Steven and Ilene Berger Family Foundation

Mission

The purpose of the Foundation is to help people live better, longer and more meaningful lives. The Foundation strives to promote, advocate and support its philanthropic values and causes that speak to its sensibilities. By choosing projects and grant recipients who are ambitious and results driven, it is the Foundation’s hope that the benefits will be witnessed during the lifetimes of those alive at the time a grant is made.

Annual application deadlines

March 15

September 1

Program areas

Education
Health
Public/society benefit

Program limitations

The foundation typically does not fund requests for:

• Deficit financing
• Construction or renovations to real estate not owned by the charitable entity
• Salaries
• Professional fundraiser fees

States served

Pennsylvania

Geographic limitations

The Foundation will focus primarily on organizations located in Delaware, Montgomery, Chester, and Philadelphia Counties, Pennsylvania.

Types of support

The Foundation is most interested in programmatic support.

Population Served

Children and individuals who are disabled or indigent

The Foundation was established to provide grants to organizations that provide services for children and those who are disabled or indigent.

Criteria

• Passion: The Foundation values that the recipient feels passionate and devoted to the cause they serve.
• Collaboration: The Foundation expects the recipient to want to collaborate with others to achieve their goals.
• Impact: The Foundation prefers its philanthropy to have a reasonable significance in terms of the total amount to be required to achieve the goal(s) of the recipient.
• Leverage: The Foundation endeavors to maximize the benefit of every dollar. While leverage is not an essential criterion in evaluating a charity, it should be considered. A grant may be based on a value other than leverage such as one based on gratitude.

Requirements

• To be eligible, organizations must qualify as exempt organizations under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
• The Foundation expects to receive genuine quantitative feedback from recipients, so they can clearly ascertain, understand, and evaluate the benefits realized.

Limitations

The foundation typically does not fund requests for:

• Deficit financing
• Construction or renovations to real estate not owned by the charitable entity
• Salaries
• Professional fundraisers

Average giving

Average grant size: $2,500 to $50,000

Annual application period and deadlines

Applications are accepted year-round. Applications must be submitted by the March deadline to be reviewed in the spring meeting, and September deadline to be reviewed in the fall meeting.

Communications

Applicants will receive an automated email confirming their submission.

Required agreements and report

Periodic progress reports and final reports may be required for funded projects.

About the Foundation

Winston Churchill profoundly shared, “You make a living by what you get; you make a life by what you give.” It is in this vein, that we have established the Steve & Ilene Berger Family Foundation (the “Foundation”). While our philanthropic giving has benefitted many worthwhile causes and individuals, it has even more significantly shaped our own lives, giving us deeper meaning and purpose. Through the establishment of the Family Foundation, we strive to develop this charitable tradition by creating a multigenerational continuity of philanthropic giving.  

As a family, they  are committed to leveraging their contributions to achieve a maximum and enduring impact on the causes they embrace. This can be achieved by using Foundation funds to elicit more funds, and by supporting causes for which the contributed funds will have far reaching financial, practical, ethical and/or communal benefits. This goal is one grounded in the Jewish tenet of tzedakah, righteous behavior. Helping one to become self-sufficient is considered the highest level of tzedakah.

The objectives of the Foundation shall be guided by the following values: 

• Gratitude: The Foundation wishes to give back to those people, organizations, and communities that serve their family, whether in the past, present, or future.
• Education: The Foundation believes that a basic education that teaches young men and women how to enhance their knowledge on their own is of vital importance, as it will impact their ability to live meaningful and fruitful lives.
• Family: The Foundation believes that strong family relationships are the most significant influence in their lives.
• Religion: The Foundation believes it is important that people have faith in a religion, especially one that professes Judeo-Christian values.
• Achievement: The Foundation  supports people and organizations that show promise of achieving their goals and impacting the world with tangible and measurable results.
• Creativity: The Foundation values and respects those people that think creatively and are passionate in developing solutions to serve ours mission.