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Bernier McCaw Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Bernier McCaw Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$4.5M
Granted FY2025still arriving
28
Grants FY2025still arriving
4
States reached
$667k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0199% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2019 to 2025.

Human Services$6.0MCommunity Improvement$3.1MEducation$2.6MHealth$2.5MPhilanthropy$1.8MArts & Culture$1.5MCivil Rights$844kCrime & Legal$775kOther$0
02FY2025 · 28 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k4 grants · $25k
  • $10k–50k8 grants · $145k
  • $50k–250k9 grants · $1.1M
  • $250k+7 grants · $3.2M
$50,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$4.2M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
TUBMAN CENTER FOR HEALTH & FREEDOM$666,666
NORTHWEST FILM FORUM$503,500
INDEPENDENT SECTOR$500,000
Individual grant recipient$400,000
THE WHO WE ARE PROJECT$400,000
350 SEATTLE$400,000
YWCA OF SEATTLEKINGSNOHOMISH COUNTY$333,333
DAVIDSON COLLEGE ANNUAL FUND$200,000
BYRD BARR PLACE$200,000
RENTON REGIONAL COMMUNITY FOUNDATION$200,000
FRED HUTCHINSON CANCER CENTER$175,000
AFRICATOWN COMMUNITY LAND TRUST$100,000
WASHINGTON COMMUNITY ALLIANCE$100,000
NATIVE ACTION NETWORK$50,000
CIERRA SISTERS$50,000
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 (FY20–25, $4.3M) land where the poverty rate runs at 9%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 22% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%COMMONWEAL: $200k → 8%YWCA OF THE USA: $300k → 14%REALIZE IMPACT: $256k → 10%YWCA OF THE USA: $200k → 14%BYRD BARR PLACE: $500k → 9%REALIZE IMPACT: $100k → 10%YWCA USA INC: $100k → 14%BYRD BARR PLACE: $440k → 9%BYRD BARR PLACE: $420k → 9%BYRD BARR PLACE: $269k → 9%BYRD BARR PLACE: $200k → 9%BYRD BARR PLACE: $50k → 9%YWCA OF SEATTLE-KING-SNOHOMISH COUNTY: $333k → 9%YWCA OF SEATTLEKINGSNOHOMISH COUNTY: $333k → 9%YWCA OF SEATTLE-KING-SNOHOMISH COUNTY: $333k → 9%BYRD BARR PLACE: $25k → 9%YWCA OF SEATTLE-KING COUNTY-SNOHOMISH COUNTY: $25k → 9%BYRD BARR PLACE: $20k → 9%BELLEVUE LIFESPRING: $50k → 9%LATINO COMMUNITY FUND: $107k → 9%UTOPIA WASHINGTON: $50k → 9%TUKWILA CHILDREN'S FOUNDATION: $25k → 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

WA
MI
NY
MA
CA
MD
DE
AZ
NC
DC
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.
04

Where the work is directed

The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.

About 8% of Bernier McCaw Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address. By recipient address, 69% of the giving stays in WA; by stated purpose, 64%.

Bernier McCaw Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address · 3.8% directed abroad (not shown)
How this is measured
Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the funder’s own 990 grant descriptions.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

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

70%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$13M · 20 repeat orgs$5.6M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +16% since the first grant, against +7% for those funded once.

20 repeat relationships: 10 still active in FY2025, 10 since wound down; 14 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

20
37

Total granted

$13M
$4.2M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+16%
+7%

Still filing today

80%
84%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 68% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $1.4M went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’20’21’22’23’24’25
Human ServicesArts & CulturePhilanthropyEducationHealthCommunity ImprovementOther
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

  • BB
    BYRD BARR PLACE
    5× · 2020–2025 · $1.9M · revenue +51%
  • TC
    TUBMAN CENTER FOR HEALTH & FREEDOM
    2× · 2024–2025 · $1.1M · revenue +23%
  • FH
    FRED HUTCHINSON CANCER RESEARCH CENTER
    4× · 2020–2024 · $985k · revenue +11%

Funded once

  • YO
    YMCA OF SEATTLE-KING COUNTY-SNOHOMISH COUNTY
    one grant, 2020 · $800k
  • SI
    SOUTHWEST INDIGENOUS WOMEN'S COALTION
    one grant, 2024 · $600k · revenue 0% · 90% of their budget
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2023 · $300k
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
Washington Ethnic Studies Now

Washington Ethnic Studies Now WAESN is a multigenerational majority POC-led nonprofit advancing Ethnic Studies and racial justice in Washington. We center people of color build youth-centered leadership and learning and organize…

Education
2
Working Washington

We are workers, united across different industries to improve our working conditions and our lives. We come together as working people to build power through education, organizing, and enforcement. We work to raise and uphold standards in…

—
3
Jobs with Justice San Francisco

A long-term, strategic alliance of labor, community, faith-based, and student organizations working together to build greater economic power for workers and community members through employee rights at work and access to good jobs,…

Employment
4
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…

—
5
Siff

Siff is a seattle-based 501(c)(3) arts nonprofit dedicated to the creation of vibrant experiences and spaces that champion film discovery and arts education.

Youth Development
6
Washington Area Community Investment Fund Inc

The washington area community investment fund (wacif) is a nonprofit community loan fund focused on increasing equity and economic opportunity in the washington, dc area's underserved communities. wacif's mission is driven is driven by…

—
7
Invest in Washington Now Campaign

Advocate for tax policy in Washington State

—
8
Seattle Architectural Foundation

The Seattle Architecture Foundation connects people to the architecture, design, and history of Seattle. We believe the more you engage with design, the more you feel connected to your changing city. As a volunteer driven organization, we…

Arts & Culture
9
Pathwaves Washington

Pathwaves Washington builds the collective power of leaders of color to transform early childhood systems so that every child and their community thrives.

Education
10
Washington Community Action Network

To achieve economic fairness in order to establish a more democratic society characterized by racial, social & gender justice, with respect for diversity, & a decent quality of life for those who reside in WA. We are building a movement of…

—
11
Washington Filmworks

To build and enhance the competitiveness of Washington State's film and associated creative industry. We accomplish this by marketing and managing the state's production incentive program, representing the state in national and…

Community Improvement
12
Earthcorps

To cultivate leaders and community partnerships to advance environmental justice.

International
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Yakima Valley Community Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Liberation Ventures Inc. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
05the grantee network

69 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. 69 of the 77 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.

3
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
8
Early backer (in before they grew)
67/69
Grantees still filing
36/69
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Individual grant recipient: $1,475,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientFRED HUTCHINSON CANCER RESEARCH CENTER: $985,000 · OtherFRED HUTCHINSON CANCER RESEARCH CENTERYMCA OF SEATTLE-KING COUNTY-SNOHOMISH COUNTY: $800,000 · OtherYMCA OF SEATTLE-KING COUNTY-SNOHOMISH CO…LIFEWIRE: $545,000 · OtherLIFEWIREGATHERING ROOTS WELLNESS RETREAT CENTER: $450,000 · OtherGATHERING ROOTS WELLNESS RETREAT CENTERIndividual grant recipient: $300,000 · OtherSOUTHWEST INDIGENOUS WOMEN'S COALTION: $600,000 · OtherSOUTHWEST INDIGENOUS WOMEN'S COALTION350 Seattle: $400,000 · Other350 Seattle+25 more: $1,712,000 · Other+25 moreBYRD BARR PLACE: $1,924,000 · Human ServicesBYRD BARR PLACEYOUNG WOMENS CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF SEATTLE-KING COUNTY-SNOHOMISH COUNTY: $1,025,000 · Human ServicesYOUNG WOMENS CHRISTIAN A…YWCA USA INC: $600,000 · Human ServicesYWCA USA INCRealize Impact: $356,250 · Human ServicesRealize ImpactCOMMONWEAL: $200,000 · Human Services+4 more: $272,000 · Human Services+4 morePresident and Fellows of Harvard College: $1,000,000 · EducationPresident and…Davidson College: $780,000 · EducationDavidson Coll…SEATTLE GIRLS' SCHOOL: $550,000 · EducationSEATTLE GIRLS…+3 more: $125,000 · EducationINDEPENDENT SECTOR: $1,500,000 · PhilanthropyINDEPENDENT S…RENTON REGIONAL COMMUNITY FNDN: $450,000 · PhilanthropyRENTON REGION…TIDES FOUNDATION: $109,000 · Philanthropy+9 more: $311,000 · Philanthropy+9 moreNORTHWEST FILM FORUM: $812,750 · Arts & CultureNORTHWEST…ARTE NOIR: $250,000 · Arts & CultureARTE NOIRNATIVE ACTION NETWORK: $230,000 · Arts & CultureNATIVE AC…NATIONAL URBAN INDIAN FAMILY COALITION: $150,000 · Arts & CultureNATIONAL …THE CENTER FOR INDEPENDENT DOCUMENTARY INC: $150,000 · Arts & CultureTHE CENTE…SEATTLE ARTS AND LECTURES: $60,000 · Arts & Culture+3 more: $35,000 · Arts & CultureTUBMAN CENTER FOR HEALTH & FREEDOM: $1,083,332 · HealthFred Hutchinson Cancer Center: $175,000 · HealthOVERLAKE HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $75,000 · HealthCierra Sisters: $50,000 · HealthTHE WHO WE ARE PROJECT: $400,000 · Civil RightsThe Washington Bus Education Fund: $215,000 · Civil RightsWashington Community Alliance: $100,000 · Civil RightsLIBERATION VENTURES INC: $50,000 · Civil Rights
Other$7,267,000Human Services$4,377,250Education$2,455,000Philanthropy$2,370,000Arts & Culture$1,687,750Health$1,383,332Civil Rights$765,000

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 budgetBYRD BARR PLACE: $1,924,000 over 5y, 4.3% of budgetINDEPENDENT SECTOR: $1,500,000 over 2y, 11% of budgetTUBMAN CENTER FOR HEALTH & FREEDOM: $1,083,332 over 2y, 8.4% of budgetYOUNG WOMENS CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF SEATTLE-KING COUNTY-SNOHOMISH COUNTY: $1,025,000 over 4y, 0.8% of budgetPresident and Fellows of Harvard College: $1,000,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetFRED HUTCHINSON CANCER RESEARCH CENTER: $985,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetNORTHWEST FILM FORUM: $812,750 over 3y, 43% of budgetDavidson College: $780,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetYWCA USA INC: $600,000 over 2y, 3.6% of budgetSOUTHWEST INDIGENOUS WOMEN'S COALTION: $600,000 over 1y, 90% of budgetSEATTLE GIRLS' SCHOOL: $550,000 over 3y, 3.7% of budgetRENTON REGIONAL COMMUNITY FNDN: $450,000 over 6y, 4.8% of budgetRealize Impact: $356,250 over 2y, 1.7% of budgetARTE NOIR: $250,000 over 1y, 28% of budgetNATIVE ACTION NETWORK: $230,000 over 2y, 14% of budgetThe Washington Bus Education Fund: $215,000 over 1y, 13% of budgetNa'ah Illahee Fund: $210,000 over 3y, 2.2% of budgetCOMMONWEAL: $200,000 over 1y, 1.9% of budgetFred Hutchinson Cancer Center: $175,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetJustice Funders: $150,000 over 1y, 3.4% of budgetNATIONAL URBAN INDIAN FAMILY COALITION: $150,000 over 1y, 5.5% of budgetCHILDHAVEN: $150,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetTHE CENTER FOR INDEPENDENT DOCUMENTARY INC: $150,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetKing County Sexual Assault Resource Center: $125,000 over 6y, 0.3% of budgetTIDES FOUNDATION: $109,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNEO Philanthropy Inc: $109,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetLatino Community Fund of Washington State: $107,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetSeattle Children's Foundation: $100,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetRVC SEATTLE: $100,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetOVERLAKE SERVICE LEAGUE: $90,000 over 2y, 1.9% of budgetOVERLAKE HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $75,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetFair Work Center: $62,000 over 1y, 2.6% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON FOUNDATION: $60,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetWashington Progress Fund: $60,000 over 1y, 3.8% of budgetSEATTLE ARTS AND LECTURES: $60,000 over 4y, 0.7% of budgetAlliance for Global Justice Corp: $53,500 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetPOLICYLINK: $52,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCHILDREN OF THE SETTING SUN PRODUCT: $50,000 over 1y, 2.3% of budgetLIBERATION VENTURES INC: $50,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetTHE SEATTLE TIMES COMMUNITY IMPACT FUND: $50,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetSalish School of Spokane: $50,000 over 1y, 2.5% of budgetWASHINGTON WOMEN'S FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 2y, 1.8% of budgetCHILDREN AND YOUTH JUSTICE CENTER: $50,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetONEAMERICA: $50,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetUNITED TERRITORIES OF PACIFIC ISLANDERS WASHINGTON-UTOPIA WA: $50,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetSEATTLE FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNeighborhood Funders Group: $50,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetURBAN LEAGUE OF METROPOLITAN SEATTLE: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% 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 Satterberg Founda…United Way of King Co…Inatai FoundationRaikes FoundationGates FoundationThe Norcliffe Foundat…Philanthropy NorthwestPuget Sound Energy Fo…Stolte Family Foundat…Moccasin Lake Foundat…Credit Unions in the …
Seattle FoundationWA64.4× affinity38 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Seattle Foundation · The Satterberg Foundation Inc · United Way of King County · Inatai Foundation · Raikes Foundation · Gates Foundation · The Norcliffe Foundation · Philanthropy Northwest · Puget Sound Energy Foundation · Stolte Family Foundation · Moccasin Lake Foundation · Credit Unions in the State of Washington

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 Bernier McCaw Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Bernier McCaw Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%6%23%51%90%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 7%
  • President and Fellows of Harvard College: 7% of income from government
  • The Center for Independent Documentary Inc: 6% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
21report 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 Bernier McCaw Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Bernier McCaw 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 77 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 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Bernier McCaw’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