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College Spark Washington at a glance

· Private foundation

College Spark Washington

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$3.9M
Granted FY2025still arriving
50
Grants FY2025still arriving
3
States reached
$300k
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, FY2020 to 2025.

Education$21MEmployment$835kCivil Rights$814kCommunity Improvement$745kEnvironment$510kYouth Development$390kPhilanthropy$368kCrime & Legal$360kOther$0
02FY2025 · 50 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k11 grants · $14k
  • $10k–50k6 grants · $158k
  • $50k–250k29 grants · $2.6M
  • $250k+4 grants · $1.1M
$60,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$124M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
TECHNOLOGY ACCESS FOUNDATION$300,000
EDUCATION SERVICE DISTRICT 105$300,000
PUGET SOUND EDUCATION SERVICE DISTRICT 121$275,000
PUGET SOUND EDUCATION SERVICE DISTRICT 121$250,000
UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON$175,000
NORTHEAST WA ESD 101$175,000
COMMUNITY CENTER FOR EDUCATION RESULTS$164,000
ONEAMERICA$150,000
NORTHWEST EDUCATION SERVICE DISTRICT 189$133,584
EDUCATION SERVICE DISTRICT #105$120,000
UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON$106,000
EDUCATION NORTHWEST$100,000
EDUCATION SERVICE DISTRICT 112$100,000
COMMUNITY INITIATIVES$100,000
WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY$96,000
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 (FY21–25, $52k) 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%ASHHO CULTURAL & JOB TRAINING CENTER: $35k → 9%CHILDRENS ALLIANCE: $5k → 9%CHILDREN'S ALLIANCE: $5k → 9%CHILDREN'S ALLIANCE: $3k → 9%CHILDREN'S ALLIANCE: $3k → 9%CHILDREN'S ALLIANCE: $2k → 9%CHILDREN'S ALLIANCE: $250 → 9%CHILDREN'S ALLIANCE: $200 → 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.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

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

74%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$18M · 63 repeat orgs$6.3M to everyone else

63 repeat relationships: 28 still active in FY2025, 35 since wound down; 10 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

63
65

Total granted

$18M
$5.2M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

-4%
+3%

Still filing today

41%
31%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 71% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $1.1M 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
EducationCommunity ImprovementHealthYouth DevelopmentPublic BenefitHuman ServicesOther
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

  • TECHNOLOGY ACCESS FOUNDATION
    4× · 2022–2025 · $870k · revenue +14%
  • RT
    RENTON TECHNICAL COLLEGE FOUNDATION
    4× · 2020–2023 · $400k · revenue +161%
  • RA
    Rural Alliance
    2× · 2020–2022 · $323k · revenue +171% · 52% of their budget

Funded once

  • OO
    OFFICE OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION
    one grant, 2020 · $1.1M
  • OO
    OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION
    one grant, 2021 · $770k
  • SH
    SEIU HEALTHCARE 1199NW MULTI-EMPLOYER TRAINING & EDUCATION FUND
    one grant, 2024 · $250k · revenue 0%
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
Foundation for the Seattle Colleges

The Foundation for the Seattle Colleges exists to advance fundraising efforts for the Seattle Community College District. We seek to attract financial resources which support students so they may be successful; maintain the quality and…

—
2
Impact Public Schools

The mission of Impact Public Schools is to prepare a diverse student population to succeed in college and impact communities as the next generation of equity-driven, innovative leaders. (Continued on Schedule O)Impact Public Schools makes…

Education
3
Washington State University Foundation

The mission of the Foundation is to promote, accept, and maximize private support for programs, initiatives, and properties of Washington State University and its regional campuses. The Foundation also prudently manages, invests, and…

Education
4
Seattle JazzED

Through Jazz education that liberates and inspires, Seattle JazzED increase access in the music room, celebrates student expression, and builds lasting connection rooted in community.

Arts & Culture
5
The Seattle Academy of Arts & Sciences

Seattle academy is a dynamic community that challenges students to question, imagine, and create in order to contribute to a changing world.

Education
6
Sequim Education Foundation

To be a catalyst for vibrant growth of each student in the Sequim School District.

Education
7
Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences

Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences educates and trains health care professionals emphasizing service among rural and medically under-served communities throughout the Northwest.

Education
8
Independent Colleges of Washington

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

Education
9
Washington School Principals Education Foundation

To support the improvement of k through 12 educational programs for pupils in the state of washington. to provide professional development to principals in the state of washington.

—
10
Washington State Family and Community Engagement Trust

Washington Family Engagement fosters social transformation by supporting the development of mulitgenerational leaders from diverse backgrounds to become actively engaged in schools and communities in Washington State.

Philanthropy
11
Central Washington University Foundation

In partnership with cwu and our donors, our mission is to transform the lives of current and future generations of students by developing and stewarding resources that provide access, opportunity, and hope.

—
12
Whatcom Community College Foundation

The wcc foundation strengthens educational opportunities by providing student scholarships, supporting faculty and staff development, and assisting with key college initiatives.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Washington Stem Center; the most unlike its peers is Seiu Healthcare 1199NW Multi-Employer Training & Education Fund. 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

56 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. 56 of the 141 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)
6
Early backer (in before they grew)
56/56
Grantees still filing
27/56
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

STATE BOARD FOR COMMUNITY AND TECHNICAL COLLEGES: $1,401,650 · OtherSTATE BOARD FOR COMMUNITY AND TECHNICAL COLLEGESOFFICE OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION (OSPI): $1,059,315 · OtherOFFICE OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION (OSPI)EDUCATIONAL SERVICE DISTRICT 105: $990,000 · OtherEDUCATIONAL SERVICE DISTRICT 105OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION (OSPI): $769,944 · OtherTACOMA COMMUNITY COLLEGE: $703,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON: $687,700 · OtherCLOVER PARK TECHNICAL COLLEGE: $617,198 · Other+91 more: $10,708,693 · Other+91 moreDEGREES OF CHANGE: $1,015,951 · EducationDEGREES OF CHANGETHE WASHINGTON STEM CENTER: $640,000 · EducationTHE WASHINGTON STEM…RENTON TECHNICAL COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $400,000 · EducationRENTON TECHNICAL CO…Rural Alliance: $322,900 · EducationRural AllianceCOMMUNITY CENTER FOR EDUCATION RESULTS: $314,000 · EducationCOMMUNITY CENTER FO…WASHINGTON ETHNIC STUDIES NOW: $230,000 · EducationWASHINGTON ETHNIC S…COMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS OF BENTON-FRANKLI: $180,000 · EducationSoutheast Seattle Education Coalition: $180,000 · EducationEnlearn: $150,000 · Education+17 more: $789,875 · Education+17 moreTECHNOLOGY ACCESS FOUNDATION: $870,000 · Community ImprovementTeamChild: $360,000 · Community ImprovementALLIANCE FOR A JUST SOCIETY: $240,000 · Community ImprovementRVC SEATTLE: $180,000 · Community ImprovementYAKIMA ROTARY CHARITIES: $75,000 · Community ImprovementEDUCATION NORTHWEST: $525,000 · Public BenefitONEAMERICA: $450,000 · Public BenefitCOMMUNITY INITIATIVES: $175,000 · PhilanthropyInnovia Foundation: $110,000 · PhilanthropyCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF NCW: $100,000 · PhilanthropySEATTLE FOUNDATION: $30,000 · PhilanthropySEIU HEALTHCARE 1199NW MULTI-EMPLOYER TRAINING & EDUCATION FUND: $250,000 · HealthMICHIGAN PUBLIC HEALTH INSTITUTE: $75,000 · Health+2 more: $600 · HealthTREEHOUSE: $180,000 · Youth DevelopmentBELONG Partners: $100,000 · Youth Development
Other$16,937,500Education$4,222,726Community Improvement$1,725,000Public Benefit$975,000Philanthropy$415,000Health$325,600Youth Development$280,000

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 budgetDEGREES OF CHANGE: $1,015,951 over 4y, 18% of budgetTECHNOLOGY ACCESS FOUNDATION: $870,000 over 4y, 9.0% of budgetTHE WASHINGTON STEM CENTER: $640,000 over 2y, 5.8% of budgetEDUCATION NORTHWEST: $525,000 over 4y, 1.6% of budgetONEAMERICA: $450,000 over 3y, 3.9% of budgetRENTON TECHNICAL COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $400,000 over 4y, 16% of budgetTeamChild: $360,000 over 4y, 3.4% of budgetRural Alliance: $322,900 over 2y, 52% of budgetCOMMUNITY CENTER FOR EDUCATION RESULTS: $314,000 over 2y, 2.4% of budgetSEIU HEALTHCARE 1199NW MULTI-EMPLOYER TRAINING & EDUCATION FUND: $250,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetALLIANCE FOR A JUST SOCIETY: $240,000 over 4y, 1.1% of budgetWASHINGTON ETHNIC STUDIES NOW: $230,000 over 2y, 44% of budgetCOMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS OF BENTON-FRANKLI: $180,000 over 3y, 2.3% of budgetSoutheast Seattle Education Coalition: $180,000 over 3y, 4.8% of budgetTREEHOUSE: $180,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetRVC SEATTLE: $180,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetCOMMUNITY INITIATIVES: $175,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetCITY YEAR INC: $150,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetEnlearn: $150,000 over 1y, 11% of budgetSEATTLE JOBS INITIATIVE: $150,000 over 1y, 3.0% of budgetInnovia Foundation: $110,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetClaremont Graduate University: $108,515 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetCENTER FOR STRENGTHENING THE TEACHING PROFESSION: $100,000 over 2y, 4.8% of budgetBELONG Partners: $100,000 over 2y, 3.1% of budgetCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF NCW: $100,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON FOUNDATION: $98,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetSPOKANE PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION: $75,000 over 1y, 60% of budgetMICHIGAN PUBLIC HEALTH INSTITUTE: $75,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetEDMONDS COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $75,000 over 3y, 1.3% of budgetYAKIMA ROTARY CHARITIES: $75,000 over 1y, 7.2% of budgetNORTHWEST EDUCATION ACCESS: $60,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetTrue Measure Collaborative: $60,000 over 1y, 3.5% of budgetPHILANTHROPY NORTHWEST: $53,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetSEATTLE UNIVERSITY: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBIG BEND COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $40,000 over 1y, 3.2% of budgetPIERCE COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $38,390 over 1y, 3.9% of budgetASHHO CULTURAL AND JOB TRAINING CENTER: $35,000 over 1y, 11% of budgetSEATTLE FOUNDATION: $30,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCollege Success Foundation: $25,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetHIGHLINE COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $25,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetCHILDREN'S ALLIANCE: $16,950 over 5y, 0.5% of budgetWOODLAND PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $14,550 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetOPEN ADOPTION & FAMILY SERVICES INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetPAGE AHEAD CHILDRENS LITERACY PRGM: $860 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBOARD OF TRUSTEES OF WHITMAN COLLEGE: $750 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWASHINGTON CPA FOUNDATION: $500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetThe Susan G Komen Breast Cancer Foundation Inc: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSEATTLE COLLEGES FOUNDATION: $500 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.

  • Who funds DEGREES OF CHANGE ↗
  • Who funds TECHNOLOGY ACCESS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds THE WASHINGTON STEM CENTER ↗
  • Who funds EDUCATION NORTHWEST ↗
  • Who funds ONEAMERICA ↗
  • Who funds RENTON TECHNICAL COLLEGE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds TeamChild ↗
  • Who funds Rural Alliance ↗
  • Who funds COMMUNITY CENTER FOR EDUCATION RESULTS ↗
  • Who funds SEIU HEALTHCARE 1199NW MULTI-EMPLOYER TRAINING & EDUCATION FUND ↗
  • Who funds ALLIANCE FOR A JUST SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds WASHINGTON ETHNIC STUDIES NOW ↗
  • Who funds COMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS OF BENTON-FRANKLI ↗
  • Who funds Southeast Seattle Education Coalition ↗

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.

Gates FoundationSeattle FoundationSchool's Out Washingt…The Norcliffe Foundat…United Way of King Co…Puget Sound Energy Fo…Kaiser Foundation Hea…The Satterberg Founda…Credit Unions in the …Inatai FoundationStolte Family Foundat…Medina Foundation
Gates FoundationWA53.3× affinity28 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Gates Foundation · Seattle Foundation · School's Out Washington · The Norcliffe Foundation · United Way of King County · Puget Sound Energy Foundation · Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Washington · The Satterberg Foundation Inc · Credit Unions in the State of Washington · Inatai Foundation · Stolte Family Foundation · Medina 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 College Spark Washington funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from College Spark Washington. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%4%15%34%60%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 44%
  • Education Northwest: 44% of income from government
  • City Year Inc: 11% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
23report 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.

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 141 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 College Spark Washington’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