· Private foundation
The Monica Lester Charitable Trust
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.
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2018 to 2025.
Where the money goes
Grants by size, and the largest recipients.
By grant size · FY2025
- Under $10k1 grant · $5k
- $10k–50k10 grants · $110k
- $50k–250k5 grants · $485k
| Recipient | Amount |
|---|---|
| CEDARS-SINAI MEDICAL CENTER | $150,000 |
| LOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY | $125,000 |
| CITY OF HOPE | $100,000 |
| CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL | $60,000 |
| PROSTATE CANCER FOUNDATION | $50,000 |
| TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATION | $20,000 |
| THE MAHLER FOUNDATION | $10,000 |
| LOS ANGELES REGIONAL FOOD BANK | $10,000 |
| JEWISH COMMUNITY FOUNDATION | $10,000 |
| CHABAD'S TERROR VICTIMS PROJECT | $10,000 |
| SELFHELP COMMUNITY SERVICES FOUNDATION | $10,000 |
| REMOTE AREA MEDICAL VOLUNTEER CORPS | $10,000 |
| COLEL CHABAD | $10,000 |
| FRIENDS OF UNITED HATZALAH | $10,000 |
| INTERNATIONAL FELLOWSHIP OF CHRISTIANS AND JEWS | $10,000 |
Does the money reach high-need areas?
Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.
Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY18–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 99% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.
How this is measured
How this is measured
Who it funds again
Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.
11 repeat relationships: 10 still active in FY2025, 1 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).
How the two cohorts compare
Organizations
Total granted
Median revenue growth · since first grant
Still filing today
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2025, 90% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $60k went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
Backed again, and grew
- LMLOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY8× · 2018–2025 · $1.1M · revenue +47%
CEDARS-SINAI MEDICAL CENTER8× · 2018–2025 · $665k · revenue +52%- PCPROSTATE CANCER FOUNDATION7× · 2018–2025 · $340k · revenue +57%
Funded once
- MLMARYMOUNT LOS ANGELES HIGH SCHOOLone grant, 2018 · $250k
- SRSEPULVEDA RESEARCH CORPORATIONone grant, 2018 · $100k · revenue -85%
- GLGREATER LOS ANGELES VETERANS RESEARCH AND EDUCATION FOUNDATIONgraduatedone grant, 2020 · $75k · revenue +48%
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.
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.
Based on jewish values, the jewish federation of greater los angeles convenes and leads the community and leverages its resources to assure the continuity of the jewish people, support a secure state of israel, care for jews in need here…
The american technion society supports the technion's critical research and (continued on sch o)
Support the hebrew univ. of jerusalem, israel's foremost center of higher edu. & research.
Committed to exceptional healthcare quality for all and actively engaged with our community, einstein drives scientific discovery and educates compassionate leaders in health and science.
The shalom hartman institute (shi) is a leading research and educational center serving israel and world jewry. we work to enrich the moral and spiritual life of israel and the jewish people, deepen the commitment to pluralism and israel's…
We steward $1.5 billion in charitable assets through donor-advised funds, endowments, and other giving vehicles. partnering with 1,400 individuals, families, and organizations, we build enduring legacies and multigenerational impact. in…
The jewish agency binds jews across ideologies and civilizations together in a worldwide jewish family with israel at its center. it provides the global framework for aliyah, ensures global jewish safety, strengthens jewish identity and…
Sof is called to empower warriors to find purpose, be resilient, and live well. we develop and provide customized treatment plans for veterans through our national network of partners.
The foundation operates exclusively for charitable, educational or religious purposes by conducting or supporting activities for the benefit of, or to carry out the purposes of the jewish community federation of san francisco, the…
Our mission is to build a unique institute that bridges basic research and drug discovery, and that attracts the best and brightest scientists, physicians and students to work together synergistically to find cures for neglected human…
The mission of the institute is to translate basic genetic and molecular mechanisms of schizophrenia and related developmental brain disorders into clinical advances that change the lives of affected individuals. it is catalyzing a new…
Provide clinical instruction to and supervision of medical school students, interns and residents and, incident thereto, rendering professional services.
How this is measured
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 20 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.
Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee
Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing
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 LOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY ↗
- Who funds CEDARS-SINAI MEDICAL CENTER ↗
- Who funds PROSTATE CANCER FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds MAHLER FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds THE JEWISH COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds SEPULVEDA RESEARCH CORPORATION ↗
- Who funds GREATER LOS ANGELES VETERANS RESEARCH AND EDUCATION FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds Chabad Terror Victims Project Inc ↗
- Who funds FRIENDS OF UNITED HATZALAH INC ↗
- Who funds INTERNATIONAL FELLOWSHIP OF CHRISTIANS & JEWS INC ↗
- Who funds STEPHEN SILLER TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds LOS ANGELES REGIONAL FOOD BANK ↗
- Who funds SELFHELP COMMUNITY SERVICES FOUNDATION 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 set of overlaps that mostly run through this funder rather than between each other.
Open a dossier: Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund
How this is measured
How much its grantees rely on government
Each dot is one organization The Monica Lester Charitable Trust funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Monica Lester Charitable Trust. Bigger dots raise more.
How this is measured
Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus
How do I get to The Monica Lester Charitable Trust?
Find your warmest path to The Monica Lester Charitable Trust 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.
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