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Bowline Fund at a glance

· Private foundation

Bowline Fund

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.

$176k
Granted FY2024still arriving
1
Grants FY2024still arriving
1
States reached
$176k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Community Improvement$1.4MRecreation & Sports$133kArts & Culture$26kEnvironment$21kCivil Rights$21kHousing & Shelter$10kYouth Development$10kInternational$5kOther$0
02FY2024 · 1 grant

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$175,889
Median grant
1
States reached
$3.0M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Seattle Neighborhood Greenways$175,889
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 (FY19–21, $331k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%Tides: $170k → 10%Tides: $160k → 10%El Centro de la Raza: $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.
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 24% of Bowline Fund’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address. By recipient address, 79% of the giving stays in WA; by stated purpose, 75%.

Bowline Fundlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address
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.

97%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.5M · 9 repeat orgs$51k to everyone else

9 repeat relationships: 1 still active in FY2024, 8 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

9
13

Total granted

$1.5M
$51k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+105%
+153%

Still filing today

89%
62%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 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
Arts & CultureHuman ServicesRecreation & SportsEnvironmentYouth DevelopmentCommunity 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

  • SN
    SEATTLE NEIGHBORHOOD GREENWAYS
    7× · 2018–2024 · $1.0M · revenue +151% · 39% of their budget
  • TI
    TIDES INC
    2× · 2020–2021 · $330k · revenue +13%
  • SP
    SEATTLE PARKS FOUNDATION
    3× · 2017–2019 · $115k · revenue +138%

Funded once

  • LI
    Lid I-5 Seattle Parks Foundation
    one grant, 2019 · $10k
  • FS
    Familybike Seattle
    one grant, 2017 · $5k
  • CA
    CLIMATE ACTION FAMILIESgraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $5k · revenue +35%
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
The Urbanist

Seattle-based online publication seeking to examine and influence urban policies.

Community Improvement
2
Washington Bikes

Washington Bikes works to ensure that all who ride a bicycle in Washington have safe comfortable and convenient places to ride. Organization advocates for bicyclists rights and shapes policies.

Recreation & Sports
3
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
4
We Heart Seattle

We Heart Seattle is an action-based, boots-on-the-ground movement that organizes trash cleanups in our public spaces and offers resources to those in need. Through our direct civic engagement we lead the way to a more compassionate and…

Community Improvement
5
Spark Northwest

Founded in 2001, Spark Northwest accelerates the just transition to clean energy in the Pacific Northwest. Spark Northwest uses two primary strategies: (1) on-the-ground project consulting, focusing on communities with limited financial…

Environment
6
Stewardship Partners

Stewardship Partners helps private landowners restore and preserve the natural landscapes of WA State. We collaborate with diverse interest groups to build bridges and find solutions that achieve mutual goals of environmental protection,…

Environment
7
350PDX

Building a diverse grassroots movement to address the causes of climate disruption through justice-based solutions by inspiring, training and mobilizing people to act.

Environment
8
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
9
House Our Neighbors

House Our Neighbors envisions a future where all people can afford to live and thrive in vibrant, cohesive, and climate resilient communities. To achieve this, we develop, advocate, and mobilize for policy to realize social housing for the…

—
10
Seattle Good Business Network Dba Good Business Network of Washington

Seattle Good Business Network connects and inspires people to buy, produce, and invest locally, so that everyone has a meaningful stake in the local economy.

Community Improvement
11
The Alliance for Pioneer Square

Neighborhood revitalization and community economic development within the Pioneer Square district of Seattle

Community Improvement
12
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…

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Seattle Parks Foundation; the most unlike its peers is World Bicycle Relief Nfp. 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

16 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. 16 of the 22 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
8
Early backer (in before they grew)
16/16
Grantees still filing
15/16
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

SEATTLE NEIGHBORHOOD GREENWAYS: $1,037,704 · Community ImprovementSEATTLE NEIGHBORHOOD GREENWAYSTIDES INC: $330,000 · Human ServicesTIDES INC+1 more: $1,000 · Human ServicesSEATTLE PARKS FOUNDATION: $115,000 · Recreation & SportsBike Works Seattle: $10,000 · Recreation & SportsNORTHWEST IMMIGRANT RIGHTS PROJECT: $15,000 · OtherLid I-5 Seattle Parks Foundation: $10,000 · OtherLOW INCOME HOUSING INSTITUTE: $10,000 · OtherFamilybike Seattle: $5,000 · OtherSeattle Globalist: $5,000 · OtherCyclo Nord Sud: $2,000 · OtherLutheran Community Services NW: $2,000 · OtherOPENPLANS INC: $5,000 · OtherWORLD BICYCLE RELIEF NFP: $5,000 · Other+1 more: $1,000 · OtherNORTHWEST FOLKLIFE: $15,000 · Arts & CultureTHE RHAPSODY PROJECT: $5,000 · Arts & CultureSEATTLE FOLKLORE SOCIETY INC: $1,000 · Arts & CultureSightline Institute: $15,000 · Environment350 Seattle: $1,000 · EnvironmentCLIMATE ACTION FAMILIES: $5,000 · Youth DevelopmentMaris Place: $5,000 · Youth Development
Community Improvement$1,037,704Human Services$331,000Recreation & Sports$125,000Other$60,000Arts & Culture$21,000Environment$16,000Youth Development$10,000

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 budgetSEATTLE NEIGHBORHOOD GREENWAYS: $1,037,704 over 7y, 39% of budgetTIDES INC: $330,000 over 2y, 4.7% of budgetSEATTLE PARKS FOUNDATION: $115,000 over 3y, 2.7% of budgetSightline Institute: $15,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetNORTHWEST IMMIGRANT RIGHTS PROJECT: $15,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetNORTHWEST FOLKLIFE: $15,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetLOW INCOME HOUSING INSTITUTE: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetBike Works Seattle: $10,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetOPENPLANS INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetWORLD BICYCLE RELIEF NFP: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetEL CENTRO DE LA RAZA: $1,000 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…Mightycause Charitabl…The Bullitt FoundationLucky Seven FoundationImpactassetsincAmerican Online Givin…Morgan Stanley Global…Vanguard Charitable E…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Seattle FoundationWA20.4× 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 · Mightycause Charitable Foundation · The Bullitt Foundation · Lucky Seven Foundation · Impactassetsinc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile Foundation

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24
no gov · 00%3%10%23%40%funder's share of their income ↑0%5%10%15%20%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    9report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–20%
    typical government reliance, FY20–24
    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.

    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 22 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 Bowline’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