American Friends of Tel Aviv University

Name

American Friends of Tel Aviv University

Legal name

American Friends of Tel Aviv University

Website

https://aftau.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1930

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Nonprofit University Fundraising

NAICS

Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Fundraising & Annual Giving (EDALAOAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

College Access, Scholarships & Student Success Nonprofits (BPAGADAE)

Keywords

• Nonprofit fundraising
• University philanthropy
• Planned giving services
• Alumni engagement
• Donor relations

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Donations (one-time and recurring): AFTAU accepts one-time gifts, monthly recurring gifts, and honor/memory gifts processed through its online donation platform. Donations are tax-deductible.
2. Planned giving, estates and trusts: Planned gifts offering benefits for donors while supporting TAU, including bequests, estates and trusts. Operated under a dedicated VP of Planned Giving, Estates and Trusts and the aftaugiving.org website.
3. Major gifts (individual giving): Individual major gifts defined as $5K and above. Managed by AVPs and VPs of Development through moves management: identification, cultivation, direct solicitations, and stewardship across five- and six-figure giving levels.
4. Institutional / foundation / corporate giving: Foundation, corporate, family office and family foundation fundraising led by an AVP for Institutional Giving. The institutional portfolio currently exceeds $10M and targets foundations through strategic plans, LOIs, grant proposals and reports.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

AFTAU is the U.S.-based nonprofit fundraising and awareness arm of Tel Aviv University, raising tax-deductible donations from American individual donors, foundations, corporations, and family offices to support TAU\'s education, research, and community-building mission. It coordinates multiple giving programs (one-time, monthly, planned, major, and institutional gifts), an emergency war-relief campaign, scholarships, alumni engagement, and event-based donor cultivation across U.S. regional offices, raising an average of $24-45 million per year.

Product overview

American Friends of Tel Aviv University (AFTAU) is a US-based nonprofit fundraising organization, not a software product company. Its offering is a portfolio of coordinated programs rather than a unified SaaS product: the core AFTAU Fundraising Program anchors the organization, with TAU Planned Giving and the TAU Scholarships Program as giving sub-programs; the Institutional Giving Program handles foundation/corporate portfolios; the TAU USA Alumni Network and TAU News & Research Coverage drive donor and alumni engagement; the AFTAU Events Program and TAU Webinar Library deliver educational and cultural programming; the Stand With TAU Emergency Campaign addresses wartime needs; and the Visit TAU Program supports in-person engagement with Tel Aviv University.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• AFTAU Fundraising Program Core program that raises awareness and funds in the U.S. to support Tel Aviv University\'s education, research, and community-building mission.
• TAU Planned Giving
• TAU Scholarships Program Scholarship fundraising program supporting TAU students including those from underrepresented, disabled, and ethnic minority backgrounds, ensuring access to quality higher education in Israel.
• TAU USA Alumni Network National alumni engagement program offering educational, professional, and cultural events across the U.S. (New York, San Francisco Bay Area, Boston, Miami, Los Angeles, Washington DC, etc.), including happy hours, lecture series, film screenings, and online meetups.
• TAU Webinar Library Online content program providing panel discussions, expert interviews, concerts from the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music, and tours such as the Steinhardt Museum of Natural History, organized by topic (AI, Cybersecurity, Health, Middle East, Space, etc.).
• AFTAU Events Program Calendar of institutional events such as the Gray Faculty inauguration, Israel Recovery Roundtable, Fall 4 TAU, and C-Suite dialogues held in cities including Tel Aviv, Boca Raton, Palm Beach Gardens, and Tiburon.
• Stand With TAU Emergency Campaign War-relief fundraising campaign providing financial scholarships ($4K per student) for reservists, therapy sessions ($120 each) through the Center for Traumatic Stress & Resilience, and shelter upgrades ($175K per upgrade, $260K for new shelters) across TAU campus.
• Institutional Giving Program Foundation and corporate fundraising program carrying a portfolio of 50+ foundations, family offices, and corporate donors, with AFTAU\'s institutional giving portfolio exceeding $10M.
• Visit TAU Program Program arranging special tours of Tel Aviv University\'s campus for prospective donors and visitors traveling to Israel.

Quantifiable outcome

• $24-45 million raised per year on average
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

15 partnerships are on record, tiered major co-sponsor, major infrastructure partner, flagship ecosystem partner, major corporate research partner, cross-affiliation partner, board chair affiliation, board member affiliation, community alignment partner, community partner and flagship beneficiary.

• Jeremy Coller Foundationmajor co-sponsorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 4 June 2026The Jeremy Coller Foundation and Tel Aviv University jointly award an annual US$100,000 Coller Dolittle Challenge for Two-Way Interspecies Communication. Four finalists for the 2026 prize were announced on June 4, 2026, with research spanning zebra finches, African striped mice, chimpanzees and bonobos.
• Shikun & Binui Energymajor infrastructure partnerStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026Agreement signed with Shikun & Binui Energy to build an advanced energy storage facility with capacity of more than 30 MWh on TAU campus - one of the largest projects of its kind in central Israel and the first in an Israeli academic institution.
• TAU Venturesflagship ecosystem partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerTAU Ventures is a first-of-its-kind university-sponsored fund that partners with Tel Aviv University to invest in startup companies emerging from the TAU community. AFTAU board members Behzad Kianmahd (co-founder and Advisory Board member) and Daniel Nazarian (integral in establishment) are key connectors between AFTAU and TAU Ventures.
• IBMmajor corporate research partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerIBM regularly collaborates with Tel Aviv University on state-of-the-art research and technologies that only TAU can provide.
• Googlemajor corporate research partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerGoogle regularly collaborates with Tel Aviv University on state-of-the-art research and technologies. AFTAU board member Aaron Tartakovsky co-founded the Israel-California Green-Tech Partnership in collaboration with Google to inspire business and technological exchange between the US and Israel.
• Microsoftmajor corporate research partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerMicrosoft regularly collaborates with Tel Aviv University on state-of-the-art research and technologies that only TAU can provide.
• Intelmajor corporate research partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerIntel regularly collaborates with Tel Aviv University on state-of-the-art research and technologies that only TAU can provide.
• University of Manchester (North American Friends)cross-affiliation partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerAFTAU Treasurer Michael Shaoul is also a member of the Board of North American Friends of Manchester University, indicating cross-affiliation between AFTAU and similar UK university-support organizations.
• Vibrant Capital Partnersboard chair affiliationOthersAFTAU Board Chairman Phil Darivoff is Chairman of Vibrant Capital Partners, a New York-based SEC-registered asset management firm with over $8 billion AUM. This represents a board leadership affiliation rather than a direct partnership.
• BrainPOPboard member affiliationOthersAFTAU Board member Maya Kadar Kovalsky is Chief Culture Officer at BrainPOP, an award-winning educational platform that engages students and supports teachers. She is also on the BrainPOP board.
• Jewish Museum in New Yorkcommunity alignment partnerGTM or Marketing PartnerAFTAU Board member Marc Abramowitz serves as a Director of the Jewish Museum in New York; AFTAU Board member Nomi P. Ghez serves on the Executive Board of The Jewish Museum. Represents organizational alignment within the Jewish-American cultural community.
• AIPACcommunity partnerGTM or Marketing PartnerMultiple AFTAU board members are affiliated with AIPAC: Phil Darivoff (Emeritus Member of National Board, Chairman of Investment Committee), Dr. Anita Friedman (trustee on national board), Dr. Garry Rayant (AIPAC National Council member), Harvey Rothenberg (Washington AIPAC member), Abbie Green Friedman (AIPAC Minion Club, Congressional Club).
• United Hatzalahcommunity partnerGTM or Marketing PartnerAFTAU Board member Abbie Green Friedman serves on the national Board of United Hatzalah; indicates organizational alignment within the Jewish emergency-response community.
• UJA-Federationcommunity partnerGTM or Marketing PartnerAFTAU board member Rada Sumareva serves on the UJA-Federation board; Daniel Cohn was elected to the Federation\'s Board of Directors after serving on the Federation\'s Endowment Committee. Reflects institutional alignment within the New York Jewish philanthropic ecosystem.
• Tel Aviv University (TAU)flagship beneficiaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerAFTAU\'s primary partner and sole beneficiary: AFTAU raises awareness and funds to support Tel Aviv University and advance its three-part mission of education, research, and community building in the US. AFTAU is the US fundraising arm of TAU.

Scale indicators14 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev: AABGU is the US fundraising arm for Ben-Gurion University. Same single-beneficiary nonprofit model, similar regional office footprint, and direct overlap in the Israeli-university fundraising niche AFTAU operates in.
• American Technion Society: ATS is the US fundraising arm for the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. Same structure: US-based nonprofit, regional offices, major-gift and planned-giving vehicles, exclusive affiliation with a single Israeli university, and direct competition with AFTAU for Jewish-American major donors.
• American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science: Weizmann USA is the US fundraising arm for the Weizmann Institute of Science. Same single-beneficiary model, comparable donor base, similar reliance on innovation/research storytelling to drive major gifts.
• American Friends of Hebrew University: AFHU is the closest direct peer: the US-based 501(c)(3) fundraising and awareness arm for the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, with a comparable operating model of regional offices, major-gift and planned-giving programs, and a similarly concentrated Jewish-American donor base. Both compete for the same institutional/foundation and major-donor pools.

Emerging players

• Birthright Israel Foundation: Birthright Israel Foundation funds the Taglit-Birthright program that sends young Jewish adults to Israel. It competes for the same generational Jewish-American donor base and has overlapping board networks with AFTAU, making it a comparable emerging peer in the next-generation Jewish philanthropy space.
• Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life: Hillel is the largest Jewish campus organization in the world, serving students at 550+ US universities. While focused on student engagement rather than research funding, Hillel occupies adjacent space in the Jewish philanthropic ecosystem and overlaps with AFTAU on alumni/parent donor cultivation.

Broad incumbents

• FIDF (Friends of the Israel Defense Forces): FIDF is a much larger US-based nonprofit fundraising for Israeli soldiers' wellbeing. While not university-affiliated, it competes directly with AFTAU for Jewish-American major donors and has seen significant wartime fundraising tailwinds, drawing from the same donor pool AFTAU targets.
• UJA-Federation of New York: UJA-Federation is the largest local Jewish federation in North America, raising over $200M annually through a federation model. AFTAU board members sit on UJA-Federation's board, illustrating the institutional overlap and donor competition between federated giving and direct single-cause fundraising.
• Jewish National Fund (JNF-USA): JNF-USA is one of the largest and longest-established Israel-focused US nonprofits, raising hundreds of millions annually for Israeli land, water, and community development. It is a broad incumbent that competes for the same Jewish-American donor base and major-gift prospects, especially during the current wartime period.
• Combined Jewish Philanthropies: CJP is the Boston-area Jewish federation and a major incumbent in Jewish philanthropy, raising $200M+ annually. Operates as a federation model that includes allocations to Israeli institutions, making it a partial alternative donor pathway compared to AFTAU's direct-to-TAU model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses2 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/aftau
• Facebookfacebook.com/AFTAU
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/american-friends-of-tel-aviv-university

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about American Friends of Tel Aviv University