with $30,164,872 in revenue, of which $22 million came from rents, $6 million from dividends and interest, and $1.6 million from capital gains. The Foundation also reported $49,867,494 in expenses, $34.7 million of which was allocated to grantmaking. The Foundation ended fiscal year 2018 with $552,6,174 in assets. ⁴

Programs

The Koret Foundation divides its charitable giving into two main program areas: organizations focused on the San Francisco Bay Area community and organizations focused on the Jewish community. Within the Bay Area, the Koret Foundation provides grants in support of educational institutions, arts and culture programs, and various community initiatives. ⁵

The Foundation focuses much of its educational giving on grants to post-secondary institutions. In 2018, the Koret Foundation spent over $25 million on grants to post-secondary institutions, including the University of California, Berkeley; Stanford University; and the University of Southern California. The Foundation allocated some of this funding specifically to establishing Jewish Studies programs at various universities and contributing to Jewish cultural centers on campus. ⁶ The Koret Foundation has also provided funding for various K-12 education programs. In January of 2020, the Foundation announced a $10 million grant to the Shoah Foundation to create an “immersive” Holocaust education program for school-age children. ⁷

The Foundation’s Jewish community program is divided into three areas. The Foundation works to support Jewish identity and combat anti-Semitism, promote relations between the United States and Israel, and assist Jewish organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area. ⁸

In 2018, the Koret Foundation made a number of contributions to left-of-center nonprofit organizations, including $150,000 to the Center for American Progress (CAP) to support Middle East policy work, $1,000 to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), and $4,500 to Bend the Arc. ⁹

The Koret Foundation simultaneously made grants to right-of-center organizations. In 2018, the Foundation made $210,000 in contributions to the Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy, $5,000 to the Ayn Rand Institute, $5,000 to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, and $300,000 to the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies. ¹⁰

1. Koret Foundation. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax, (Form 990-PF), 2018, Attachment 18.
2. Koret Foundation. “Leadership.” Koret.org. Accessed January 29, 2021. https://koret.org/leadership/.
3. ProPublica. “Koret Foundation – Nonprofit Explorer.” Projects.ProPublica.org. Accessed January 29, 2021. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/941624987.
4. Koret Foundation, IRS (Form 990-PF), 2018, Part 1
5. Koret Foundation. “Our Priorities.” Koret.org. Accessed January 29, 2021. https://koret.org/priorities/.
6. Koret Foundation. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax, (Form 990-PF), 2018, Attachment 18.
7. Stutman, Gabe. “S.F.-Based Koret Foundation Gives $10 Million to Shoah Foundation.” J. Jewish News of Northern California , February 7, 2020. https://www.jweekly.com/2020/01/30/s-f-based-koret-foundation-gives-10-million-to-shoah-foundation/.
8. Koret Foundation. “Our Priorities.” Koret.org. Accessed January 29, 2021. https://koret.org/priorities/.
9. Koret Foundation. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax, (Form 990-PF), 2018, Attachment 18.
10. Koret Foundation. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax, (Form 990-PF), 2018, Attachment 18.