By Abby Rolland
The Presser Foundation seeks to serve a number of different types of music organizations creating, performing, presenting, and educating. To do so means extending the Foundation’s grant opportunities to serve fiscally sponsored organizations and supporting organizations.
The Foundation revealed why it supports fiscally sponsored organizations in a previous blog post. For this post, we’re sharing what a supporting organization is, why we give to them, and several examples of current supporting organizations that we are proud to fund.
What a supporting organization is
According to the IRS, a supporting organization is a charity that carries out its exempt purposes by supporting other exempt organizations, usually other public charities. The supporting organization has a “relationship with its supported organization sufficient to ensure that the supported organization is effectively supervising or paying particular attention to the operations of the supporting organization.”
A supporting organization is classified as a Type I, Type II or Type III supporting organization depending on the relationship it has with its supported organization(s).
A Type I support organization must be operated, supervised, or controlled by its supported organization(s), typically by giving the supported organization(s) the power to regularly appoint or elect a majority of the directors or trustees of the supporting organization. The relationship between the supported organization(s) and the supporting organization is sometimes described as similar to a parent-subsidiary relationship.
A Type II supporting organization must be supervised or controlled in connection with its supported organization(s), typically by having a majority of the directors or trustees of the supported organization(s) serve as a majority of the trustees or directors of the supporting organization. The relationship between the supported organization(s) and the supporting organization is sometimes described as similar to a brother-sister relationship.
A Type III supporting organization must be operated in connection with one or more publicly supported organizations.
All supporting organizations must be responsive to the needs and demands of, and must constitute an integral part of or maintain significant involvement in, their supported organizations. Type I and Type II supporting organizations are deemed to accomplish these responsiveness and integral part requirements by virtue of their control relationships. However, a Type III supporting organization is not subject to the same level of control by its supported organization(s). Therefore, in addition to a notification requirement, Type III supporting organizations must pass separate responsiveness and integral part tests (see the above link for more information about these tests).
The Foundation’s supporting organization partners
The Presser Foundation supports multiple supporting organizations that operate music programs. These organizations are situated within universities, although each supporting organization provides different programming based on their mission.
Penn Live Arts and Zoellner Arts Center are two music presenters situated within the University of Pennsylvania and Lehigh University, respectively. Penn Live Arts programs a wide variety of artists for students and community members in the Greater Philadelphia Area, while Zoellner presents programming from local, regional, and national music organizations in the Lehigh Valley.
The Foundation also gives to supporting organizations that focus on music education. At Swarthmore College, Chester Children’s Chorus “provides year-round music and math education.” During the school year, children and youth ages 7 through 18 develop their vocal talents via rehearsals and concerts and work on their math skills through small group and individualized instruction.
There are also music preparatory programs housed within universities that teach lessons and classes to students and adults. Organizations such as Temple Music Prep (Temple University) and Rowan Community Music School (Rowan University) provide many opportunities for music learning.
Then, there’s WRTI90.1FM, the radio station dedicated to sharing classical and jazz music. The station, situated within Temple University, has a reach that extends west to Harrisburg, north to Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, south to Dover, Delaware, and east to Atlantic City, New Jersey.
NOTE: The Foundation requires applying supporting organizations to present separate financials from their supported entity. The nonprofit determination and status and federal and state filings are accepted in the name of the supported entity.
Why The Presser Foundation gives to supporting organizations
The Presser Foundation supports music performing, music presenting, and music educating organizations. We believe that these organizations, including supporting organizations, contribute to music and the community in a wide variety of ways. Supporting organizations present music to members of the community, enroll local students in a curriculum featuring music lessons and math, teach lessons to children, teenagers, and adults, and share classical and jazz music for free for all to listen.
Chester Children’s Chorus Executive and Artistic Director John Alston shared this about the Foundation’s support:
“Our children sing Mozart’s Requiem and Handel’s Messiah, as well as dozens of Renaissance and contemporary motets. We are thrilled and grateful that The Presser Foundation both supports and appreciates our deep commitment to giving our children a profound classical music experience.”
At The Presser Foundation, we’re delighted to support and strengthen these vital and unique organizations in their musical endeavors.
