The Destina Foundation concentrates sizable multi-year gifts to organizations that expand public access to cultural and civic life, advance gender equity and reproductive rights, and protect public green space and wildlife. They favor program- and initiative-specific funding (often multi-year) for New York City public goods—parks, libraries, and public arts—while also supporting national advocacy and humanitarian partners addressing women and girls and democracy initiatives. Recurrent multi-grant relationships with a handful of organizations suggest a preference for deeper partnerships rather than many one-off gifts.
The Destina Foundation Inc made a $500,000 commitment in 2025 to establish and endow a perpetual annual award in Dorothea Tanning’s name within the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards program. That gift captures a pattern visible across the foundation’s recent grantmaking: it favors sizable, multi-year support tied to named programs, endowments, and public-facing initiatives. The portfolio includes long-running support for arts and literary access, parks and playgrounds, gender equity and reproductive rights, climate and wildlife work, and civic engagement. Several recurring relationships show how the foundation works. The Trust for Public Land received repeated grants for New York City parks and playgrounds across multiple years. Brooklyn Public Library received support for Books Unbanned, while Poetry Society of America was funded for the Poetry and Public Spaces initiative. The foundation also backed international and national advocacy organizations, including Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the International Rescue Committee, as well as arts institutions such as Dia Center for the Arts and Roulette Intermedium. Across these grants, the emphasis is on program-specific funding rather than broad, open-ended support.
In arts and youth development, the foundation backed the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers with a $500,000 grant to establish and endow a perpetual annual award in Dorothea Tanning’s name within the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards program. It also supported Poetry Society of America with $100,000 for the Poetry and Public Spaces initiative. For public access to reading and cultural life, Brooklyn Public Library received $200,000 toward the Books Unbanned program in 2024-26, following a $100,000 grant for the same program in 2023-24. Gender equity and reproductive rights appear in grants to the International Rescue Committee for gender equity initiatives benefiting women and girls, and to Planned Parenthood Federation of America for its public policy litigation and law program. The foundation also funded climate, communities, and wildlife work through World Wildlife Fund Inc.
The Destina Foundation Inc’s recent gifts are centered in the mid-to-large range: p25 is $20,000, median grant size is $100,000, and p75 is $200,000. The pattern points to a funder that often writes grants at $100,000 or $200,000, with a smaller number of larger anchor commitments such as the $500,000 Dorothea Tanning award endowment. The grant list shows repeated support to the same organizations across multiple years, including multi-year program funding. It is a regular funder, not a DAF, and it funds individuals. The recent record is dominated by grants that specify a program, initiative, or time window rather than unrestricted one-time gifts.
$695K
$15.5M
$1.1M
$1.4M
Most grants fall between $20K and $200K, with a median of $100K.
25th Percentile
$20K
Median
$100K
75th Percentile
$200K
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Concentrated, relatively large grants (multiple six-figure awards) directed to a small set of repeat grantees and multi-year initiatives; mixes local NYC public-space and cultural investments with national advocacy and conservation partners.
Notable grantees: The Trust for Public Land, Alliance for Young Artists & Writers (Scholastic Art & Writing Awards), Brooklyn Public Library, International Rescue Committee, Planned Parenthood Federation of America
Giving is heavily concentrated in New York: 82% of grants in the recent record went to recipients in the foundation’s HQ state. New York City and Brooklyn appear most often, with grants to organizations such as The Trust for Public Land, Brooklyn Public Library, Poetry Society of America, and Democracy Works Inc. Washington, DC also appears through World Wildlife Fund Inc and the Aspen Institute. Outside the US, the recent grants list includes a single grant to a London exhibition at Tate Britain.
Recent grants show support for youth arts and literary access, parks and playgrounds in New York City, gender equity and reproductive rights, climate and wildlife conservation, and civic/democracy work. The foundation also funds exhibition, public, and educational programming at arts institutions.
Yes. Several grants are labeled for multi-year periods, including Books Unbanned in 2024-26, Poetry and Public Spaces in 2025-27, and the Climate, Communities and Wildlife program in 2025-27. The foundation also repeated support for the same organizations across successive years.
The typical grant distribution is p25 at $20,000, median at $100,000, and p75 at $200,000. That places most of the recent grants in the six-figure range, with a smaller number of larger commitments.
Its recent giving is concentrated in New York, which accounts for 82% of grants in the dataset. New York City and Brooklyn are the most visible recipient locations, while Washington, DC appears less often and London appears once.
Yes. The foundation is classified as funding individuals, and its recent record includes scholarship-style support through the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards context, including a perpetual annual award established in Dorothea Tanning’s name.
2025
Source: IRS Form 990-PF, fiscal year 2025.
Most recent grants reported to the IRS.
| Recipient | Location | Amount | Year | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ALLIANCE FOR YOUNG ARTISTS & WRITERS | NEW YORK, NY | $500,000 | 2025 | TO ESTABLISH AND ENDOW A PERPETUAL ANNUAL AWARD IN DOROTHEA TANNING'S NAME WITHIN THE SCHOLASTIC ART & WRITING AWARDS PROGRAM |
| BROOKLYN PUBLIC LIBRARY | BROOKLYN, NY | $200,000 | 2025 | TOWARD THE BOOKS UNBANNED PROGRAM IN 2024-26 |
| THE TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND | NEW YORK, NY | $200,000 | 2025 | FOR PARKS AND PLAYGROUNDS IN NEW YORK CITY IN 2025-26 |
| THE TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND | NEW YORK, NY | $200,000 | 2025 | FOR PARKS AND PLAYGROUNDS IN NEW YORK CITY IN 2024-25 |
| DEMOCRACY WORKS INC | BROOKLYN, NY | $100,000 | 2025 | FOR GENERAL SUPPORT IN 2023-24 |
| POETRY SOCIETY OF AMERICA | BROOKLYN, NY | $100,000 | 2025 | TOWARD THE POETRY AND PUBLIC SPACES INITIATIVE IN 2025-27 |
| WORLD WILDLIFE FUND INC | WASHINGTON, DC | $100,000 | 2025 | TOWARD THE CLIMATE, COMMUNITIES AND WILDLIFE PROGRAM IN 2025-27 |
| ROULETTE INTERMEDIUM INC | BROOKLYN, NY | $50,000 | 2025 | TOWARD THE MEDIA AND ARCHIVE PROGRAM IN 2024-26 |
| ROULETTE INTERMEDIUM INC | BROOKLYN, NY | $50,000 | 2025 | TOWARD THE MEDIA AND ARCHIVE PROGRAM IN 2024-26 |
| TATE AMERICAS FOUNDATION | NEW YORK, NY | $25,000 | 2025 | TOWARD THE EXHIBITION "LEE MILLER: SURREALIST PHOTOGRAPHER" AT TATE BRITAIN, LONDON |
| DIA CENTER FOR THE ARTS | NEW YORK, NY | $10,000 | 2025 | FOR GENERAL SUPPORT OF EXHIBITION, PUBLIC AND EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS |
| DIA CENTER FOR THE ARTS | NEW YORK, NY | $10,000 | 2025 | FOR GENERAL SUPPORT OF EXHIBITION, PUBLIC AND EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS |
| FOUNDATION FOR CONTEMPORARY ARTS INC | NEW YORK, NY | $10,000 | 2025 | FOR GENERAL SUPPORT |
| ASPEN INSTITUTE | WASHINGTON, DC | $10,000 | 2025 | TOWARD THE ARTIST ENDOWED FOUNDATIONS INITIATIVE'S INTERNSHIP PROGRAM IN 2022-25 |
| ASPEN INSTITUTE | WASHINGTON, DC | $10,000 | 2025 | TOWARD THE ARTIST ENDOWED FOUNDATIONS INITIATIVE'S INTERNSHIP PROGRAM IN 2022-25 |
| INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE INC | NEW YORK, NY | $250,000 | 2024 | TOWARD GENDER EQUITY INITIATIVES BENEFITTING WOMEN AND GIRLS IN 2022-24 |
| THE TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND | NEW YORK, NY | $200,000 | 2024 | FOR PARKS AND PLAYGROUNDS IN NEW YORK CITY IN 2023-24 |
| PLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA INC | NEW YORK, NY | $200,000 | 2024 | FOR THE PUBLIC POLICY LITGATION AND LAW PROGRAM IN 2020-2022 |
| BROOKLYN PUBLIC LIBRARY | BROOKLYN, NY | $100,000 | 2024 | TOWARD THE BOOKS UNBANNED PROGRAM IN 2023-24 |
| WORLD WILDLIFE FUND INC | WASHINGTON, DC | $100,000 | 2024 | TOWARD THE CLIMATE, COMMUNITIES AND WILDLIFE PROGRAM IN 2023-2024 |
| POETRY SOCIETY OF AMERICA | BROOKLYN, NY | $100,000 | 2024 | TOWARD THE POETRY AND PUBLIC SPACES INITIATIVE IN 2022-2024 |
| THE DOROTHEA TANNING FOUNDATION INC | NEW YORK, NY | $10,000 | 2024 | FOR GENERAL SUPPORT |
| THE ASPEN INSTITUTE | WASHINGTON, DC | $10,000 | 2024 | TOWARD THE ARTIST ENDOWED FOUNDATIONS INTITIATIVE'S INTERNSHIP PROGRAM IN 2022-2025 |
| INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE INC | NEW YORK, NY | $250,000 | 2023 | TOWARD GENDER EQUITY INITIATIVES BENEFITTING WOMEN AND GIRLS IN 2022-24. |
| THE TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND | NEW YORK, NY | $200,000 | 2023 | FOR PARKS AND PLAYGROUNDS IN NEW YORK CITY IN 2022-23 |
| THE NEW YORK WOMEN'S FOUNDATION | NEW YORK, NY | $200,000 | 2023 | FOR GRANT PROGRAMS IN 2020-2022. |
| PLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA | NEW YORK, NY | $200,000 | 2023 | FOR THE PUBLIC POLICY LITGATION AND LAW PROGRAM IN 2020-2022. |
| POETRY SOCIETY OF AMERICA | NEW YORK, NY | $100,000 | 2023 | TOWARD THE POETRY AND PUBLIC SPACES INITIATIVE IN 2022-2024 |
| DEMOCRACY WORKS INC | BROOKLYN, NY | $100,000 | 2023 | FOR GENERAL SUPPORT IN 2021-22. |
| THE ASPEN INSTITUTE | WASHINGTON, DC | $10,000 | 2023 | FOR RESEARCH AND PLANNING FOR AN INTERNSHIP PROGRAM IN 2022. |
TO ESTABLISH AND ENDOW A PERPETUAL ANNUAL AWARD IN DOROTHEA TANNING'S NAME WITHIN THE SCHOLASTIC ART & WRITING AWARDS PROGRAM
THE TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND
$200,000FOR PARKS AND PLAYGROUNDS IN NEW YORK CITY IN 2025-26
THE TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND
$200,000FOR PARKS AND PLAYGROUNDS IN NEW YORK CITY IN 2024-25
POETRY SOCIETY OF AMERICA
$100,000TOWARD THE POETRY AND PUBLIC SPACES INITIATIVE IN 2025-27
TOWARD THE CLIMATE, COMMUNITIES AND WILDLIFE PROGRAM IN 2025-27
TOWARD THE EXHIBITION "LEE MILLER: SURREALIST PHOTOGRAPHER" AT TATE BRITAIN, LONDON
FOR GENERAL SUPPORT OF EXHIBITION, PUBLIC AND EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS
FOR GENERAL SUPPORT OF EXHIBITION, PUBLIC AND EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS
TOWARD THE ARTIST ENDOWED FOUNDATIONS INITIATIVE'S INTERNSHIP PROGRAM IN 2022-25
TOWARD THE ARTIST ENDOWED FOUNDATIONS INITIATIVE'S INTERNSHIP PROGRAM IN 2022-25
TOWARD GENDER EQUITY INITIATIVES BENEFITTING WOMEN AND GIRLS IN 2022-24
THE TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND
$200,000FOR PARKS AND PLAYGROUNDS IN NEW YORK CITY IN 2023-24
FOR THE PUBLIC POLICY LITGATION AND LAW PROGRAM IN 2020-2022
TOWARD THE CLIMATE, COMMUNITIES AND WILDLIFE PROGRAM IN 2023-2024
POETRY SOCIETY OF AMERICA
$100,000TOWARD THE POETRY AND PUBLIC SPACES INITIATIVE IN 2022-2024
THE DOROTHEA TANNING FOUNDATION INC
$10,000FOR GENERAL SUPPORT
TOWARD THE ARTIST ENDOWED FOUNDATIONS INTITIATIVE'S INTERNSHIP PROGRAM IN 2022-2025
TOWARD GENDER EQUITY INITIATIVES BENEFITTING WOMEN AND GIRLS IN 2022-24.
THE TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND
$200,000FOR PARKS AND PLAYGROUNDS IN NEW YORK CITY IN 2022-23
FOR THE PUBLIC POLICY LITGATION AND LAW PROGRAM IN 2020-2022.
POETRY SOCIETY OF AMERICA
$100,000TOWARD THE POETRY AND PUBLIC SPACES INITIATIVE IN 2022-2024
FOR RESEARCH AND PLANNING FOR AN INTERNSHIP PROGRAM IN 2022.