Marinus and Minna B Koster Foundation
Potomac Falls, VA · EIN 27-1533411. Reported 57 grants totalling $640,000 to 31 organizations across tax years 2021-2023. 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. Marinus and Minna B Koster Foundation 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 $10,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $8,000 and $12,500; the smallest was $4,000 and the largest $26,000. 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. Years funded is the number of separate tax years in which the organization received money -- more than one means a real relationship rather than a one-off.
| Organization | Location | Total received | Grants | Years funded | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Edlavitch Jewish Community Center of Washington DC | Washington, DC | $78,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Pennsylvania Women Work | Pittsburgh, PA | $47,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Sitar Arts Center | Washington, DC | $46,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| DC Youth Orchestra Program | Washington, DC | $35,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| The Forward Association | New York, NY | $35,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Strathmore Hall Foundation | North Bethesda, MD | $32,500 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| In Geveb Inc | New York, NY | $29,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| American University | Washington, DC | $28,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Washington Conservatory of Music | Bethesda, MD | $27,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Edu-Futuro | Arlington, VA | $24,500 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| University of Maryland College Park Foundation | College Park, MD | $23,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| American Youth Philharmonic Orchestras | Annandale, VA | $21,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Avodah - the Jewish Service Corps | New York, NY | $21,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| The Workers Circle | New York, NY | $20,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Yiddish New York | New York, NY | $20,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| DC Youth Orchestra Progam | Washington, DC | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Levine Music Inc | Washington, DC | $15,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| The Jewish Service Corps | New York, NY | $12,500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Lutheran Socia Services of the National Capital Area | Washington, DC | $12,250 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| World Central Kitchen | Washington, DC | $12,250 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| American Youth Philharmonic Orchestra | Annandale, VA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Blues Alley Jazz Society | Washington, DC | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Center for Traditional Music & Dance | New York, NY | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| The National Immigration Project | Washington, DC | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| The Workmen's Circle | New York, NY | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Jewish People's Philharmonic Chorus | New York, NY | $8,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Di Goldene Keyt Ltd | New York, NY | $7,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Yiddish Music Di Goldene Keyt Ltd Support and Creation | New York, NY | $7,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Hias | Silver Spring, MD | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Levine School of Music | Washington, DC | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Yugntruf - Youth for Yiddish | New York, NY | $4,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
16 of 31 (52%) received money in more than one year over the 3 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 69%, across 2 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is about typical. A high number means its list is close to settled and a newcomer has to displace someone; a low one means it is still moving money around, which is where an opening is.
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.
- Edlavitch Jewish Community Center of Washington DC
TO SUPPORT THE FOURTH YEAR OF THEATER J'S YIDDISH THEATER LAB, A PROGRAM DEVOTED TO DEVELOPING NEW AUDIENCES FOR, NEW ADAPTATIONS OF, AND NEW DIRECTORIAL APPROACHES TO WORK FROM THE YIDDISH THEATER CANON. - The Forward Association
TO SUPPORT THE PRODUCTION AND GROWTH OF MULTI-MEDIA JOUNALISM AND CONTENT OF THE YIDDISH FORVERTS, WHICH BRINGS YIDDISH LANGUAGE AND CULTURE TO THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE EVERY DAY. - DC Youth Orchestra Program
TO ENABLE 20 OF DCYOP'S MOST GIFTED STUDENTS TO PARTICIPATE IN YOUR 2020-2021 TALENT DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM. - Pennsylvania Women Work
TO ASSIST REFUGEES AND IMMIGRANTS IN PITTSBURGH WHO ARE SEEKING TO RESTART THEIR CAREERS OR IMPROVE THEIR LEVEL OF EMPLOYMENT. - Sitar Arts Center
TO SUPPORT SITAR'S SY22-23 INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC ACADEMY, WHICH PROVIDES PRIVATE LESSONS, GROUP ENSEMBLE, AND MUSIC EDUCATION CLASSES TO 200-225 DC STUDENTS EACH SCHOOL YEAR, 80% OF WHOM ARE FROM LOW-INCOME BACKGROUNDS. - DC Youth Orchestra Progam
SUPPORT FOR THE TALENT DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM; OFFERING PRIVATE LESSONS, MENTORSHIP, PERFOMANCE OPPORTUNITIES, AND SUMMER LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES.
What kind of organizations it funds
By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 41 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 21 | $250,000 | $11,000 |
| 2022 | 17 | $185,000 | $10,000 |
| 2023 | 19 | $205,000 | $10,000 |
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
Foundations concentrate geographically far more than their mission statements suggest. 42% of this one's giving went to organizations in District of Columbia. If you are outside its footprint, that matters more than how well your programme fits.
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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 the strongest available signal that two funders have overlapping priorities, and a funder already backing your peers is a far warmer prospect than one that merely lists your cause.
How to approach this foundation
- Check you are its size. The median grant is $10,000. Asking for ten times that is the most common way small organizations waste a submission.
- Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in District of Columbia.
- 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 Marinus and Minna B Koster Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 3 returns (tax years 2021-2023). Nothing here is scraped, inferred, or estimated.
Address of record on the latest return: 46534 Cedarhurst Drive, Potomac Falls, VA, 20165. 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 27-1533411 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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