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Protostar Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Protostar Foundation

TO IDENTIFY, DEVELOP, AND/OR INVEST IN PROJECTS THAT SERVE UNSERVED OR UNDERSERVED NEEDS.

$79k
Granted FY2024still arriving
7
Grants FY2024still arriving
4
States reached
$30k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Arts & Culture$132kRecreation & Sports$74kEducation$14kPhilanthropy$10kHealth$6k
02FY2024 · 7 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k4 grants · $12k
  • $10k–50k3 grants · $68k
$5,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$186k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
LA JOLLA MUSIC SOCIETY$30,000
NEW YORK JUNIOR TENNIS & LEARNING$27,500
NORTH COAST REPERTORY THREATRE$10,000
SILKROAD'S GLOBAL MUSIC WORKSHOP$5,000
JUNIOR TENNIS FOUNDATION$3,000
AMERICAN FOUNDATION FOR SUICIDE PREVENTION$2,500
CENTER FOR HEALING AND JUSTICE THROUGH SPORT$1,000
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 35% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%SILKROAD'S GLOBAL MUSIC WORKSHOP: $5k → 16%LA JOLLA MUSIC SOCIETY: $30k → 11%IPALPITI ARTISTS INTERNATIONAL INC: $2k → 14%JUNIOR TENNIS FOUNDATION: $3k → 9%NEW YORK JUNIOR TENNIS & LEARNING: $28k → 13%AMERICAN FOUNDATION FOR SUICIDE PREVENTION: $3k → 17%KINGS COUNTY TENNIS LEAGUE INC: $5k → 20%CENTER FOR HEALING AND JUSTICE THROUGH SPORT: $1k → 14%LA JOLLA MUSIC SOCIETY: $30k → 11%JUNIOR TENNIS FOUNDATION: $2k → 9%NEW YORK JUNIOR TENNIS & LEARNING: $14k → 13%AMERICAN FOUNDATION FOR SUICIDE PREVENTION: $2k → 17%KINGS COUNTY TENNIS LEAGUE INC: $5k → 20%LA JOLLA MUSIC SOCIETY: $10k → 11%JUNIOR TENNIS FOUNDATION: $2k → 9%AMERICAN FOUNDATION FOR SUICIDE PREVENTION: $1k → 17%NETS FOUNDATION: $10k → 20%LA JOLLA MUSIC SOCIETY: $10k → 11%CITY PARKS FOUNDATION: $1k → 9%CITY PARKS FOUNDATION: $6k → 17%DIVERSIONARY THEATRE PRODUCTIONS: $10k → 11%DIVERSIONARY THEATRE PRODUCTIONS: $10k → 11%DIVERSIONARY THEATRE PRODUCTIONS INC: $5k → 11%DIVERSIONARY THEATRE PRODUCTIONS INC: $5k → 11%UNSCRIPTED LEARNING: $10k → 11%UNSCRIPTED LEARNING: $4k → 11%NORTH COAST REPERTORY THREATRE: $10k → 11%NORTH COAST REPERTORY THEATRE: $5k → 11%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.

92%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$216k · 10 repeat orgs$20k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +16% since the first grant, against -41% for those funded once.

10 repeat relationships: 5 still active in FY2024, 5 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

10
3

Total granted

$216k
$14k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+16%
-41%

Still filing today

90%
67%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 92% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $6k went to new ones.

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

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
Recreation & SportsArts & CultureEducationHealthPhilanthropyOther
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

  • DT
    DIVERSIONARY THEATRE PRODUCTIONS INC
    4× · 2018–2022 · $30k · revenue +49%
  • NC
    NORTH COAST REPERTORY THEATRE
    2× · 2022–2024 · $15k · revenue +27%
  • KC
    KINGS COUNTY TENNIS LEAGUE
    2× · 2021–2022 · $10k · revenue +137%

Funded once

  • TB
    THE BROOKLYN NETS & NEW YORK LIBERTY FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2021 · $10k · revenue -88%
  • IA
    IPALPITI ARTISTS INTERNATIONAL INC
    one grant, 2021 · $2k · revenue -41%
  • EC
    EAST COUNTY COMMUNITY TENNIS ASSOCIATION
    one grant, 2022 · $2k
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
New York Junior Tennis League Inc

To develop the character of young people through tennis and education, emphasizing the ideals and life of arthur ashe. see part iii, line 1 for more detail.

—
2
Crossroads Tennis Association
—
3
Usta National Tennis Center Incorporated

To promote and develop the game of tennis as a means to healthful recreation and physical fitness and to operate a year-round public recreational facility.

Recreation & Sports
4
Junior Tennis Champions Center Inc

The organization was formed to 1) foster and promote national and international amateur tennis competition and develop amateur athletes for that competition by providing instruction and equipment; 2) promote the sport of tennis to…

Recreation & Sports
5
Donkor Tennis & Education Foundation Inc
Recreation & Sports
6
San Diego Junior Theatre

San Diego Junior Theatre (Junior Theatre) was incorporated in 1948 as a nonprofit corporation and is the oldest youth theatre in the nation, offering affordable camps, classes, and outreach programs for children ages 3-18; as well as six…

—
7
Robinson Tennis Academy
Youth Development
8
United States Tennis Association Incorporated

The usta mission is growing tennis to inspire healthier people and communities everywhere.usta is the national governing body for the sport of tennis and the recognized leader in promoting and developing the sport's growth on every level…

—
9
Princeton Tennis Program

The Princeton Tennis Program (PTP) is a nonprofit, year-round community tennis association serving youth and adults of the greater central New Jersey region. PTPs mission is growing the game of tennis by offering high quality group…

Recreation & Sports
10
Usta Northern

Our mission is to promote and develop the growth of tennis in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and northwestern Wisconsin.

Human Services
11
Charlotte Tennis Association

CTA provides a full range of tennis programs and activities for people of all ages, abilities and backgrounds and creates opportunities to enjoy the social, physical and health benefits provided by the sport of tennis.

—
12
Atp Tour Inc

To serve men's professional tennis worldwide by showcasing the greatest players at the best tournaments, to entertain millions of fans around the globe, and inspire the next generation of fans and players.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Center for Healing and Justice Through Sport; the most unlike its peers is The Brooklyn Nets & New York Liberty 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

13 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. 13 of the 15 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)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
12/13
Grantees still filing
5/13
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

LA JOLLA MUSIC SOCIETY: $80,000 · Arts & CultureLA JOLLA MUSIC SOCIETYDIVERSIONARY THEATRE PRODUCTIONS INC: $30,000 · Arts & CultureDIVERSIONARY THEATRE PRODUCTIONS INCNORTH COAST REPERTORY THEATRE: $15,000 · Arts & CultureNORTH COAST REPERTORY THEATRE+1 more: $2,000 · Arts & CultureNEW YORK JUNIOR TENNIS & LEARNING: $41,000 · OtherNEW YORK JUNIOR TENNIS…SILKROAD'S GLOBAL MUSIC WORKSHOP: $5,000 · OtherSILKROAD'S GLOBAL MUSI…KINGS COUNTY TENNIS LEAGUE: $10,000 · Recreation & SportsKINGS COUNTY TE…JUNIOR TENNIS FOUNDATION INC: $7,000 · Recreation & SportsJUNIOR TENNIS F…CITY PARKS FOUNDATION INC: $7,000 · Recreation & SportsCITY PARKS FOUN…Mountain View Sports & Racquet Club: $6,500 · Recreation & SportsMountain View S…EAST COUNTY COMMUNITY TENNIS ASSOCIATION: $1,500 · Recreation & Sports+1 more: $1,000 · Recreation & SportsUNSCRIPTED LEARNING: $13,500 · EducationTHE BROOKLYN NETS & NEW YORK LIBERTY FOUNDATION: $10,000 · PhilanthropyAMERICAN FOUNDATION FOR SUICIDE PREVENTION: $5,500 · Health
Arts & Culture$127,000Other$46,000Recreation & Sports$33,000Education$13,500Philanthropy$10,000Health$5,500

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

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetLA JOLLA MUSIC SOCIETY: $80,000 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetDIVERSIONARY THEATRE PRODUCTIONS INC: $30,000 over 4y, 1.2% of budgetNORTH COAST REPERTORY THEATRE: $15,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTHE BROOKLYN NETS & NEW YORK LIBERTY FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetKINGS COUNTY TENNIS LEAGUE: $10,000 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetJUNIOR TENNIS FOUNDATION INC: $7,000 over 3y, 1.3% of budgetCITY PARKS FOUNDATION INC: $7,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMountain View Sports & Racquet Club: $6,500 over 2y, 1.8% of budgetAMERICAN FOUNDATION FOR SUICIDE PREVENTION: $5,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetIPALPITI ARTISTS INTERNATIONAL INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetCENTER FOR HEALING AND JUSTICE THROUGH SPORT: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% 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.

The Conrad Prebys Fou…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
The Conrad Prebys FoundationCA13.5× affinity4 shared granteesties to 3 of 3Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Conrad Prebys Foundation · Donor Advised Charitable Giving 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 Protostar Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Protostar Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%5%10%15%20%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    6report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–20%
    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 15 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 Protostar’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