Darren Star Foundation
Wilmington, DE · EIN 27-0858748. Reported 54 grants totalling $1,501,000 to 33 recipients across tax years 2021-2025. This foundation told the IRS it does not accept unsolicited requests: it contributes only to organizations it selects itself.
Does this foundation accept applications?
No -- on its own tax return. Form 990-PF asks every private foundation to check a box if it "only makes contributions to preselected charitable organizations and does not accept unsolicited requests for funds". Darren Star Foundation checked it on its most recent filing, as 78% of the 91,758 foundations in our data that made a grant and answered did. An unsolicited request is unlikely to go anywhere.
Organizations it funds that make grants of their own
3 of the organizations Darren Star Foundation funded make grants themselves, and it reported 6 grants totalling $85,000 to them. That is 6% of the $1,501,000 of its giving we could match to a registered organization. Each is classified by the IRS as a philanthropy or grantmaking organization, reported grants to at least 25 organizations of its own, and has at least 10 funders behind it.
All of them file Form 990, which never asks whether an organization funds only groups it picks, so there is no answer on record either way.
What that does not mean. It does not mean an application to any of them reaches this foundation's money. A private foundation's grant to a community foundation or a federated campaign is often a donor-advised fund or a gift designated for a purpose the foundation chose, and has nothing to do with any open programme the receiving organization runs. Its return's purpose text sometimes names a family fund or a designated purpose, which is the plainest case of money no applicant can reach; where it names none, neither return says which. The list is who this foundation paid that also makes grants. Whether any of them would fund you is a question for its own page.
| Grantmaker | Kind | State | Received | Grants | Years | Last | Only funds organizations it picks? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jewish Federation Council of Greater La | federated giving programme | California | $60,000 | 3 | 2 | 2025 | Its form does not ask |
| The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation | grantmaking organization | California | $20,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 | Its form does not ask |
| The Mayor's Fund for Los Angeles | community foundation | California | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 | Its form does not ask |
A floor, not a full list. A grantmaker appears here only where this foundation's return named it clearly enough for us to match the name to an EIN, which we manage for about two thirds of 990-PF grant rows, and only where that grantmaker has a page on this site. There may be more. Dollars here are summed by EIN across every spelling on its returns, so a figure can differ from the matching row in the full list below, which groups names as written. And the IRS classification cannot tell a grantmaker from a funders' association or a donor-advised fund sponsor, so a payment to one of these may be dues or an account rather than support for a grants programme.
How big are its grants?
The median grant is $10,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $5,000 and $20,000; the smallest was $1,000 and the largest $250,000.
Every organization it funded
This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Recipients are grouped by name and state as they were written on the returns, so an organization entered under two different names appears twice. Years funded is the number of separate tax years in which that name received money.
| Organization | Location | Total received | Grants | Years funded | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Project Angel Food | Los Angeles, CA | $750,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Armand Hammer Museum of Art and Cultural Center in | Los Angeles, CA | $150,000 | 3 | 2 | 2024 |
| Dia Center for the Arts Inc | New York, NY | $70,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Jewish Federation Council of Greater Los Angeles | Los Angeles, CA | $60,000 | 3 | 2 | 2025 |
| Trinity Episcopal Schools Corporation | New York, NY | $55,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| American Friends of the Louvre Inc | New York, NY | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Friends of the High Line Inc | New York, NY | $50,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Congregation Emanu-El of the City of New York | New York, NY | $35,000 | 2 | 1 | 2024 |
| Hamptons International Film Festival Inc | East Hampton, NY | $35,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Sag Harbor Cinema Arts Center Inc | Sag Harbor, NY | $35,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| National Rehabilitation Hospital Inc | Washington, DC | $30,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| National Rehabilitation Hospital Inc | Columbia, MD | $25,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation | Los Angeles, CA | $20,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Hetrick-Martin Institute Inc | New York, NY | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Keep Bel Air Beautiful | Los Angeles, CA | $15,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Family Equality | New York, NY | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Hospital for Special Surgery Fund Inc | New York, NY | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Standwithus | Los Angeles, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| University of Oregon Foundation | Eugene, OR | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| American Cancer Society Inc | Hagerstown, MD | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Extraordinary Families | Los Angeles, CA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Glsen Inc | New York, NY | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Israel Emergency Alliance - Standwithus | Los Angeles, CA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Jonsson Cancer Center Foundation- UCLA | Los Angeles, CA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Larchmont-Mamaroneck Hunger Task Force Inc | Larchmont, NY | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Lesbian and Gay Community Services Center Inc | New York, NY | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Mayors Fund for Los Angeles | Los Angeles, CA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Planned Parenthood Federation of America Inc | New York, NY | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Pro Publica Inc | New York, NY | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| St Jude Childrens Research Hospital Inc | Memphis, TN | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| United States Fund for Unicef | New York, NY | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Vidiots Foundation | Los Angeles, CA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Toys for Tots Inc | Binghamton, NY | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
11 of 33 (33%) received money in more than one year over the 5 years we hold.
Measured the way we measure every foundation -- what share of one year's grantees are funded again the next -- this one retains 40%, across 4 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is less consistent than most. This measures how often it paid the same organizations again. It says nothing about whether it would consider a new one, and this foundation told the IRS it does not.
What the money was for
Taken verbatim from the purpose field of its filings. This is the closest thing to a statement of what this foundation cares about, in its own words.
- Project Angel Food
Capital Campaign for Project Angel Food to build a larger campus - National Rehabilitation Hospital Inc
Super H 5K Run Walk & Wheel-20th Anniversary fund - The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation
The Elizabeth Taylor Ball to End AIDS fund - University of Oregon Foundation
Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art - Noland
What kind of organizations it funds
By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 47 grants where we could match the recipient to a registered organization. The categories are the IRS's. The match, made from the name and address on the return, is ours.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 15 | $205,000 | $5,000 |
| 2022 | 6 | $55,000 | $10,000 |
| 2023 | 13 | $387,000 | $10,000 |
| 2024 | 13 | $494,000 | $15,000 |
| 2025 | 7 | $360,000 | $20,000 |
Tax years, not calendar years, and the most recent year is usually incomplete -- filings arrive about a year late, so a low final year means late paperwork rather than a foundation winding down.
Where its money goes
69% of its giving went to organizations in California.
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Funders that support the same organizations
These funders gave to organizations this one also funded -- some private foundations, some community foundations and other grantmaking charities. Shared grantees are a sign of overlapping priorities and nothing more. Unlike this foundation, none of them is on record as funding only organizations it picks, and each page says what its filings show.
Related guides
Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from Darren Star Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 5 returns (tax years 2021-2025). Grant figures are from its returns. Matching recipients to registered organizations, their IRS classifications, the retention rate and the funders that support the same organizations are our own calculations, described in how we build this.
Address of record on the latest return: Foundation Source 501 Silverside Rd, Wilmington, DE, 19809. This is the address the foundation gave the IRS.
EIN 27-0858748 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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