The Marson Foundation
Colorado Springs, CO · EIN 84-1278255. Reported 70 grants totalling $233,486 to 35 organizations 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. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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. 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.
- 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 recipient's own IRS classification, for the 54 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.
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
Foundations concentrate geographically far more than their mission statements suggest. 97% of this one's giving went to organizations in Colorado. 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 $3,204. 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 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). Nothing here is scraped, inferred, or estimated.
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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