What Is The Returning Wealth Philanthropic Fund Directed by E.T. Margolis?

The Returning Wealth Philanthropic Fund is a donor advised fund administered by the Jewish Communal Fund of New York, which Dr. Eliezer T. Margolis has directed since 1994. Its focus has shifted over time: early objectives centered on American Indian education and environmental organizations, while since 2016 its chief mission has been supporting "peace camp" organizations. It is a philanthropic vehicle separate from his clinical and teaching work, and the site does not publish grant amounts, application processes, or eligibility criteria.

Structure and Administration

The fund is not an independent foundation. It operates as a donor advised fund (DAF) hosted by the Jewish Communal Fund of New York, a established communal charitable vehicle. In practical terms:

• Host organization: Jewish Communal Fund of New York administers the fund and handles the underlying charitable infrastructure.
• Direction: Dr. Margolis has directed the fund since 1994, meaning he recommends grant directions within the DAF structure.
• Public profile: The site describes mission and history but does not list a board, staff, annual reports, or financial statements for the fund itself.

For readers trying to understand the fund's accountability, the key takeaway is that governance and administration sit with the Jewish Communal Fund, while direction sits with Dr. Margolis.

How the Mission Has Changed

The fund's stated priorities have moved through at least two phases:

The site describes the early objectives as "two-fold" and identifies the 2016 shift as making peace camps the "chief mission." It does not explain what prompted the change, nor does it name specific peace camp organizations or define the term further. Readers should treat "peace camp" as the site's own framing rather than a standardized grantmaking category.

What the Site Does and Does Not Tell You

The page evidence supports the fund's name, host, director, start year, and mission phases. It does not support:

• Grant sizes, totals, or number of grants made
• Whether unsolicited requests are accepted
• Any application form, deadline, or contact channel specific to the fund
• A list of past grantees

If you are researching the fund for donation, partnership, or grant-seeking purposes, the site alone is not enough to act on. The practical next step is to contact the Jewish Communal Fund of New York directly about donor advised funds, since it administers the vehicle, and to use the site's Contact section for questions directed to Dr. Margolis.

How It Fits With Margolis's Other Work

The fund is one of three current projects listed on etmargolis.com, alongside his board membership with the Harm To Healing Collaborative (accepted October 2025) and the Redirected Lives project, which grew out of volunteer teaching at Mount Tamalpais College in San Quentin Rehabilitation Center starting in the Spring 2022 semester. His clinical career—an independent rehabilitation psychology practice in Evanston, Illinois, from October 1, 1992 to July 1, 2013—ended before the fund's 2016 mission shift, so the fund should be read as post-clinical philanthropic work rather than an extension of his practice.

For a quick orientation: the fund is a long-running, personally directed DAF with a documented mission change in 2016, hosted by a New York communal fund, and described only at the level of purpose on the site.