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Dan and Pat Nelson Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Dan and Pat Nelson Family Foundation

Its FY2018 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$2k
Granted FY2018
1
Grants FY2018
1
States reached
$2k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0194% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2018.

Recreation & Sports$60kReligion$30kPhilanthropy$25kArts & Culture$16kHuman Services$15kYouth Development$15kFood & Nutrition$11kEducation$10kOther$0
02FY2018 · 1 grant

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$2,182
Median grant
1
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Individual grant recipient$2,182
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 (FY17–17, $20k) land where the poverty rate runs at 9%, against an area that typically sits at 7%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 7%CANCER PATHWAYS: $5k → 9%NORTHWEST FURNITURE BANK: $10k → 9%WISHING WELL FOUNDATION: $5k → 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 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
Nourish Pierce County

To provide food to individuals in need with compassion, dignity and respect. No one needing assistance is turned away.

—
2
Family Promise of Pierce County

To empower families experiencing housing insecurity through intervention, prevention,and stabilization services.

Housing & Shelter
3
Northwest Fair Housing Alliance

The mission of the Northwest Fair Housing Alliance is to eliminate housing discrimination and to ensure equal housing opportunity for the people of Washington State through education, counseling and advocacy.

Civil Rights
4
Puyallup Food Bank

We are passionate about meeting the urgent needs of our neighbors and partnering to assist them, believing food is the first step on their journey to a more hopeful future!

Human Services
5
Northwest Film Forum

Northwest Film Forum incites public dialogue and creative action through collective cinematic experiences. A nonprofit film and arts center located in Seattle, Northwest Film Forum presents hundreds of films, festivals, community events,…

Arts & Culture
6
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…

—
7
Port Townsend School of Wood- working

To inspire a lifelong passion for craftmanship through education in woodworking and traditional building trades.

Education
8
Skagit Habitat for Humanity

The organization partners with hard working people in need of affordable housing, by building and renovating houses in an effort to develop permanent, affordable homes for low income families within Skagit County. We also provide volunteer…

—
9
Community Foundation of Snohomish County

The Community Foundation of Snohomish County (the Foundation) is a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization incorporated under the laws of the State of Washington. The Foundation serves as a community foundation, supporting a broad spectrum of…

Philanthropy
10
Great Peninsula Conservancy

Preserve in perpetuity the natural habitats, rural landscapes, and open spaces of the great peninsula of washington's puget sound.

Environment
11
Port Angeles Food Bank

Nourishing our community. the port angeles food bank is the main food bank in clallam county, providing food to 13 other area pantries and meal programs as well as providing food to over 5,000 individuals per month.

Food & Nutrition
12
Homeward Bound in Puyallup

Homeward bound in puyallup will bring individuals, groups and partners together to deliver services and resources to eliminate involuntary homelessness in pierce county, washington. homeward bound in puyallup sees a day when the community…

Housing & Shelter
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Northwest Harvest Emm; the most unlike its peers is Toy Rescue Mission. 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

10 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. 10 of the 16 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)
10/10
Grantees still filing
7/10
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

YMCA OF PIERCE AND KITSAP COUNTY: $50,000 · OtherYMCA OF PIERCE AND KITSAP COUNTYTHE MUSTARD SEED PROJECT: $30,000 · OtherTHE MUSTARD SEED PROJECTGIRLS ON THE RUN: $14,000 · OtherGIRLS ON THE RUNNORTHWEST HARVEST EMM: $11,000 · OtherNORTHWEST HARVEST EMMCAMP AGAPE: $5,000 · Other+2 more: $2,682 · OtherTOY RESCUE MISSION: $25,000 · PhilanthropyTOY RESCUE MIS…NW FURNITURE BANK: $10,000 · Human ServicesNW FURNITUR…WISHING WELL FOUNDATION: $5,000 · Human ServicesWISHING WEL…Cancer Pathways: $5,000 · Human ServicesCancer Path…GIG HARBOR FILM FESTIVAL: $10,500 · Arts & CultureCOMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS OF PENINSULA: $10,250 · Youth DevelopmentFIRST TEE OF SOUTH PUGET SOUND: $5,000 · Recreation & SportsHILLTOP ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE: $5,000 · EducationTACOMAPIERCE COUNTY HABITAT FOR HUMANIT: $5,000 · Housing & Shelter
Other$112,682Philanthropy$25,000Human Services$20,000Arts & Culture$10,500Youth Development$10,250Recreation & Sports$5,000Education$5,000Housing & Shelter$5,000

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

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetNORTHWEST HARVEST EMM: $11,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGIG HARBOR FILM FESTIVAL: $10,500 over 1y, 6.8% of budgetCOMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS OF PENINSULA: $10,250 over 1y, 2.4% of budgetNW FURNITURE BANK: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetFIRST TEE OF SOUTH PUGET SOUND: $5,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetWISHING WELL FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 2.1% of budgetHILLTOP ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE: $5,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetTACOMAPIERCE COUNTY HABITAT FOR HUMANIT: $5,000 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.

Gary E Milgard Family…Greater Tacoma Commun…The Bamford FoundationNames Family Foundati…The Norcliffe Foundat…Sequoia FoundationWoodworth Family Foun…Ben B Cheney Foundati…The Russell Family Fo…The Baker FoundationDeFalco Family Founda…LT Murray Family Foun…
Gary E Milgard Family Foundation- SunshineWA22.1× affinity8 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Gary E Milgard Family Foundation- Sunshine · Greater Tacoma Community Foundation · The Bamford Foundation · Names Family Foundation · The Norcliffe Foundation · Sequoia Foundation · Woodworth Family Foundation · Ben B Cheney Foundation Inc · The Russell Family Foundation · The Baker Foundation · DeFalco Family Foundation Inc · LT Murray Family 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 Dan and Pat Nelson Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Dan and Pat Nelson Family 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%1%3%4%5%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    4report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–5%
    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 16 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 2018, released 2018. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

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    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