The Marson Foundation
Colorado Springs, CO · EIN 84-1278255. Reported 70 grants totalling $233,486 to 35 recipients across tax years 2021-2024. 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. The Marson 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 $3,204. Half of everything it gave fell between $2,000 and $4,500; the smallest was $1,000 and the largest $6,200. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CASA of the Pikes Peak Region | Colorado Springs, CO | $15,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Cheyenne Village | Colorado Springs, CO | $14,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Safe Passage | Colorado Springs, CO | $13,500 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Springs Recovery Connection | Colorado Springs, CO | $13,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Westside Cares | Colorado Springs, CO | $13,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| The Place | Colorado Springs, CO | $11,500 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Lutheran Family Services Rocky Mountains | Denver, CO | $11,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Community Partnership for Child Development | Colorado Springs, CO | $10,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance | Colorado Springs, CO | $10,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Special Kids Special Families | Colorado Springs, CO | $9,500 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Care and Share Food Bank for Southern Colorado | Colorado Springs, CO | $9,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Colorado Springs Conservatory | Colorado Springs, CO | $9,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Mt Carmel Veterans Service Center | Colorado Springs, CO | $9,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Pikes Peak Hospice Foundation | Colorado Springs, CO | $8,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Kidpower of Colorado | Colorado Springs, CO | $7,500 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| The Independent Gift Fund | Hudson, OH | $6,200 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Springs Rescue Mission | Colorado Springs, CO | $6,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Court Care | Colorado Springs, CO | $5,786 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Assistance League | Colorado Springs, CO | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Colorado Lions Camp | Woodland Park, CO | $5,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Dream Centers of Colorado Springs | Colorado Springs, CO | $5,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Family Promise of Colorado Springs | Colorado Springs, CO | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Friends of the Children Colorado Springs | Colorado Springs, CO | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| The Justice Center | Colorado Springs, CO | $5,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Greccio Housing | Colorado Springs, CO | $4,500 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Mercy's Gate | Colorado Springs, CO | $4,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Angels of America's Fallen | Colorado Springs, CO | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Big Brothers Big Sisters of Colorado | Colorado Springs, CO | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Catholic Charities of Central Colorado | Colorado Springs, CO | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Pikes Peak Habitat for Humanity Inc | Colorado Springs, CO | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Dream Centers | Colorado Springs, CO | $1,500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| United States Association of Blind Athletes | Colorado Springs, CO | $1,500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Colorado Vocal Arts Ensemble | Monument, CO | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Early Connections Learning Centers | Colorado Springs, CO | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Pikes Peak Justice & Pro Bono Center | Colorado Springs, CO | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
21 of 35 (60%) received money in more than one year over the 4 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 62%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is about typical. 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.
- The Independent Gift Fund
To support multiple charitable funds. - CASA of the Pikes Peak Region
Support dependency and neglect programs - Colorado Springs Conservatory
Support "A Positive Note (APN)" program - Family Promise of Colorado Springs
Fund Interfaith Hospitality Network Family SHelter program cordinationg compassionate, safe and clean temporary housing for families. - Friends of the Children Colorado Springs
Purchase furniture and supplies for their youth program space, outfitting the clubhouse with essential furnishing and eqauipment. - Westside Cares
Support services providing food, housing and rental assistance
What kind of organizations it funds
By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 54 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 | 26 | $78,500 | $3,000 |
| 2022 | 20 | $70,909 | $3,454 |
| 2023 | 23 | $77,877 | $3,000 |
| 2024 | 1 | $6,200 | $6,200 |
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
97% of its giving went to organizations in Colorado. 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 $3,204. 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 Colorado.
- 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.
Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from The Marson Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2021-2024). 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: 1517 Culebra Place, Colorado Springs, CO, 80907. 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 84-1278255 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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