Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit
The Ciesla Foundation
The Ciesla Foundation (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 40 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,010,498 to it, the largest being WILLIAM S & INA LEVINE FOUNDATION INC ($1,025,000). 15 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $904k
- Funders on record
- 40
- Grants received
- $3.0M
- Net assets
- $172k
What The Ciesla Foundation does
Mission
Production and distribution of films to educate the public on social issues of the past and present.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
This year, we proudly commemorated the 25th anniversary of the award-winning documentary The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg with a theatrical re-release and a 4K remaster. The film received an enthusiastic response from audiences, with special screenings held in key cities such as Washington D.C., Detroit, New York, and Los Angeles. These events not only celebrated the films milestone anniversary but also honored the 90th anniversary of Hank Greenbergs historic decision to observe Yom Kippur during a crucial pennant race, reinforcing his lasting legacy and impact on sports and cultural history.
$357,343 spent$466,833 earned by the program46% of program spendingIn 2024, we continued production on a documentary about Ben Hecht, the prolific Hollywood screenwriter and passionate humanitarian who used his influence to advocate for Jewish refugees during the Holocaust. The film is scheduled for release in end of 2025 or the beginning of 2026, and aims to shed new light on his extraordinary legacy. We continue extensive research, gathering archival material and conducting interviews with individuals whose insights will be impactful to the film's storyline.
$324,806 spent$251,409 earned by the program41% of program spendingWe continued to promote and host screenings of Aviva's deeply personal film, A Pocketful of Miracles: A Tale of Two Siblings, at universities, Jewish film festivals, and educational venues across the country. At several of these screenings, Aviva attended in person, introducing the film and leading intimate, heartfelt Q&A sessions with the audience. The film was also featured in Moment Magazine, further highlighting its impact. These events have played a vital role in sharing the poignant stories of Holocaust survivors, fostering education, and preserving the legacy of remembrance.
$72,606 spent$95,296 earned by the program9% of program spendingAs we began working on digitizing our 1986 film Partisans of Vilna in 2023, we continue collaborating with the Shoah Foundation to complete this project. Our goal is to finalize and release the film in Blu-ray format, making it accessible to a broader audience while preserving its story
$23,322 spent$1,275 earned by the program3% of program spendingThe documentary Imagining the Indian: The Fight Against Native American Mascoting was made widely accessible through streaming on Apple TV and Amazon Video, allowing audiences across the country to engage with its powerful message at any time. In addition to its digital release, we continued to promote screenings at universities and schools, aiming to educate and inspire a younger audience on the critical issues surrounding Native American representation.
$5,307 spent$8,452 earned by the program1% of program spending
The 5 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $783,384.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended.
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 $158k to $1.4M (+769%).
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: 2017 18% · 2018 5% · 2019 7% · 2021 67% · 2022 1%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 5 of the last 8 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.
Board chair
Jonathan Kempner
Chairman
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 7 funders to 10 funders, grant income fell $258k → $193k.
10 of 40 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 12% 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 The Ciesla Foundation’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 40 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
The Ciesla Foundation has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 34% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 58% · 2018 54% · 2019 81% · 2020 48% · 2021 66% · 2022 60% · 2023 52% — 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
22% of The Ciesla Foundation's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 38% 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
The Ciesla Foundation draws 97% of its grant income from funders outside Washington, D.C., across 13 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $356k arriving through sponsors registered in 9 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.
Organizations like The Ciesla Foundation
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 Washington, D.C.
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
82% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
54%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for The Ciesla Foundation: 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 The Ciesla Foundation?
- The Ciesla Foundation (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 40 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,010,498 to it, the largest being WILLIAM S & INA LEVINE FOUNDATION INC ($1,025,000). 15 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does The Ciesla Foundation have?
- IRS filings report 40 organizations giving $3,010,498 in grants to The Ciesla Foundation, 15 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of The Ciesla Foundation?
- WILLIAM S & INA LEVINE FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $1,025,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like The Ciesla Foundation find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Washington, D.C.. 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 Ciesla →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 40 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 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing