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Elster Foundation Agt at a glance

· Private foundation

Elster Foundation Agt

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.

$374k
Granted FY2025still arriving
61
Grants FY2025still arriving
11
States reached
$60k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0198% 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$1.4MEducation$432kHealth$287kAnimals$79kHuman Services$50kRecreation & Sports$23kReligion$15kPhilanthropy$12kOther$0
02FY2025 · 61 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k50 grants · $131k
  • $10k–50k10 grants · $183k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $60k
$3,000
Median grant
11
States reached
$4.2M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
SARASOTA BALLET OF FLORIDA INC$60,000
ROBERT W WOODRUFF ARTS CENTER INC$27,500
CHILDRENS HEALTHCARE OF ATLANTA FDN$25,000
The Atlanta Opera Inc$25,000
FLORIDA STUDIO THEATRE INC$25,000
MARTINSVILLE-HENRY COUNTY YMCA$25,000
ATLANTA BALLET$15,000
ROCHESTER AREA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION$10,000
SPCA OF MARTINSVILLE AND HENRY CNTY$10,000
TERMINUS MODERN BALLET THEATRE$10,000
PIEDMONT ARTS ASSOCIATION$10,000
SPRECKELS ORGAN SOCIETY$5,000
VIRGINIA MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY$5,000
RADY CHILDRENS HOSPITAL SAN DIEGO$5,000
OCEAN BEACH EMERGENCY FOOD INCORPORA$5,000
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 (FY18–25, $18k) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 94% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%Hospice of Surry County Inc: $1k → 17%AAEP FOUNDATION: $3k → 15%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $2k → 14%AAEP FOUNDATION: $3k → 15%AAEP FOUNDATION: $3k → 15%AAEP FOUNDATION: $2k → 15%AAEP FOUNDATION: $1k → 15%PINES OF SARASOTA: $1k → 9%GRACE NETWORK OF MARTINSVILLE & HENRY CO: $1k → 17%GRACE NETWORK OF MARTINSVILLE & HENRY CO: $1k → 17%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
IN
CT
CA
KY
VA
NC
DC
AL
GA
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.

93%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2.2M · 72 repeat orgs$175k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +36% since the first grant, against +6% for those funded once.

72 repeat relationships: 42 still active in FY2025, 30 since wound down; 17 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

72
28

Total granted

$2.2M
$95k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+36%
+6%

Still filing today

63%
36%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 78% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $80k 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 & CultureEducationHealthHuman ServicesRecreation & SportsEnvironmentOther
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

  • SB
    Sarasota Ballet of Florida Inc
    9× · 2017–2025 · $598k · revenue +131%
  • FLORIDA STUDIO THEATRE INC
    9× · 2017–2025 · $185k · revenue +101%
  • CH
    CHILDREN'S HEALTHCARE OF ATLANTA INC
    5× · 2020–2024 · $110k · revenue +33%

Funded once

  • WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITYgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $25k · revenue +30%
  • GC
    GULF COAST COMM FNDN
    one grant, 2017 · $10k
  • NC
    N CAROLINA DISASTER RELIEF FUND
    one grant, 2018 · $7k
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
Rollins College

Education and Public Service Mission: Rollins College educates students for global citizenship and responsible leadership, empowering graduates to pursue meaningful lives and productive careers. We are committed to liberal arts ethos and…

Education
2
Vanderbilt University

See Disclosure Above.

Education
3
Furman University

The primary mission of furman as a liberal arts institution is to provide a distinctive education in fine arts, humanities, social sciences, mathematics and the sciences, as well as selected professional disciplines.

Education
4
North Carolina Symphony Society Inc

To be north carolina's state orchestra, an orchestra achieving the highest level of artistic quality and performance standards, and embracing its dual legacies of statewide service and music education.

Arts & Culture
5
Boston Architectural College

The bac is committed to provide excellence in design education grounded in practice and accessible to diverse communities.

—
6
Wilson College

Wilson college empowers students to be confident and critical thinkers, creative visionaries, effective communicators, honorable leaders, and agents of justice.

Education
7
Barton College

Founded in 1902, barton college is a four-year, private, liberal arts college located in wilson, n.c. the barton experience focuses on academic excellence within a wide range of professional and liberal arts programs leading to…

Education
8
University of New Haven

The University of New Haven is a student-centered comprehensive university with an emphasis on excellence in liberal arts and professional education. Our mission is to prepare our students to lead purposeful and fulfilling lives in a…

Education
9
Columbia College

Columbia college improves lives by providing quality education to both traditional and nontraditional students, helping them achieve their true potential.

Education
10
Spelman College

Spelman college, a historically black college and global leader in the education of women of african descent, is dedicated to the academic excellence of its students.

Education
11
The Trustees of Princeton University

Research, education and general - princeton university is a private not-for-profit, non-sectarian institution of higher learning with approximately 5,700 undergraduate and 3,300 graduate students. 2,500 students graduated in the 2024-2025…

Education
12
Augustana College

Rooted in the liberal arts & sciences & lutheran expression of the christian faith, & is committed to offering a challenging education that develops qualities of mind, spirit, & body necessary for a rewarding life of leadership & service…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Atlanta Ballet Inc; the most unlike its peers is Wake Forest University. 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

68 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

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 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 68 of the 119 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)
11
Early backer (in before they grew)
67/68
Grantees still filing
46/68
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Sarasota Ballet of Florida Inc: $597,820 · Arts & CultureSarasota Ballet of Florida IncATLANTA BALLET INC: $197,500 · Arts & CultureATLANTA BALLET INCFLORIDA STUDIO THEATRE INC: $185,000 · Arts & CultureFLORIDA STUDIO THEATRE INCROBERT W WOODRUFF ARTS CENTER INC: $88,000 · Arts & CultureROBERT W WOODRUFF ARTS CENTER INC+15 more: $146,500 · Arts & Culture+15 moreThe Piedmont Arts Association: $97,000 · OtherThe Piedmont Arts Associati…CHILDREN'S HEALTHCARE OF ATLANTA: $45,000 · OtherCHILDREN'S HEALTHCARE OF AT…TERMINUS MODERN BALLET THEATRE: $34,500 · OtherTERMINUS MODERN BALLET THEA…AUBURN UNIVERSITY: $32,500 · OtherAUBURN UNIVERSITYWEILL CORNELL MEDICINE: $31,000 · OtherWEILL CORNELL MEDICINEAUBURN UNIV--ELSTER FOUND SCHOL: $30,000 · OtherSPCA OF MARTINSVILLE AND HENRY CTY: $27,500 · OtherMARTINSVILLE-HENRY COUNTY YMCA: $27,000 · OtherCHILDRENS HEALTHCARE OF ATLANTA FDN: $25,000 · OtherVIRGINIA MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: $23,000 · Other+58 more: $208,600 · Other+58 moreRON CLARK ACADEMY INC: $87,000 · EducationRON CLARK ACADEMY…Charlotte Preparatory School Inc: $60,800 · EducationCharlotte Prepara…CARLISLE SCHOOL: $40,000 · EducationCARLISLE SCHOOLBERRY COLLEGE INC: $37,500 · EducationBERRY COLLEGE INCTHE PARK SCHOOL OF BUFFALO: $37,500 · EducationTHE PARK SCHOOL O…WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY: $25,000 · EducationWAKE FOREST UNIVE…CHATHAM HALL: $23,500 · EducationCHATHAM HALLElon University: $20,500 · EducationElon University+9 more: $41,400 · Education+9 moreCHILDREN'S HEALTHCARE OF ATLANTA INC: $110,000 · HealthCOLON CANCER COALITION INC: $17,400 · HealthSARASOTA MEMORIAL HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION INC: $11,500 · HealthRADY CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL SAN DIEGO: $10,000 · Health+2 more: $6,000 · HealthSAN DIEGO HUMANE SOCIETY AND SPCA: $20,000 · AnimalsGRAYSON-JOCKEY CLUB RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC: $12,500 · AnimalsJANE GOODALL INSTITUTE FOR WILDLIFE RESEARCH EDUCATION AND CONSERVATION: $2,500 · AnimalsTHE FOUNDATION FOR THE HORSE FKA THE AAEP FOUNDATION INC: $11,200 · Human ServicesGrace Network of Martinsville & Henry Co: $2,000 · Human ServicesAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $2,000 · Human ServicesHospice of Surry County Inc: $1,400 · Human ServicesPINES OF SARASOTA INC: $1,000 · Human ServicesROCHESTER AREA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $12,000 · Philanthropy
Arts & Culture$1,214,820Other$581,100Education$373,200Health$154,900Animals$35,000Human Services$17,600Philanthropy$12,000

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 budgetSarasota Ballet of Florida Inc: $597,820 over 9y, 1.7% of budgetATLANTA BALLET INC: $197,500 over 9y, 0.4% of budgetFLORIDA STUDIO THEATRE INC: $185,000 over 9y, 0.3% of budgetCHILDREN'S HEALTHCARE OF ATLANTA INC: $110,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetThe Piedmont Arts Association: $97,000 over 6y, 3.5% of budgetROBERT W WOODRUFF ARTS CENTER INC: $88,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetRON CLARK ACADEMY INC: $87,000 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetCharlotte Preparatory School Inc: $60,800 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetCARLISLE SCHOOL: $40,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetBERRY COLLEGE INC: $37,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE PARK SCHOOL OF BUFFALO: $37,500 over 6y, 0.3% of budgetUSS MIDWAY MUSEUM: $25,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetWAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ATLANTA OPERA INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSPRECKELS ORGAN SOCIETY: $25,000 over 5y, 0.9% of budgetCHATHAM HALL: $23,500 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetElon University: $20,500 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetSAN DIEGO HUMANE SOCIETY AND SPCA: $20,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCity Springs Theatre: $17,500 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetCOLON CANCER COALITION INC: $17,400 over 9y, 0.3% of budgetASOLO THEATRE INC: $15,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetGRAYSON-JOCKEY CLUB RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC: $12,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetROCHESTER AREA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $12,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetSARASOTA MEMORIAL HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION INC: $11,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE FOUNDATION FOR THE HORSE FKA THE AAEP FOUNDATION INC: $11,200 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetAUBURN UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $11,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetMaritime Museum Association of San Diego: $10,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetBOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF THE BLUE RIDGE INC: $10,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetRADY CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL SAN DIEGO: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA ASSOCIATION: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCornell University: $8,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCHARLOTTE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA SOCIETY INC: $8,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetAlpha Epsilon Phi Foundation: $6,500 over 3y, 5.7% of budgetPiedmont Park Conservancy Inc: $6,250 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetIce Hockey Club at NC State Talley Student Union 4210: $6,100 over 5y, 0.6% of budgetCharity League of Martinsville: $6,000 over 6y, 2.3% of budgetREUBEN H FLEET SCIENCE CENTER: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetN-LOREM FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetChastain Park Conservancy Inc: $4,750 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetSecond Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina Inc: $3,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetJUNIOR LEAGUE OF CHARLOTTESVILLE: $3,000 over 2y, 2.7% of budgetTHE SIGMA ALPHA MU FOUNDATION: $3,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetDavidson College: $2,900 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetATLANTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC: $2,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetLynch Syndrome International: $2,500 over 1y, 6.3% of budgetCatawba Lands Conservancy: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUniversity of South Florida Foundation Inc: $2,200 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetGrace Network of Martinsville & Henry Co: $2,000 over 2y, 0.2% 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 Sarasota Ballet of Florida Inc ↗
  • Who funds ATLANTA BALLET INC ↗
  • Who funds FLORIDA STUDIO THEATRE INC ↗
  • Who funds CHILDREN'S HEALTHCARE OF ATLANTA INC ↗
  • Who funds The Piedmont Arts Association ↗
  • Who funds ROBERT W WOODRUFF ARTS CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds RON CLARK ACADEMY INC ↗
  • Who funds Charlotte Preparatory School Inc ↗
  • Who funds CARLISLE SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds BERRY COLLEGE INC ↗
  • Who funds THE PARK SCHOOL OF BUFFALO ↗
  • Who funds USS MIDWAY MUSEUM ↗
  • Who funds WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds THE ATLANTA OPERA INC ↗
  • Who funds SPRECKELS ORGAN SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds CHATHAM HALL ↗
  • Who funds Elon University ↗
  • Who funds SAN DIEGO HUMANE SOCIETY AND SPCA ↗
  • Who funds City Springs Theatre ↗
  • Who funds COLON CANCER COALITION INC ↗
  • Who funds ASOLO THEATRE INC ↗
  • Who funds GRAYSON-JOCKEY CLUB RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds ROCHESTER AREA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds SARASOTA MEMORIAL HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds THE FOUNDATION FOR THE HORSE FKA THE AAEP FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds AUBURN UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Maritime Museum Association of San Diego ↗
  • Who funds BOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF THE BLUE RIDGE INC ↗

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.

The Bessemer Giving F…Community Foundation …Jewish Federation of …Ibm International Fou…The Community Foundat…The Coca-Cola Foundat…The Arthur M Blank Fa…Foundation for the Ca…Georgia Power Foundat…Ge Aerospace Foundati…The Winston-Salem Fou…Betty and Leon Goldst…
The Bessemer Giving FundNJ17.4× affinity8 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Bessemer Giving Fund · Community Foundation Serving Western Virginia · Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta Inc · Ibm International Foundation · The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta Inc · The Coca-Cola Foundation Inc · The Arthur M Blank Family Foundation · Foundation for the Carolinas · Georgia Power Foundation Inc · Ge Aerospace Foundation · The Winston-Salem Foundation · Betty and Leon Goldstein 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 Elster Foundation Agt funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Elster Foundation Agt. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 18%
  • Pines of Sarasota Inc: 18% of income from government
  • Florida Studio Theatre Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
23report 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 119 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 Elster Foundation Agt’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