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Lester and Phyllis Epstein Foundation Inc at a glance

· Private foundation

Lester and Phyllis Epstein Foundation Inc

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$166k
Granted FY2024still arriving
26
Grants FY2024still arriving
5
States reached
$40k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2024.

Environment$399kArts & Culture$326kHuman Services$75kYouth Development$70kRecreation & Sports$13kEducation$10k
02FY2024 · 26 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k21 grants · $86k
  • $10k–50k5 grants · $80k
$5,000
Median grant
5
States reached
$3.2M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Kingston Land Trust Inc$40,000
Maya Gold Foundation$10,000
Hudson River Watershed Alliance$10,000
Asian Counseling and Referral Services$10,000
Wing Luke Museum$10,000
Living Traditions$7,500
Individual grant recipient$5,000
Riverkeeper$5,000
Land Trust Alliance$5,000
YMCA of Kingston and Ulster County$5,000
Scenic Hudson$5,000
Friends of Historic Kingston$5,000
Threadhead Cultural Foundation$5,000
A Contemporary Theatre$4,000
Seattle Theatre Group$4,000
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 (FY20–24, $75k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 33% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%YMCA of Kingston and Ulster County: $5k → 16%YMCA of Kingston and Ulster County: $5k → 16%YMCA of Kingston and Ulster County: $5k → 16%YMCA of Kingston and Ulster County: $5k → 16%YMCA of Kingston and Ulster County: $5k → 16%Asian Counseling and Referral Services: $10k → 9%Asian Counseling and Referral Services: $10k → 9%Asian Counseling and Referral Services: $10k → 9%Asian Counseling and Referral Services: $10k → 9%Asian Counseling and Referral Services: $10k → 9%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.
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.

97%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$869k · 31 repeat orgs$24k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +31% since the first grant, against +23% for those funded once.

31 repeat relationships: 26 still active in FY2024, 5 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

31
5

Total granted

$869k
$24k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+31%
+23%

Still filing today

90%
60%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’20’21’22’23’24
Arts & CultureEnvironmentHuman ServicesYouth DevelopmentRecreation & SportsEducationOther
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

  • KL
    Kingston Land Trust Inc
    5× · 2020–2024 · $214k · revenue +87%
  • MG
    MAYA GOLD FOUNDATION
    5× · 2020–2024 · $50k · revenue +109%
  • WING LUKE MEMORIAL FOUNDATION
    5× · 2020–2024 · $50k · revenue +48%

Funded once

  • BC
    BENNINGTON COLLEGE CORPORATION
    one grant, 2020 · $10k · revenue +23%
  • GV
    Greenwich Village Society for Historic Pres
    one grant, 2020 · $5k
  • SR
    SEATTLE REPERTORY THEATER FOUNDATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $4k · revenue +569%
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
Southwest Washington Center for the Arts
Philanthropy
2
Artist Trust

Artist Trust supports the livelihoods of artists working in all disciplines to create a more vibrant and equitable Washington State.

Arts & Culture
3
On the Boards

On the Boards' mission is to invest in leading contemporary performing artists near and far and connect them to a diverse range of communities interested in forward-thinking art and ideas.

—
4
Alki Art Fair

To produce and promote west seattle's premier summer arts showcase on alki beach. our goal is to advance art education and appreciation while encouraging community involvement and cultural diversity for the community's benefit.

Arts & Culture
5
Fremont Arts Council

The Fremont Arts Council (FAC) is a Seattle-based community arts organization founded in 1979. The FAC cultivates creativity, celebration, and belonging by engaging people of all backgrounds as active participants in the arts. We produce…

Arts & Culture
6
Artists Repertory Theatre

Artists repertory theatre's mission is to produce intimate, provacative theatre and provide a home for a diverse community of artists and audiences to take creative risks.

Arts & Culture
7
The Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust

The Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust leads and inspires action to conserve and enhance the landscape of the Mountains to Sound Greenway, ensuring a long-term balance between people and nature.

Environment
8
Whatcom Land Trust

The mission of the Whatcom Land Trust is to preserve and protect wildlife habitat, scenic, agricultural and open space lands in Whatcom County for future generations by securing interests in land and promoting land stewardship.

Environment
9
Bow Street Theatre Trust
—
10
Mount Baker Theatre

The Mount Baker Theatre Organization enriches our region's culture through dynamic performances and arts education, inspiring engagement in the community, and stewardship of a national historic treasure.

Arts & Culture
11
Willapa Bay AiR
Arts & Culture
12
The Shakespeare Theatre

The shakespeare theatre company creates, preserves and promotes classic theatre-ambitious, enduring plays with universal themes-for all audiences. through the creation of provocative, imaginative, and accessible theatre, stc ignites a…

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Seattle Repertory Theatre; the most unlike its peers is Maya Gold Foundation. 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

31 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. 31 of the 36 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)
31/31
Grantees still filing
23/31
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Kingston Land Trust Inc: $214,000 · EnvironmentKingston Land Trust IncHUDSON RIVER WATERSHED ALLIANCE INC: $50,000 · EnvironmentHUDSON RIVER WATERSHED ALLIANCE INCScenic Hudson Inc: $35,000 · EnvironmentScenic Hudson IncLAND TRUST ALLIANCE INC: $35,000 · EnvironmentLAND TRUST ALLIANCE INCRIVERKEEPER INC: $35,000 · EnvironmentRIVERKEEPER INC+2 more: $24,500 · Environment+2 moreLIVING TRADITIONS INC: $23,500 · Arts & CultureLIVING TRADITIONS INCOREGON SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL ASSOCIATION INC: $20,000 · Arts & CultureOREGON SHAKESPEARE FESTIV…Spectrum Dance Theater: $20,000 · Arts & CultureSpectrum Dance TheaterA CONTEMPORARY THEATRE INC: $20,000 · Arts & CultureA CONTEMPORARY THEATRE IN…Jack Straw Foundation: $20,000 · Arts & CultureJack Straw FoundationSEATTLE THEATRE GROUP: $20,000 · Arts & CultureSEATTLE THEATRE GROUPSEATTLE ART MUSEUM: $20,000 · Arts & CultureSEATTLE ART MUSEUMSEATTLE REPERTORY THEATRE: $16,000 · Arts & CultureSEATTLE REPERTORY THEATREINTIMAN THEATRE: $12,500 · Arts & CultureINTIMAN THEATREThreadhead Cultural Foundation: $10,000 · Arts & CultureREACT THEATRE: $7,500 · Arts & Culture+5 more: $13,000 · Arts & Culture+5 moreWING LUKE MEMORIAL FOUNDATION: $50,000 · OtherWING LUKE MEMORIA…FRIENDS OF HISTORIC KINGSTON: $25,000 · OtherFRIENDS OF HISTOR…Reher Center for Immigrant Culture: $20,000 · OtherReher Center for …Individual grant recipient: $20,000 · OtherIndividual grant …THE AMY YEE TENNIS FOUNDATION: $12,500 · OtherTHE AMY YEE TENNI…Greenwich Village Society for Historic Pres: $5,000 · OtherWALLKILL VALLEY LAND TRUST: $5,000 · Other+1 more: $3,500 · OtherASIAN COUNSELING AND REFERRAL SERVICE: $50,000 · Human ServicesASIAN COU…THE YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATI OF KINGSTON AND ULSTER COUNTY: $25,000 · Human ServicesTHE YOUNG…MAYA GOLD FOUNDATION: $50,000 · Youth DevelopmentBike Works Seattle: $20,000 · Recreation & SportsBENNINGTON COLLEGE CORPORATION: $10,000 · Education
Environment$393,500Arts & Culture$202,500Other$141,000Human Services$75,000Youth Development$50,000Recreation & Sports$20,000Education$10,000

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetKingston Land Trust Inc: $214,000 over 5y, 12% of budgetMAYA GOLD FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 5y, 17% of budgetWING LUKE MEMORIAL FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetASIAN COUNSELING AND REFERRAL SERVICE: $50,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetHUDSON RIVER WATERSHED ALLIANCE INC: $50,000 over 5y, 8.1% of budgetScenic Hudson Inc: $35,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetLAND TRUST ALLIANCE INC: $35,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetRIVERKEEPER INC: $35,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetFRIENDS OF HISTORIC KINGSTON: $25,000 over 5y, 3.4% of budgetTHE YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATI OF KINGSTON AND ULSTER COUNTY: $25,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetLIVING TRADITIONS INC: $23,500 over 3y, 1.0% of budgetOREGON SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL ASSOCIATION INC: $20,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetBike Works Seattle: $20,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetSpectrum Dance Theater: $20,000 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetA CONTEMPORARY THEATRE INC: $20,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetJack Straw Foundation: $20,000 over 5y, 0.8% of budgetSEATTLE THEATRE GROUP: $20,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetSEATTLE ART MUSEUM: $20,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetSEATTLE REPERTORY THEATRE: $16,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetINTIMAN THEATRE: $12,500 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetWoodstock Land Conservancy Inc: $12,500 over 5y, 0.7% of budgetRONDOUT-ESOPUS LAND CONSERVANC: $12,000 over 4y, 5.3% of budgetThreadhead Cultural Foundation: $10,000 over 2y, 4.3% of budgetBENNINGTON COLLEGE CORPORATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetREACT THEATRE: $7,500 over 3y, 10% of budgetWALLKILL VALLEY LAND TRUST: $5,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetSEATTLE REPERTORY THEATER FOUNDATION: $4,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetBELLEVUE ART MUSEUM: $3,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTacoma Art Museum: $3,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetHUDSON RIVER MARITIME MUSEUM: $2,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetArts Society of Kingston Inc: $1,000 over 1y, 0.5% 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.

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.

ArtsfundSeattle FoundationPuget Sound Energy Fo…Wyman Youth TrustAsh Family FoundationAlhadeff Family Chari…Community Foundations…The Norcliffe Foundat…M J Murdock Charitabl…The Newcombe Foundati…Kvistad FoundationThe Conru Foundation
ArtsfundWA23× affinity9 shared granteesties to 8 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Artsfund · Seattle Foundation · Puget Sound Energy Foundation · Wyman Youth Trust · Ash Family Foundation · Alhadeff Family Charitable Foundation · Community Foundations of the Hudson Valley Inc · The Norcliffe Foundation · M J Murdock Charitable Trust · The Newcombe Foundation · Kvistad Foundation · The Conru 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 Lester and Phyllis Epstein Foundation Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Lester and Phyllis Epstein Foundation Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%5%11%20%funder's share of their income ↑0%8%15%22%30%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • Oregon Shakespeare Festival Association Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Bennington College Corporation: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
13report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–30%
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.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Lester and Phyllis Epstein Foundation Inc?

Find your warmest path to Lester and Phyllis Epstein Foundation Inc through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.

Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.

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 36 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Lester and Phyllis Epstein’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