Helen G Gifford Foundation C/O Tidewater Jewish Foundation
ActivePhilanthropy & VoluntarismFunds Individuals
VIRGINIA BEACH, VAWebsite
About Helen G Gifford Foundation C/O Tidewater Jewish Foundation
The Helen G. Gifford Foundation focuses its giving locally in the Tidewater/Virginia Beach area, concentrating on performing arts and Jewish communal life. Grants include festival and performance sponsorships as well as program and educational support for the local Jewish federation. The foundation makes relatively few, mid-sized awards to a small set of repeat grantees rather than broad, one-off giving.
Focus Areas
Performing arts festival sponsorships in Tidewater (Virginia Arts Festival)Dance and national touring companies presented locally (Dance Theatre of Harlem)Jewish communal services and program support (United Jewish Federation of Tidewater/UJFT)Educational programming tied to Jewish community initiatives
Who They Fund
K-12 students (including kindergarten–2nd grade)youth and young singerspublic school students (e.g., Norfolk, Virginia Beach)local community residents / festival attendees
About Helen G Gifford Foundation C/O Tidewater Jewish Foundation
The Helen G Gifford Foundation C/o Tidewater Jewish Foundation gives locally in Tidewater with a clear split between Jewish communal support and arts-centered public programming. Its largest recent grant in the file is $37,500 to the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater for various programs, followed by a $29,077 educational award to Ujft in Virginia Beach. Those grants sit alongside recurring support for performance institutions and community organizations, showing a pattern of small-to-mid-sized awards to a limited group of repeat recipients. In the arts, the foundation has backed the Virginia Arts Festival, the Virginia Symphony, Virginia Opera Association, Virginia Stage Company, and The Chrysler Museum Inc. On the Jewish community side, it has supported United Jewish Federation of Tidewater and Friends of Chevra Thelim. The recent record also includes support for Hope House Foundation, Forkids Inc, Norfolk Botanical Garden Inc, and the Gifford Forest Field Station, which broadens the picture beyond one program area while keeping the giving rooted in the local area.
What Helen G Gifford Foundation C/O Tidewater Jewish Foundation Funds
Jewish communal services are one of the clearest themes in the recent grants. The foundation gave $37,500 to the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater for various programs and $18,500 to Ujft for educational support, with another $7,500 to Friends of Chevra Thelim for various programs. Arts and public performance is the other major strand. Grants include $20,000 to Virginia Arts Festival for a festival sponsorship, $12,000 and $10,000 awards to Virginia Symphony for literary and performance-related support, and $10,000 to Virginia Stage Company for literary support. The foundation also backs cultural institutions and learning tied to them, including $10,000 to The Chrysler Museum Inc for educational support and $7,500 to Norfolk Botanical Garden Inc for the Gifford Forest Field Station.
How Helen G Gifford Foundation C/O Tidewater Jewish Foundation Gives
The typical award size is modest: the 25th percentile is $2,375, the median is $5,000, and the 75th percentile is $7,125. Recent grants show repeated support to the same organizations across multiple years, including Ujft, Virginia Arts Festival, Virginia Symphony, Virginia Opera Association, The Chrysler Museum Inc, Forkids Inc, Hope House Foundation, and Friends of Chevra Thelim. That repeat pattern points to ongoing relationship-based giving rather than isolated one-off awards. The foundation operates through a named grant program, the Helen G. Gifford Foundation, and that program accepts unsolicited requests.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$183K
Total Assets
$2.7M
Total Revenue
$292K
Total Expenses
$263K
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $2K and $7K, with a median of $5K.
25th Percentile
$2K
Median
$5K
75th Percentile
$7K
Geographic Reach
Local1 state funded
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
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