The Elma Music Foundation (us)
New York, NY · EIN 27-3622277. Reported 119 grants totalling $15.9M to 39 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". The Elma Music Foundation (us) 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 The Elma Music Foundation (us) funded make grants themselves, and it reported 8 grants totalling $2,022,506 to them. That is 13% of the $15.0M 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? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Miami Foundation Inc | grantmaking organization | Florida | $1,250,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 | Its form does not ask |
| Brooklyn Community Foundation | grantmaking organization | New York | $597,506 | 2 | 2 | 2023 | Its form does not ask |
| United Way of Greater Houston | federated giving programme | Texas | $175,000 | 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 $100,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $75,000 and $175,000; the smallest was $5,000 and the largest $722,500.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manhattan School of Music | New York, NY | $2,166,742 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| The Miami Foundation Inc | Miami, FL | $1,250,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Berklee College of Music Inc | Boston, MA | $976,991 | 6 | 5 | 2025 |
| Jazz Foundation of America Inc | New York, NY | $975,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Ellis Marsalis Center for Music Inc | New Orleans, LA | $958,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Memphis Equity Through Arts (meta) Incorporated | Memphis, TN | $610,330 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Brooklyn Community Foundation | Brooklyn, NY | $597,506 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Renaissance Youth Center | Bronx, NY | $525,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Save the Music Foundation | New York, NY | $525,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| The Door - a Center of Alternatives | New York, NY | $500,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Ryse Inc | Richmond, CA | $450,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Spy Hop Productions Inc | Salt Lake City, UT | $450,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| The New York Women's Foundation Inc | New York, NY | $440,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Soulsville Foundation Inc | Memphis, TN | $425,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| A Place Called Home | Los Angeles, CA | $400,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Big Thought | Dallas, TX | $400,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| The Road Recovery Foundation | New York, NY | $400,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Living Classrooms Foundation Inc | Baltimore, MD | $375,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Mama Foundation for the Arts Inc | New York, NY | $330,000 | 5 | 4 | 2025 |
| Recess Activities Inc | Brooklyn, NY | $330,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Youth on Record | Denver, CO | $300,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Youth Empowerment Project | Orlando, FL | $241,667 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Youth Empowerment Project | New Orleans, LA | $233,333 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| East Bay Center for the Performing Arts | Richmond, CA | $225,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Mind Builders Creative Arts Center Inc | Bronx, NY | $225,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Mindbuilders Creative Arts Center Inc | Bronx, NY | $200,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Neutral Zone | Ann Arbor, MI | $175,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| United Way of Greater Houston | Houston, TX | $175,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| VH1 Save the Music Foundation - New Orleans | New York, NY | $175,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| STEM From Dance | Brooklyn, NY | $150,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| The Motivational Edge Inc | Miami, FL | $150,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Guitars Over Guns | Miami, FL | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Living Classroom Foundation | Baltimore, MD | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| The Carnegie Hall Corporation | New York, NY | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| VH1 Save the Music Foundation - Newark | New York, NY | $75,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Atlanta Music Project | Atlanta, GA | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Moving in the Spirit Inc | Atlanta, GA | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| The Music Education Group Inc | Atlanta, GA | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Jazz at Lincoln Center | New York, NY | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
29 of 39 (74%) 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 77%, across 4 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is unusually consistent. 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.
- Manhattan School of Music
PROJECT SUPPORT FOR THE HUGH MASEKELA HERITAGE SCHOLARSHIP FUND. - Brooklyn Community Foundation
PROJECT SUPPORT TO A COMMUNITY FOUNDATION FOR SUB-GRANTING AND THE PROVISION OF TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO SMALL ART AND MUSIC BASED YOUTH DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATIONS IN BROOKLYN, NY. - The Miami Foundation Inc
PROJECT SUPPORT FOR THE MIAMI MUSIC ALLIANCE (MMA), A COLLABORATIVE EFFORT OF SIX ORGANIZATIONS TO PROVIDE 5100 PRE-K THROUGH HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IN MIAMI GARDENS WITH SEQUENTIAL MUSIC EDUCATION AND SOCIO-EMOTIONAL SUPPORT. - Jazz Foundation of America Inc
PROJECT SUPPORT FOR THE JAZZ AND BLUES IN THE SCHOOLS PROGRAM (JITS), WHICH EXTENDS THE CAREERS OF AGING ARTISTS AND BRINGS MUSIC TO SCHOOLS, NURSING HOMES AND HOSPITALS NATIONWIDE. - Ellis Marsalis Center for Music Inc
GENERAL SUPPORT FOR AN AFTER-SCHOOL MUSIC PROGRAM PROVIDING UNDERSERVED CHILDREN AND YOUTH FROM THE NINTH WARD OF NEW ORLEANS THE OPPORTUNITY TO STUDY MUSIC THROUGH ARTS-FOCUSED YOUTH DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS. - Berklee College of Music Inc
PROJECT SUPPORT FOR "MYDA SCHOLARSHIP", WHICH WILL PROVIDE NEED-BASED SCHOLARSHIPS FOR STUDENTS FROM ELMA'S MUSIC FOUNDATION (U.S.) GRANTEES TO ATTEND BERKLEE COLLEGE OF MUSIC'S FOUR YEAR UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM.
What kind of organizations it funds
By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 104 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 | 23 | $3,107,809 | $100,000 |
| 2022 | 23 | $4,353,709 | $166,667 |
| 2023 | 25 | $3,359,734 | $100,000 |
| 2024 | 24 | $3,116,887 | $100,000 |
| 2025 | 24 | $1,946,430 | $50,000 |
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
49% of its giving went to organizations in New York.
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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 The Elma Music Foundation (us)'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: 1345 Avenue of the Americas 2301, New York, NY, 10105. This is the address the foundation gave the IRS.
EIN 27-3622277 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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