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Eljay Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Eljay Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$48k
Granted FY2025still arriving
11
Grants FY2025still arriving
3
States reached
$22k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0191% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Arts & Culture$389kEducation$100kReligion$91kHealth$33kInternational$10kCivil Rights$6kCommunity Improvement$5kYouth Development$3kOther$0
02FY2025 · 11 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k9 grants · $12k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $37k
$1,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$72k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
LUTHERAN SUMMER MUSIC ACADEMY$21,667
Individual grant recipient$15,000
CANTS$5,000
COMMUSICATION$1,500
CONSPIRARE$1,000
NATIONAL LUTHERAN CHOIR$1,000
MINNESOTA CHORALE$1,000
SKYLARK VOCAL ENSEMBLE$500
Individual grant recipient$500
NORTHERN LIGHTS MUSIC FESTIVAL$500
MPLS-IMPULSE$500
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Its human-services grants (FY19–19, $500) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT: $500 → 14%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.

Which US states its grants reach

MN
IL
NY
IA
CA
MD
NM
DC
GA
TX
FL
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

78%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$581k · 23 repeat orgs$165k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +28% since the first grant, against +18% for those funded once.

23 repeat relationships: 9 still active in FY2025, 14 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

23
22

Total granted

$581k
$128k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+28%
+18%

Still filing today

70%
55%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 24% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $37k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
Arts & CultureEducationReligionHealthCrime & LegalHuman ServicesOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • LM
    LUTHERAN MUSIC PROGRAM
    6× · 2018–2023 · $77k · revenue +50%
  • NL
    NATIONAL LUTHERAN CHOIR CORP
    9× · 2017–2025 · $72k · revenue +147%
  • C
    CANTUS
    8× · 2018–2025 · $59k · revenue +16%

Funded once

  • IC
    ILLINOIS CENTRAL COLLEGE FOUNDATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $30k · revenue +65%
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2024 · $25k
  • LS
    LUTHERAN SUMMER MUSIC PROGRAM
    one grant, 2024 · $22k
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Muse Cincinnati Womens Choir

MUSE is an inclusive and feminist choral community advocating for peace and social justice. We unite our voices to raise awareness and inspire change in ourselves, our audiences, and our world through partnerships that honor the humanity…

Arts & Culture
2
Nielsen Chorale
Arts & Culture
3
Vanguard Concerts
—
4
Singers Minnesota Choral Artists

The Singers serve as artists educators and ambassadors of the choral art. Primary activities are performances educational outreach and recording.

Arts & Culture
5
Cor Cantiamo Nfp

Promote Contemporary Choral Music

Arts & Culture
6
Artaria

Artaria centers on string quartet performance and education in minnesota. it is committed to presenting inspiring performances, to mentoring string players of all ages, and to illuminate the world's great repertoire of chamber music to a…

Arts & Culture
7
The Esoterics

The Esoterics is a Seattle-based vocal ensemble, dedicated to performing and perpetuating contemporary choral music from around the world.

Arts & Culture
8
Magnum Chorum

High quality performances of sacred choral music in beautiful venues that transform listeners in concert and worship and nurture a deeper connection with God and one another.

Arts & Culture
9
California Bach Society Inc

Choral Music Performances: California Bach Society is a 30-voice chamber choir known for finely wrought interpretations of Renaissance and Baroque music, often accompanied by leading period instrumentalists. Each season, the choir performs…

—
10
The Thirteen

The Thirteen is a professional choir and orchestra with a mission to inspire the soul to sing, move the heart to empathy, and build community, all through groundbreaking musical performance: through concerts, workshops, education outreach,…

Unclassified
11
Angelica Cantanti Youth Choirs

Inspiring young voices across the Twin Cities to sing and develop a lifelong love for choral music. Our programs serve children in grades K-12, and we also offer an adult choir, Encore. We rehearse weekly in Bloomington and perform at…

Arts & Culture
12
Voices of Silicon Valley

Community Music / Arts Organization

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Cantus; the most unlike its peers is Mpls Impulse. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

30 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 30 of the 47 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
9
Early backer (in before they grew)
28/30
Grantees still filing
20/30
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

PEACE LUTHERAN CHURCH: $139,700 · OtherPEACE LUTHERAN CHURCHLUTHERAN MUSIC PROGRAM: $76,667 · OtherLUTHERAN MUSIC PROGRAMNATIONAL LUTHERAN CHOIR CORP: $71,750 · OtherNATIONAL LUTHERAN CHOIR CORPIndividual grant recipient: $62,606 · OtherIndividual grant recipientILLINOIS CENTRAL COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $30,000 · OtherILLINOIS CENTRAL COLLEGE FOUNDATIONCONCORDIA COLLEGE CORPORATION: $25,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $25,000 · OtherLUTHERAN SUMMER MUSIC PROGRAM: $22,017 · OtherLUTHERAN SUMMER MUSIC ACADEMY: $21,667 · Other+15 more: $58,500 · Other+15 moreCANTUS: $58,812 · Arts & CultureCANTUS29 11 INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGE: $27,500 · Arts & Culture29 11 INTERNATIONAL EXCHAN…COMMUSICATION: $26,628 · Arts & CultureCOMMUSICATIONMINNESOTA CHORALE: $12,515 · Arts & CultureMINNESOTA CHORALEAPOLLO FUND INC: $10,000 · Arts & CultureAPOLLO FUND INCCONSPIRARE INC: $9,500 · Arts & CultureCONSPIRARE INCVOICES OF HOPE: $7,500 · Arts & Culture+9 more: $18,650 · Arts & Culture+9 moreVOICES OF HOPE INC: $31,500 · HealthAMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY WOMEN INC: $5,000 · EducationGUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS COLLEGE: $1,000 · EducationINTERSERVE MINISTRIES: $2,000 · ReligionSOUTHSIDE FAMILY NURTURING CENTER: $1,000 · Crime & LegalWOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT INC: $500 · Human ServicesAnimal Humane Society: $500 · Animals
Other$532,907Arts & Culture$171,105Health$31,500Education$6,000Religion$2,000Crime & Legal$1,000Human Services$500Animals$500

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetLUTHERAN MUSIC PROGRAM: $76,667 over 6y, 1.5% of budgetNATIONAL LUTHERAN CHOIR CORP: $71,750 over 9y, 2.5% of budgetCANTUS: $58,812 over 8y, 1.2% of budgetVOICES OF HOPE INC: $31,500 over 4y, 1.3% of budgetILLINOIS CENTRAL COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $30,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetCOMMUSICATION: $26,628 over 9y, 3.6% of budgetCONCORDIA COLLEGE CORPORATION: $25,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetMINNESOTA CHORALE: $12,515 over 6y, 1.1% of budgetCONSPIRARE INC: $9,500 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetA PEACE OF MY MIND INC: $6,500 over 3y, 1.9% of budgetMPLS IMPULSE: $5,500 over 6y, 3.4% of budgetAMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY WOMEN INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBACH ROOTS FESTIVAL: $4,000 over 2y, 2.5% of budgetSKYLARK VOCAL ENSEMBLE INC: $3,500 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetSPRINGBOARD FOR THE ARTS: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetVOCALESSENCE: $2,150 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetINTERSERVE MINISTRIES: $2,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetEXULTATE: $1,500 over 1y, 2.7% of budgetTHE FILM COLLABORATIVE INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS COLLEGE: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSOUTHSIDE FAMILY NURTURING CENTER: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNORTHERN LIGHTS MUSIC FESTIVAL: $1,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetWOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSKYLARK OPERA: $500 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetAnimal Humane Society: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

  • Who funds LUTHERAN MUSIC PROGRAM ↗
  • Who funds NATIONAL LUTHERAN CHOIR CORP ↗
  • Who funds CANTUS ↗
  • Who funds VOICES OF HOPE INC ↗
  • Who funds ILLINOIS CENTRAL COLLEGE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds 29 11 INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGE ↗
  • Who funds COMMUSICATION ↗
  • Who funds CONCORDIA COLLEGE CORPORATION ↗
  • Who funds MINNESOTA CHORALE ↗
  • Who funds APOLLO FUND INC ↗
  • Who funds CONSPIRARE INC ↗
  • Who funds VOICES OF HOPE ↗
  • Who funds A PEACE OF MY MIND INC ↗
  • Who funds MPLS IMPULSE ↗
  • Who funds AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY WOMEN INC ↗
  • Who funds BACH ROOTS FESTIVAL ↗
  • Who funds SKYLARK VOCAL ENSEMBLE INC ↗
  • Who funds CROSSING BORDERS MUSIC COLLECTIVE ↗
  • Who funds SPRINGBOARD FOR THE ARTS ↗
  • Who funds VOCALESSENCE ↗
  • Who funds SANTA FE DESERT CHORALE ↗
  • Who funds INTERSERVE MINISTRIES ↗
  • Who funds EXULTATE ↗
  • Who funds THE FILM COLLABORATIVE INC ↗
  • Who funds GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds SOUTHSIDE FAMILY NURTURING CENTER ↗

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Anna M Heilmaier Char…Ann & Gordon Getty Fo…Mightycause Charitabl…Target FoundationIbm International Fou…Saint Paul & Minnesot…National Philanthropi…Donor Advised Charita…Vanguard Charitable E…American Online Givin…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Anna M Heilmaier Charitable FdnMN17.8× affinity6 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Anna M Heilmaier Charitable Fdn · Ann & Gordon Getty Foundation · Mightycause Charitable Foundation · Target Foundation · Ibm International Foundation · Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile Foundation

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Eljay Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Eljay Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2025
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 5%
  • Voices of Hope Inc: 5% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
7report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
typical government reliance, FY20–25
How this is measured
Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.

On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 47 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

How this is measured
Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

Generated from the IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Eljay’s filings →

More from the funding graph

The unnamed billions
grants reported with no recipient in the public record
The regranting layer
51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
The DAF merry-go-round
$9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
The endowment market
who holds foundation money, and what just moved
The camps
funders cluster by geography, not ideology
By state
where grant money is based, and what stays home