The Jean and Louis Dreyfus Foundation's mission is to enhance the quality of life of New Yorkers, particularly the aging and the disadvantaged. The Foundation focuses on organizations and programs within the five boroughs of New York City in the areas of Aging, Arts, Education, and Social Services.

Focus areas:

• Aging: The Foundation’s grants in Aging prioritize programs that enable older New Yorkers to age in place and avoid institutional placement while maintaining the maximum quality of life and remaining connected to the community. The Foundation focuses on organizations which provide direct services either in a group setting or in the home.

• Arts: The Foundation awards grants to performing arts and cultural institutions, focusing on music and with an emphasis on access to the arts. Grants are also awarded for the visual arts and for arts in education. The Foundation prefers high-impact, sequential arts instruction to one-time programs. The Foundation does not make grants directly to individual artists, nor does it support projects such as individual films, books, television programs, or art exhibitions. It occasionally makes grants to legal and other services providing support to artists.

• Education: Education programs supported by the Foundation seek to improve educational outcomes for New York City students while enhancing educational supports. Areas of interest include literacy, college access and retention, after-school academic classes, youth development programming, and technical and vocational training for young adults.

• Social Services: The Foundation’s Social Services grantees are wide-ranging. They include programs addressing access to healthcare, homelessness, housing and eviction intervention, food insecurity, job training, programs for children and families, and legal services.

The Foundation prioritizes direct service organizations and favors projects that meet an identified community need, which demonstrate impact and project outcomes, and have the potential to effect systemic change. Although the Foundation occasionally funds pilot programs, we prefer to support organizations with an established track record whose programs have been brought to scale and have the potential to be replicated either within the organization or elsewhere. 

Occasionally, organizations will be awarded grants to strengthen their infrastructure or for general operating support. The Foundation encourages matching funds from other charitable organizations, public financial drives, individuals, and government bodies.

Application Cycles

The Foundation has two grant cycles annually: Spring and Fall. Grants are awarded twice a year at late Spring and late Fall board meetings. The majority of grants are given either on a one-time basis or can be renewed for a maximum of three consecutive years, subject to the Foundation’s discretion. After three consecutive years of support, organizations are required to take a hiatus of three years before reapproaching the Foundation.

Letter of Inquiry (LOI)

New organizations and those returning from hiatus should submit a letter of inquiry directly through this portal. 

Fall cycle letters will be accepted from June 1 – July 15th. 

Spring cycle letters will be accepted from December 1 – January 15th. The portal will close at 6:00 pm on the night of each deadline.