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Altom Carlson Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Altom Carlson Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$26k
Granted FY2024still arriving
9
Grants FY2024still arriving
3
States reached
$13k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0198% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Environment$676kHuman Services$159kHealth$76kArts & Culture$59kPhilanthropy$35kReligion$27kRecreation & Sports$22kEducation$11kOther$0
02FY2024 · 9 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k8 grants · $13k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $13k
$1,200
Median grant
3
States reached
$8.9M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
EPIPHANY PARISH$13,000
DEMENG FOUNDATION$3,300
BOY SCOUTS$3,000
WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION$2,500
WASHINGTON'S NATIONAL PARK FUND$1,200
THE MOUNTAINEERS$1,000
CLARK COUNTY FOOD BANK$1,000
DIDI HIRSCH$500
PROJECT STREET VET$117
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Its human-services grants (FY20–23, $151k) land where the poverty rate runs at 9%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%CHIEF SEATTLE CLUB: $150k → 9%CHIEF SEATTLE CLUB: $1k → 9%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.

Which US states its grants reach

ME
WA
MN
MA
PA
CA
DC
TX
FL
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

94%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$998k · 13 repeat orgs$65k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +77% since the first grant, against -5% for those funded once.

13 repeat relationships: 4 still active in FY2024, 9 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

13
27

Total granted

$998k
$57k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+77%
-5%

Still filing today

77%
59%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 69% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $8k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
HealthArts & CultureEducationYouth DevelopmentEnvironmentHousing & ShelterOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • NP
    NATIONAL PARK FOUNDATION
    6× · 2017–2023 · $587k · revenue +117%
  • CS
    CHIEF SEATTLE CLUB
    2× · 2020–2023 · $151k · revenue +77%
  • SC
    SEATTLE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL
    6× · 2017–2023 · $62k · revenue +110%

Funded once

  • FO
    FRIENDS OF SEATTLE WATERFRONT
    one grant, 2023 · $16k · revenue -48%
  • MA
    MN ASSOCIATES FOR PETS IN CRISIS
    one grant, 2022 · $10k
  • FH
    FRED HUTCHINSON CANCER RESEARCH CENTER
    one grant, 2018 · $10k · revenue -18%
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.

04Its field

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.

1
Achievement Rewards for College Scientists Seattle Chapter

Arcs foundation advances science and technology in the united states by providing financial awards to academically outstanding u.s. citizens studying to complete degrees in science, engineering and medical research.

Education
2
Seattle University

Seattle University is dedicated to educating the whole person, to professional formation, and to empowering leaders for a just and humane world.

—
3
Washington Coast Sustainable Salmon Foundation

The foundation board is comprised of members with diverse backgrounds and expertise who devote their shared commitment and passion to collectively support protection and restoration of the washington coast region salmon by providing…

Animals
4
Seattle Children's Foundation

Seattle children's foundation exists to improve the quality of health care services to infants, children, and adolescents through contributions to organizations providing health care services, research and education.

—
5
Friends of Kexp

Kexp's mission is to enrich your life by championing music and discovery.

Youth Development
6
Independent Colleges of Washington

Independent colleges of washington is the leading advocate for not-for-profit, private campuses in washington state.

Education
7
Long Live the Kings

Our mission is to restore wild salmon and steelhead & support sustainable fishing in the pacific northwest.

Animals
8
Salish Sea Sciences

We fully exploit the physical and human resources of the Salish Sea to equip high school students with knowledge, skills, career awareness, and confidence for civic life and college and career success, most especially in STEAM fields.…

Education
9
Association of Washington Cities

The association of washington cities builds connections between our state's diverse cities and towns, while providing our members with the support needed to thrive through delivery of data-driven education, nationally recognized pooling…

—
10
School's Out Washington

School's out washington (sowa) drives positive systemic change so that all washington's children and youth, particularly those furthest from justice, have access to a robust ecosystem of high-quality expanded learning programs.

Youth Development
11
The Salish Sea School

The salish sea schools mission is to awaken curiosity and deepen connections with the sea through shore and sea exploration programs for all ages.

Environment
12
Uw Physicians Network

To improve the health of the public.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Seattle Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Demeng Foundation. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

33 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. 33 of the 47 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.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
32/33
Grantees still filing
19/33
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

NATIONAL PARK FOUNDATION: $586,574 · OtherNATIONAL PARK FOUNDATIONCHARLES & EMMA FRYE FREE PUBLIC ART MUSEUM: $58,000 · OtherCHARLES & EMMA FRYE FREE PUBLIC ART MUSEUMEPIPHANY PARISH: $27,000 · Other+29 more: $65,107 · Other+29 moreCHIEF SEATTLE CLUB: $151,031 · Human ServicesCHIEF SEATTLE C…NATUREBRIDGE: $78,600 · EnvironmentTHE MOUNTAINEERS: $7,511 · EnvironmentSEATTLE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: $61,524 · Health+5 more: $1,375 · HealthWASHINGTON WOMEN'S FOUNDATION: $30,250 · PhilanthropySEATTLE FOUNDATION: $2,628 · PhilanthropyFRIENDS OF SEATTLE WATERFRONT: $15,500 · Community ImprovementWASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $8,100 · EducationSEATTLE COLLEGES FOUNDATION: $2,500 · Education+1 more: $104 · Education
Other$736,681Human Services$151,031Environment$86,111Health$62,899Philanthropy$32,878Community Improvement$15,500Education$10,704

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetNATIONAL PARK FOUNDATION: $586,574 over 6y, 0.3% of budgetCHIEF SEATTLE CLUB: $151,031 over 2y, 1.2% of budgetNATUREBRIDGE: $78,600 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetSEATTLE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: $61,524 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetCHARLES & EMMA FRYE FREE PUBLIC ART MUSEUM: $58,000 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetWASHINGTON WOMEN'S FOUNDATION: $30,250 over 6y, 0.5% of budgetFRIENDS OF SEATTLE WATERFRONT: $15,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFRED HUTCHINSON CANCER RESEARCH CENTER: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $8,100 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE MOUNTAINEERS: $7,511 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetWASHINGTON'S NATIONAL PARK FUND: $5,700 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetCOMMON POWER FUTURE: $5,200 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetFriends of Katahdin Woods & Waters: $3,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSEATTLE FOUNDATION: $2,628 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSEATTLE COLLEGES FOUNDATION: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPLYMOUTH HOUSING GROUP AND SUBSIDIARIES: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetPAN-MASSACHUSETTS CHALLENGE INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCLARK COUNTY FOOD BANK: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTown Hall Association: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTREEHOUSE: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDIDI HIRSCH PSYCHIATRIC SERVICE: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBLOOD CANCER UNITED INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetJUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT OF WASHINGTON: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBURTON BEACH ROWING CLUB: $250 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetFRIENDS OF YOUTH: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMaris Place: $250 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetArts Corps: $200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPROJECT STREET VET: $117 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWIKIMEDIA FOUNDATION INC: $104 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAmerican Heart Association Inc: $75 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMULTICARE FOUNDATIONS: $50 over 1y, 0.0% of budget
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.

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 tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Seattle FoundationThe Norcliffe Foundat…Gs Donor Advised Phil…Grousemont FoundationReal Progress Foundat…The Satterberg Founda…Gates FoundationMightycause Charitabl…Morgan Stanley Global…Vanguard Charitable E…National Philanthropi…Raymond James Charita…
Seattle FoundationWA20× affinity8 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Seattle Foundation · The Norcliffe Foundation · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · Grousemont Foundation · Real Progress Foundation · The Satterberg Foundation Inc · Gates Foundation · Mightycause Charitable Foundation · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · National Philanthropic Trust · Raymond James Charitable Endowment Fund

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Altom Carlson Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Altom Carlson Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • Pan-Massachusetts Challenge Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
10report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
typical government reliance, FY20–25
How this is measured
Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Altom Carlson Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Altom Carlson Foundation 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.

On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 47 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

How this is measured
Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

Generated from the IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Altom Carlson’s filings →

More from the funding graph

The unnamed billions
grants reported with no recipient in the public record
The regranting layer
51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
The DAF merry-go-round
$9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
The endowment market
who holds foundation money, and what just moved
The camps
funders cluster by geography, not ideology
By state
where grant money is based, and what stays home