Virginia · Nonprofit
MUSIC FOR LIFE
MUSIC FOR LIFE (Virginia) receives grants from 12 organizations whose IRS filings report $425,891 to it, the largest being UNITED WAY OF THE NATIONAL CAPITAL AREA ($145,096). 10 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $213k
- Funders on record
- 12
- Grants received
- $426k
- Net assets
- $354k
What Music for Life does
Mission
Turning youthful dreams into reality by providing youth living in adverse circumstances opportunities that are otherwise either not attainable or too difficult to access due to their family's financial situation. We help them improve their academics, social skills, emotional well-being and connectivity to school and community, traits necessary for success. We provide them an educational and fun alternative to risky behaviors like gangs, truancy and substance abuse.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
On its FY2025 return the organization reported starting a significant new program.
In 2025 we added a Piano Program for youth in Title I Elementary Schools. Using keyboards, students participate in a 6-week introductory class; group lessons for up to 25 youth. Students who complete the classes and demonstrate the maturity, discipline, and interest are then awarded scholarships to a local piano studio for private piano lessons.
Its own explanation, from Schedule O of that return (Part III, line 2).
After-School Guitar Program - There are too few age appropriate after school programs for middle and high school age at-promise youth; the focus continues to be on early childhood education. While early childhood programs are essential, the lessons taught will not be retained if a comparable level of support is not provided through their difficult teen years. We provide free guitar lessons and mentoring to these youth in their neighborhoods and schools thus removing two of their greatest barriers; cost and transportation.
$4,146 spent2% of program spendingBand & Orchestra Program - Fees and participation requirements are making school band and orchestra programs increasingly more expensive; students have to pay for instruments, uniforms, travel and competitions; schools recommend students take private lessons to become proficient on their instrument because they don't have adequate teaching resources to provide them adequate individual lessons. The result is that at-promise youth are being priced out of participation and/or unable to keep pace with those students whose families can afford private lessons. We bridge this gap by helping these students with fees they cannot afford as well as providing them free individual lessons on any instrument. At-promise youth are those who lack the resources and support necessary to reach their potential.
$103,171 spent60% of program spendingSTEAM Guitar Program - Traditional STEM programs focus on college preparedness and are not technologically diverse; there is a need for diversity in what's offered and the addition of a vocational component. This program diversifies the academic offerings by teaching students the STEM principles behind the design and operation of a guitar and then adds a vocational component by having them build their own instrument. An electric guitar is used for high school students; cigar box guitar for middle school students. The program is offered as a Career & Technical Education (CTE) elective during regular school hours. At-promise students can participate for free; other students can participate for a fee. We provide the teacher training, the unique tools requuired to assemble and test a guitar, course syllabus, and luthier support.
$40,830 spent24% of program spendingUkulele Program - This program originated as part of our After-School Guitar Program but has since grown to sufficient size to be a seperate program. Under this program we establish a ukulele program in Title I elementary schools and schools for youth with disabilities. We train the school's music teachers to run a ukulele program, provide them a curriculum and teaching materials, conduct a joint class at their school with them and our ukulele instructor, and donate a compliment of 30 ukuleles to the school. Follow-on teacher and instrument maintenance support is provided as needed.
$5,270 spent3% of program spendingIn 2025 we added a Piano Program for youth in Title I Elementary Schools. Using keyboards, students participate in a 6-week introductory class; group lessons for up to 25 youth. Students who complete the classes and demonstrate the maturity, discipline, and interest are then awarded scholarships to a local piano studio for private piano lessons.
$19,016 spent11% of program spending
The 5 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $172,433.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2019, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2019, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2020 to 2021, from $310k to $366k (+18%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2019 43% · 2020 60% · 2021 46% · 2022 58% · 2023 44% · 2024 13% · 2025 8%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
100% of MUSIC FOR LIFE’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (83% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 7 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 8 funders, grant income rose $32k → $70k.
6 of 12 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 30% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of MUSIC FOR LIFE’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 11 of 12 funders by total. Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
MUSIC FOR LIFE leans on a few funders — its largest provides 34% of grant income and the top three 74%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
92% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund MUSIC FOR LIFE.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 70% · 2018 85% · 2019 54% · 2020 35% · 2021 28% · 2022 27% · 2023 29% — diversifying over time.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
75% of MUSIC FOR LIFE's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 83% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
84% of MUSIC FOR LIFE's grant income comes from Virginia funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $127k arriving through sponsors registered in 4 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
MUSIC FOR LIFE holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 3,482 youth development nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,482 youth development nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Organizations like MUSIC FOR LIFE
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In Virginia
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
97% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
100%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 3 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for MUSIC FOR LIFE: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds MUSIC FOR LIFE?
- MUSIC FOR LIFE (Virginia) receives grants from 12 organizations whose IRS filings report $425,891 to it, the largest being UNITED WAY OF THE NATIONAL CAPITAL AREA ($145,096). 10 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does MUSIC FOR LIFE have?
- IRS filings report 12 organizations giving $425,891 in grants to MUSIC FOR LIFE, 10 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of MUSIC FOR LIFE?
- UNITED WAY OF THE NATIONAL CAPITAL AREA is the largest funder on record, with $145,096 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like MUSIC FOR LIFE find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Virginia. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
Play a game about who funds Music for Life →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2019–2025), and the filings of 12 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing