Harvard Donors Directed Nearly $9 Million to Jewish Organizations Through University-Managed Fund in 2024

Donors using Harvard’s donor-advised fund directed nearly $9 million to three organizations focused on Jewish life and combating antisemitism in fiscal year 2024, according to the University’s most recent tax filings.

The seven-figure distribution represents a sharp departure from prior years, when donor-advised fund giving to Jewish-focused organizations was limited to isolated grants of less than $350,000.

The grants were made during a year marked by a turbulent period for Harvard, as the University faced donor backlash, declining philanthropic contributions, and heightened scrutiny over its handling of antisemitism following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel and subsequent campus protests.

The donations were made through donor-advised funds — tax-exempt charitable accounts that allow donors to contribute assets to a sponsoring organization, such as a university, which then manages and distributes the funds to charities at the donor’s recommendation. Harvard requires a contribution of at least $1 million, half of which must be reserved for Harvard’s own use, while the remaining funds may be distributed to outside organizations.

According to the tax filings, which cover the fiscal year beginning in June 2023, the grants included $7.75 million to the Young Men’s and Young Women’s Hebrew Association, $1 million to the Foundation to Combat Anti-Semitism, and $40,000 to Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston.

Though donors retain advisory privileges over grant recommendations, DAFs are widely viewed by philanthropic experts as a mechanism through which institutions can cultivate relationships with their wealthiest supporters and gain insight into donor priorities.

“DAFs are established by individual donors as a vehicle for philanthropic giving,” a Harvard spokesperson wrote in an email statement to The Crimson.

Harvard’s filings do not show comparable donor-advised grants to other religious or ethnic organizations during the same period. The donor-advised fund primarily distributes money to educational, medical, and arts institutions, with relatively few grants categorized by religious or cultural identity.

Because donor-advised funds are private, it is unclear which donors recommended the grants or whether they were directed by a single individual or multiple contributors.

The Young Men’s and Young Women’s Hebrew Association, a New York City-based nonprofit, describes itself as having been “founded 149 years ago to serve the Jewish people.” The organization operates under the cultural institution 92NY, which states that it “provides programs of distinction that reflect its Jewish values.”

The organization did not respond to a request for comment.

Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston and the Foundation to Combat Anti-Semitism — now known as the Blue Square Alliance — are both associated with New England Patriots owner Robert K. Kraft, a longtime Harvard donor.

Kraft founded the Foundation to Combat Anti-Semitism in 2019 to address antisemitism and track online bigotry. In February 2025, Harvard President Alan M. Garber ’76 said at the annual Harvard Business School Shabbat Dinner that the University was working alongside the Blue Square Alliance to track antisemitism on social media.

Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston, which describes its mission as inspiring and mobilizing the Greater Boston Jewish community, previously received $312,611 from a Harvard donor-advised fund in 2018, but did not receive additional funding again until fiscal year 2024.

“The timing, size, and designation of these funds is recommended by the DAF advisors at the source DAF program, and subject to that program’s approval,” wrote Charles S. Glassenberg, the organization’s vice president of risk management and investment partnerships.

The Blue Square Alliance did not respond to a request for comment.

The grants were distributed during a turbulent year for Harvard’s fundraising efforts. Following October 7 and the University’s response to campus protests related to the Israel-Hamas war, several high-profile donors publicly withdrew or paused contributions, citing concerns about antisemitism. Overall philanthropic contributions to Harvard fell by 14 percent in fiscal year 2024.

According to the same tax filings, Harvard holds approximately $201 million in donor-advised funds from 56 donors.

Harvard has only donated to two other organizations focused on Jewish life since 2018, the last year for which tax filings are publicly available — a $51,000 contribution to the Hadassah the Women’s Zionist Organization of America Inc. in 2021, and $100,000 to the J Street Education Fund in 2022.

The increase in donor-advised grants also occurred during a year of significantly higher donor-advised fund activity at Harvard. Total distributions from Harvard’s donor-advised fund rose to approximately $21 million in fiscal year 2024, up from about $3.3 million in fiscal year 2023, according to the same tax filings. Annual distributions have fluctuated in recent years, totaling roughly $3.8 million in 2018, $7 million in 2019, $9.6 million in 2020, $6.8 million in 2021, and $8.6 million in 2022.

Philanthropy experts said donor-advised funds serve both donors and sponsoring institutions by deepening relationships with individuals capable of making significant charitable contributions.

Ray D. Madoff, a professor at Boston College Law School who specializes in tax policy, said DAFs allow institutions to connect with donors in a “deeper way.”

“It's a group of people that are likely to give and have capacity to give, and have shown their inclination to the institution,” she said.

Russell James III, a Texas Tech University professor who teaches charitable planning, said minimum contribution requirements often signal that donor-advised funds are designed primarily for an institution’s highest-capacity donors.

“That may be part of the strategy of saying, you know, look, running a donor-advised fund isn’t really what we do, but for our highest capacity donors we want to offer maximum service essentially, we want to be as involved as we can be in their overall giving,” James said.

—Staff writer Megan L. Blonigen can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on X at @MeganBlonigen.

—Staff writer Graham W. Lee can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on X @grahamwonlee.

— Staff writer Jack B. Reardon can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on X @JackBReardon.