Grants for performing arts schools

220 performing arts schools received at least $7.2 million in grants for the most recent fiscal year. This includes 573 grants made from 453 grantmaking organizations, with a median grant amount of $1,800. Of these 453 foundations, 89% made just a single grant to music schools, and 2% made grants to four or more music schools. This analysis is based on grantmakers that e-file their Form 990s, and likely is an undercount of grants.
$7,188,283
Total grant dollars given to performing arts schools
573
Number of grants made annually to performing arts schools
453
Number of grantmakers funding performing arts schools
$1,800
Median grant size to performing arts schools

Foundations that support performing arts schools

Out of all grants made to performing arts schools, 72% came from small foundations with less than $10 million in assets. The top 10 grantmakers accounted for 84% of the dollar-value of grants to music schools. Foundations funding music schools also made grants to art museums, theaters, universities, youth development programs, and christian organizations.

Foundation size

Foundation size Number of grantmakers
Small
 
327
Medium
 
65
Large
 
61
Small foundations have <$10M in assets. Medium foundations have $10M to $50M in assets. Large foundations have >$50M in assets.

Foundation type

Foundation type Number of grantmakers
Community
 
14
Private
 
396
Corporate
 
27
Other
 
16

Grants made

Grants made to music schools Number of grantmakers
1
 
407
2-3
 
35
4-10
 
9
11+
 
2

Top 10 foundations supporting performing arts schools

Grantmaker State Geographic focus Percent of grant dollars to music schools Number of grants made to music schools Median grant size
D'addario Foundation NY National 8.8% 20 $2,107
Community Foundation of North Central Wi WI Metro 0.3% 13 $500
Greater Worcester Community Foundation MA Metro 0.3% 10 $1,250
JP Morgan Chase Foundation NY National 0.0% 8 $310
Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee (CFMT) TN Metro 0.0% 7 $1,000
Gannett Foundation VA National 0.1% 6 $100
Abbvie Foundation IL National 0.0% 6 $312
Community Foundation of North Texas (NTXCF) TX State 0.1% 5 $2,500
Baird Foundation WI National 0.2% 4 $1,250
Cambridge Savings Charitable Foundation MA Metro 0.6% 4 $1,675

Performing arts schools grantees

Performing arts schools with more than $5 million in total revenues received 88% of all grant dollars. These larger organizations accounted for 31% of all music schools.

Grant amounts

Size of grant Number of grants
<$10k
 
571
$10k-$25k
 
0
$25k-$100k
 
0
$100k+
 
2

Grant amount by grantee size

Grantee annual revenue Median grant size
<$100k
 
$5,000
$100k-$500k
 
$2,000
$500k-$1M
 
$1,000
$1M-$5M
 
$1,875
>$5M
 
$2,000

Grantee states

State of grantee Number of grants
New York
 
106
California
 
72
Illinois
 
60
Massachusetts
 
55
Other
 
280

Grantee metros

Metro area of grantee Number of grants
New York City
 
100
Chicago
 
61
Philadelphia
 
35
San Francisco
 
31
Other
 
269

Top 25 grants made to performing arts schools

Grantee Grant size Purpose Grantmaker
Colburn School $3,056,000 General Support Dunard Fund USA
California Jazz Conservatory (CJC) $2,855,000 Endowment- California Jazz Conservatory Marin Community Foundation
Make Music Nola $5,000 Charitable - Adopt-An-Instrument Program in Nola The Mary Freeman Wisdom Foundation
David Hochstein Memorial Music School $5,000 Tuition Assistance Program Robert G Boehmler Community Foundation
Merit School of Music $5,000 General Chang Family Foundation
Omaha Conservatory of Music (OCM) $5,000 Charitable Javitch Karen Sokolof Char FND-CSH
Aspen Music Festival and School (AMFS) $5,000 Scholarship The Denver Foundation
Music Institute of Chicago (MIC) $5,000 Public Charity Robert W Galvin Foundation
Brevard Music Center Incorporated (BMC) $5,000 General The Gable Foundation
Curtis Institute of Music $5,000 Student Education Program Charlotte and William Hinson Charitable Foundation Trust
Settlement Music School $5,000 General Operating Support JP Morgan Chase Foundation
Aspen Music Festival and School (AMFS) $5,000 General Support The Clinton Family Fund
Ali Akbar College of Music $5,000 For General Operating Support William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
Bender JCC of Greater Washington $5,000 General Melvin & Estelle Gelman Foundation
Curtis Institute of Music $5,000 General Operating Lindback CR and MF Foundation TW Main
Curtis Institute of Music $5,000 General Funds Honickman Foundation
Armstrong Community Music School (ACMS) $5,000 General Operating Support The Community Foundation
Community Music Center of Boston (CMCB) $5,000 Education Edward Payson George Charitable Trust
Bender JCC of Greater Washington $5,000 Patient Education Parkinsons Disease Foundation Incorporated (PDF)
Fernando Pullum Community Arts Center $5,000 General Support David Geffen Foundation
Paul Schenley $5,000 Organization's Exempt Laurence W Levine Foundation 141008400
Brooklyn Conservatory of Music (BCM) $5,000 General Support The Nathan Cummings Foundation
The School of American Ballet (SAB) $5,000 Trustee Grant - General Operating Support The Howard Gilman Foundation
Suzuki School of Newton $5,000 Program Support Rockland Trust Charitable Foundation
Brooklyn Conservatory of Music (BCM) $5,000 General Operating Credit Suisse Americas 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 "Performing arts schools" category for this page is determined by the "A6E: Performing Arts Schools" National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities (NTEE) code. Cause IQ determines NTEEs for organizations by its own internally-developed secret-sauce algorithms.