Grants for music festivals and events

1,802 music festival and event organizations received at least $10.1 million in grants for the most recent fiscal year. This includes 2,279 grants made from 1,525 grantmaking organizations, with a median grant amount of $2,000. Of these 1,525 foundations, 81% made just a single grant to music orgs, and 3% made grants to four or more music orgs. This analysis is based on grantmakers that e-file their Form 990s, and likely is an undercount of grants.
$10,053,838
Total grant dollars given to music festivals and events
2,279
Number of grants made annually to music festivals and events
1,525
Number of grantmakers funding music festivals and events
$2,000
Median grant size to music festivals and events

Foundations that support music festival and event organizations

Out of all grants made to music festivals and events, 75% came from small foundations with less than $10 million in assets. The top 10 grantmakers accounted for 54% of the dollar-value of grants to music orgs. Foundations funding music orgs also made grants to symphony orchestras, performing arts centers, theaters, art museums, and multiservice human service organizations.

Foundation size

Foundation sizeNumber of grantmakers
Small
 
1,157
Medium
 
213
Large
 
153
Small foundations have <$10M in assets. Medium foundations have $10M to $50M in assets. Large foundations have >$50M in assets.

Foundation type

Foundation typeNumber of grantmakers
Community
 
43
Private
 
1,319
Corporate
 
69
Other
 
94

Grants made

Grants made to music orgsNumber of grantmakers
1
 
1,239
2-3
 
230
4-10
 
45
11+
 
11

Top 10 foundations supporting music festival and event organizations

GrantmakerStateGeographic focusPercent of grant dollars to music orgsNumber of grants made to music orgsMedian grant size
D'addario FoundationNYNational26.4%56$2,214
Community Foundation of Greater Des MoinesIAState0.1%41$1,250
Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee (CFMT)TNMetro0.1%33$1,500
Shell Oil Company FoundationTXNational0.2%26$500
Abbvie FoundationILNational0.0%21$130
The Rhode Island FoundationRIMetro0.1%20$2,568
Greater Worcester Community FoundationMAMetro0.8%18$2,085
Chubb Charitable FoundationPANational0.3%16$500
Seattle FoundationWAState0.0%15$2,500
Sempra Energy FoundationCAState0.4%14$200

Music festival and event organizations grantees

Music festivals and events with more than $5 million in total revenues received 55% of all grant dollars. These larger organizations accounted for 6% of all music orgs.

Grant amounts

Size of grantNumber of grants
<$10k
 
2,278
$10k-$25k
 
0
$25k-$100k
 
0
$100k+
 
1

Grant amount by grantee size

Grantee annual revenueMedian grant size
<$100k
 
$2,000
$100k-$500k
 
$1,939
$500k-$1M
 
$2,000
$1M-$5M
 
$2,000
>$5M
 
$1,615

Grantee states

State of granteeNumber of grants
New York
 
374
California
 
240
Massachusetts
 
126
Illinois
 
120
Other
 
1,419

Grantee metros

Metro area of granteeNumber of grants
New York City
 
337
Chicago
 
112
Boston
 
71
Los Angeles
 
63
Other
 
1,473

Top 25 grants made to music festivals and events

GranteeGrant sizePurposeGrantmaker
Carnegie Hall / The Carnegie Hall Corporation$5,000,000Performing ArtsThe Kovner Foundation
The Defiant Requiem Foundation$5,000General Operating SupportShimon Ben Joseph Foundation
Sierra Music Society$5,000General SupportOddfellows Retirement Manor
Oyster Bay Music Festival$5,000GeneralThe Joel Foundation
Early Music Foundation$5,000CharitableReed Foundation
Sounds and Notes Foundation$5,000Cultural HeritageIj J Roman Family Foundation
317 Main St$5,000Performing Arts SchoolsEdward H Daveis Benevolent Fund
Musicambia$5,000Sec 501(c)(3)organizationCrosby Family Foundation
Bahama Village Music Program$5,000Music ProgramLarry Dion Foundation Suzanne D Banks Trustee
Highbridge Voices Corporation$5,000General Support DonationSeven Oaks Foundation
The Jazz Bakery Performance Space$5,000CharitablecharitableOwen Cheatham Foundation
Interschool Orchestras of New York$5,000General SupportLevitt Foundation / Stephen J Mathes Esq
Chamber Music Society of Detroit$5,000Cleveland Quartet AwardChamber Music America
Symphony of the Americas$5,000General OperatingJudith Linnell Foundation
Handel and Haydn Society (H+H)$5,000Unrestricted Operating SupportCase Western Reserve University
Cincinnati Contemporary Jazz Orchestra (CCJO)$5,000GeneralLouise Taft Semple Foundation
Colorado Music Festival and Center for Musical Art$5,000General Operating SupportThe Denver Foundation
Bennie L Williams Spiritual Voices$5,000For General Operating SupportThe Denver Foundation
Maha Music Festival$5,000Donation Used To Further the Mission of the OrganizationMidwest Housing Equity Group (MHEG)
Miami Childrens Chorus$5,000Program SupportThe Miami Foundation
Jazz at Lincoln Center$5,000CharitableSidney Kohl Family Foundation
Santa Barbara Strings$5,000GrantPerforming Arts Scholarship Foundation
Rose Ensemble the$5,000Provide Money for Operating ExpensesFilia Foundation
Connoisseur Concerts Association$5,000General SupportJohnston-Hanson Foundation
Pampas Tribute To Woody Guthrie$5,000OperationsGray-Pampa Foundation
Methodology: To determine grants and grantees, Cause IQ analyzes electronically-filed Form 990, Form 990-EZ, and Form 990-PF financial disclosure documents, matching grantees to specific organizations using EINs and fuzzy matching logic. The "Music festivals and events" category for this page is determined by the "A68: Music" National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities (NTEE) code. Cause IQ determines NTEEs for organizations by its own internally-developed secret-sauce algorithms.