Living Tikkun Olam in Community.
Guided by the Jewish values, the Bender Foundation supports initiatives promoting healthy minds, strong bodies, and excellent education across the Greater Washington, DC region.
Our Mission
Jack Bender started the Bender Foundation, Inc. in 1958 with a simple but enduring conviction: that a family’s success carries with it an obligation to give back to the community that helped make it possible.
We honor our family legacy and Jewish heritage through our values of gratitude, community, Jewish identity, and the belief that each generation has a responsibility to carry the work forward.
Now in its fourth generation, that mission lives on through direct grants to organizations across the Washington region and beyond, in hands-on involvement with the nonprofits we support, and in the deliberate effort to bring younger family members into the work so that what Jack Bender started in 1958 continues to grow, deepen, and sustain our community.
Focus Areas
Health
Promoting healthy minds and strong bodies for individuals and families across the DC region.
Education
Investing in educational access and innovation in learning, from early childhood through post-secondary achievement.
Jewish Identity & Community
Strengthening the cultural, religious, and communal fabric of the Jewish community.
Approach to Giving
We believe that grantmaking is most effective when it is grounded in relationship, guided by values, and sustained over time. We provide both general operating and program-specific support to organizations in addition to thought partnership and collaboration.
We are deeply rooted in the community. In addition to serving on the Foundation board, many of our directors serve on the boards of community partners and champion their causes in their personal capacity. We see giving back as our most important family legacy and the most meaningful way to honor our founders and the community with which they shared a special bond. Then and now, our family is committed to partnering with our passionate local leaders to meet the challenges facing our community.
Impact & Legacy
For generations, the Bender family culture has been defined by giving. Beyond funding, our founders gave time, community leadership, and presence. The Foundation carries that spirit forward, supporting organizations across Washington, DC that help individuals thrive, build connection with one another, and take pride and ownership in the community they share.
From the track to the classroom, from community centers to places of healing, our grants reflect a deeply held conviction that every day is an opportunity to do good.
Since inception, the Foundation has made over $85 million in grants. Our priority has always been strengthening the bonds, institutions, and leaders that bring us together. While we continue invest in our community broadly, since 2019 we have also invested funding specifically in healthy minds, strong bodies, and excellent education.
10-Year Snapshot
Total Investment in Greater Washington DC Area
Total Investment in Jewish Community
Total Grant Funding Benefits Physical Health
Total Grant Funding Benefiting Mental Health
Total Grant Funding Benefiting Education
Average Annual Funding
In times of great need, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the October 7th attack on Israel, the Foundation has increased its giving to support stabilization and recovery efforts, focusing on both immediate needs and the efforts to rebuild and sustain community.