Gerda Lissner Foundation Inc
New York, NY · EIN 13-3566516. Reported 76 grants totalling $180,900 to 64 recipients across tax years 2021-2025. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.
Does this foundation accept applications?
Yes -- on its own tax return. Form 990-PF asks every private foundation whether it makes grants only to organizations it selects itself. Of the 91,758 foundations in our data that made a grant and answered, 78% said yes -- and applying to those is wasted effort. Gerda Lissner Foundation Inc did not check that box on its most recent filing, which puts it in the minority that is at least open to being approached.
How big are its grants?
The median grant is $1,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $500 and $2,500; the smallest was $100 and the largest $15,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Academy of Vocal Arts | Philadelphia, PA | $27,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen | Oakland, CA | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Curtis Institute of Music | Philadelphia, PA | $14,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Manhattan School of Music | New York, NY | $12,250 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Yeongtaek Yang | New York, NY | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Broadway Cares | New York, NY | $7,500 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Shelen Hughes | West New York, NJ | $7,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Rosario Hernandez Armas | New York, NY | $5,750 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Maire Carmack | Colorado Springs, CO | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Mannes School of Music | New York, NY | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| The Juilliard School | New York, NY | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Leah Hawkins | New York, NY | $4,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Giulio Gari Foundation | New York, NY | $3,750 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Nicole Cabell | Honeyoye Falls, NY | $3,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| The Kosciuszko Foundation | New York, NY | $3,300 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Opera Index Inc | New York, NY | $3,150 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Karolina Anna Podolak | Mississauga, Ontario | $3,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Matthew Cairns | New York, NY | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Tatev Baroyan | Sarasota, FL | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Alice Chung | Philadelphia, PA | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Jana Alexa Mcintyre | Tulsa, OK | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Jasmine Olwalia | Pittsburgh, PA | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Joseph Sacchi | New York, NY | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Mary Gabrielle Beteag | Lilburn, GA | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Soo Hyun Gemma Nha | Chicago, IL | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Yichen Xue | Long Island City, NY | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| The Giuilio Gari Foundation | New York, NY | $1,750 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Ryan Capozzo | Mamaroneck, NY | $1,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Ava Linvog | Snohomish, WA | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Donghoon Kang | New York, NY | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Emilie Kealani Suarez | San Francisco, CA | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Evan Gray | Philadelphia, PA | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Hailey Mcavoy | Kingston, NY | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Jazmine Saunders | New York, NY | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Joanne Evans | Austin, TX | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Julia Stuart | Mountain View, CA | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Kerrigan Bigelow | New York City, NY | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Melissa Deborah Joseph | Atlanta, GA | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Ruby Dibble | Kansas City, MO | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Susanne Burgess | Atlanta, GA | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Titus Joseph Muzi III | Waukesha, WI | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Tivoli Treloar | New York, NY | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Jillian Tate | Waxhaw, NC | $750 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Adam Holthaus | Houston, TX | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Adriana Stepien | Philadelphia, PA | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Ashley Robillard | Philadelphia, PA | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Classical Lyric Arts | New York, NY | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Elisabeth Lenehan Wangerman | Dallas, TX | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Evan Lazdowski | Moultonborough, NH | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Gabrielle Barkidjija | Chicago, IL | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Jeongmin Oak | Montreal, Quebec | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Kayla Stein | New York, NY | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Lucas Zuehl | New Haven, CT | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Maggie Renee Valdman | Miami, FL | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Minghang Wang | New York, NY | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Opera at Florham | Union, NJ | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Sarah Fleiss | Philadelphia, PA | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Seongeun Park | New York, NY | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Sofia Gotch | Brooklyn, NY | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Sunghoon Han | New York, NY | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Classic Lyric Arts | New York, NY | $250 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Queens Symphony Orchestra | Flushing, NY | $200 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| The Polish Theater Institute | New York, NY | $150 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| The Liederkranz Foundation | New York, NY | $100 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
7 of 64 (11%) 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.
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.
- Academy of Vocal Arts
CHARITABLE - GEN'L OPERATING SUPPORT - The Juilliard School
CHARITABLE - GENL OPERATING SUPPORT - Manhattan School of Music
CAHRITABLE - GEN'L OPERATING SUPPORT - The Giuilio Gari Foundation
TO PROVIDE YOUNG OPERA SINGERS WITH THE FINANCIAL SUPPORT THEY NEED TO PURSUE THEIR CRAFT AND EXCEL IN THE WORLD OF OPERA,
What kind of organizations it funds
By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 17 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 | 7 | $27,000 | $5,000 |
| 2022 | 7 | $19,250 | $500 |
| 2023 | 8 | $23,400 | $1,100 |
| 2024 | 52 | $109,250 | $1,000 |
| 2025 | 2 | $2,000 | $1,000 |
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
45% of its giving went to organizations in New York. If your organization is based elsewhere, look in the recipient list for grants to your area before writing.
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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: they do not show that any of these funders would consider a new organization. Each page says what its filings show.
How to approach this foundation
- Check you are its size. The median grant is $1,000. A request many times that size asks for something it has rarely or never given.
- Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in New York.
- Read the recipient list above for organizations like yours. If nothing on it resembles your work, that is a real answer, and a cheap one to get.
- Look up the current filing before writing. The 990-PF names the foundation's officers and, where one exists, its application procedure. We link it below.
Related guides
Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from Gerda Lissner Foundation Inc'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: 15 East 65TH Street, New York, NY, 10065. This is the address the foundation gave the IRS; many small foundations file through an accountant or a bank trust department, so it may not be where post to a programme officer should go.
EIN 13-3566516 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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