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Ferguson Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Ferguson 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.

$153k
Granted FY2025still arriving
12
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$48k
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 2025.

Education$777kPhilanthropy$168kHuman Services$148kFood & Nutrition$43kEnvironment$35kArts & Culture$23kRecreation & Sports$13kHealth$12kOther$0
02FY2025 · 12 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k6 grants · $21k
  • $10k–50k6 grants · $133k
$10,735
Median grant
1
States reached
$1.9M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
SKAGIT COMMUNITY FOUNDATION$48,000
SKAGIT VALLEY COLLEGE FOUNDATION$25,000
WESTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY$24,000
BELLINGHAM TECHNICAL COLLEGE FOUNDATION$12,500
WHATCOM COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION$12,500
EVERETT COMMUNITY COLLEGE$10,735
HOOP FOR THE VALLEY$7,500
BELLINGHAM FOOD BANK$5,000
HOSPICE OF THE NORTHWEST$3,000
SALISH SEA SCHOOL$2,500
CHILDREN OF THE VALLEY$2,500
SKAGIT ADULT DAY CARE$250
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 (FY17–25, $148k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%SKAGIT VALLEY FAMILY YMCA: $25k → 11%SKAGIT VALLEY FAMILY YMCA: $10k → 11%CHILDREN OF THE VALLEY: $3k → 11%CHILDREN OF THE VALLEY: $3k → 11%SKAGIT VALLEY FAMILY YMCA: $25k → 11%SKAGIT VALLEY FAMILY YMCA: $25k → 11%SKAGIT VALLEY FAMILY YMCA: $15k → 11%SKAGIT ADULT DAY CARE: $10k → 11%SKAGIT ADULT DAY CARE: $10k → 11%SKAGIT ADULT DAY CARE: $8k → 11%SKAGIT ADULT DAY CARE: $5k → 11%SKAGIT ADULT DAY CARE: $3k → 11%SKAGIT ADULT DAY CARE: $3k → 11%SKAGIT ADULT DAY CARE: $3k → 11%SKAGIT ADULT DAY CARE: $2k → 11%SKAGIT ADULT DAY CARE: $1k → 11%SKAGIT ADULT DAY CARE: $250 → 11%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.

98%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$974k · 21 repeat orgs$25k to everyone else

21 repeat relationships: 10 still active in FY2025, 11 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

21
7

Total granted

$974k
$25k

Still filing today

76%
0%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
EducationHuman ServicesEnvironmentPhilanthropyFood & NutritionHealthOther
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

  • SV
    Skagit Valley College Foundation
    9× · 2017–2025 · $213k · revenue +130%
  • TS
    The Skagit Valley Family YMCA
    4× · 2017–2020 · $100k · revenue +31%
  • BA
    BURLINGTON-EDISON ALUMNI FOUNDATION DOLLARS FOR SC
    5× · 2020–2024 · $50k · revenue +16%

Funded once

  • TH
    THE HUB AFTER SCHOOL - WHIDBEY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2024 · $5k
  • CO
    CITY OF BURLINGTON FIRST STEP CENTER
    one grant, 2021 · $5k
  • NT
    NORTHWEST TECNICAL ACADEMY
    one grant, 2020 · $5k
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
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
2
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…

—
3
Skagit Regional Health Foundation

To raise, manage and distribute funds to assure the continued availability of quality health care services and programs through skagit valley hospital. the foundation will foster community awareness of, and support for, skagit valley…

Health
4
Snoqualmie Valley Food Bank

Our mission is to provide food and key resources to help our neighbors and community thrive. we lead the effort to feed, educated and advocate ending hunger in the snoqualmie valley and beyond.

Food & Nutrition
5
Foundation of Yakima Valley College

The Foundation is organized exclusively for charitable and educational purposes. Our main focus is awarding scholarships to students, yearly awards for faculty/staff and assisting in the promotion and support of Yakima Valley College…

Education
6
Sequim Education Foundation

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

Education
7
Snohomish Education Foundation

The snohomish education foundation fosters learning by expanding opportunities for snohomish school district students.

Education
8
Skagit County Historical Society

To identify, collect, document and preserve objects of relevancy and to provide information reflecting the unique cultural history of skagit county, washington.

Arts & Culture
9
Scott Valley Scholarships and Educational Awards Inc

Educational opportunities for area students and alumni, providing scholarships and educational awards, and to develop those community relationships which support this mission.

Education
10
South Puget Sound Community College Foundation

The mission of the foundation is to engage community and build resources to support success for all students.

Education
11
South Seattle College Foundation

Our mission is to change lives by providing students with scholarships so they can pursue quality academic and vocational education. we do this through relationship building, fundraising and stewarding resources.

Education
12
Mount Vernonskagit Rotary Charitable Organization

The primary purpose of the organization is to benefit young people in their academic pursuits, physical fitness, self-esteem and career choices in skagit county, washington.

Philanthropy
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Skagit Community Foundation; the most unlike its peers is The Salish Sea School. 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

18 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. 18 of the 30 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)
18/18
Grantees still filing
14/18
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Skagit Valley College Foundation: $212,500 · EducationSkagit Valley College FoundationBellingham Technical College Foundation: $100,000 · EducationBellingham Technical College FoundationWHATCOM COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $100,000 · EducationWHATCOM COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATIONBURLINGTON-EDISON ALUMNI FOUNDATION DOLLARS FOR SC: $50,000 · EducationBURLINGTON-EDISON ALUMNI FOUNDATION DOLLARS …+2 more: $24,500 · EducationWESTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY: $171,500 · OtherWESTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITYEVERETT COMMUNITY COLLEGE: $68,907 · OtherEVERETT COMMUNITY COLLEGEKALAMAZOO COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $35,000 · OtherKALAMAZOO COLLEGE FOUNDATIONHELPING HANDS FOOD BANK: $15,000 · OtherLINCOLN THEATRE CENTER FOUNDATION: $15,000 · Other+9 more: $34,500 · Other+9 moreTHE SKAGIT COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $130,500 · PhilanthropyTHE SKAGIT COMM…BURLINGTON ROTARY FOUNDATION: $37,500 · PhilanthropyBURLINGTON ROTA…The Skagit Valley Family YMCA: $100,000 · Human ServicesThe Skagit Va…SKAGIT ADULT DAY CARE: $43,250 · Human ServicesSKAGIT ADULT …CHILDREN OF THE VALLEY: $5,000 · Human ServicesTHE SALISH SEA SCHOOL: $19,500 · EnvironmentNorth Cascades Institute: $15,000 · EnvironmentAlternatives to Hunger Bellingham Food Bank: $27,500 · Food & NutritionHOOP FOR THE VALLEY: $12,500 · Recreation & SportsSKAGIT HOSPICE FOUNDATION: $11,500 · Health
Education$487,000Other$339,907Philanthropy$168,000Human Services$148,250Environment$34,500Food & Nutrition$27,500Recreation & Sports$12,500Health$11,500

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetSkagit Valley College Foundation: $212,500 over 9y, 1.3% of budgetTHE SKAGIT COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $130,500 over 9y, 2.4% of budgetBellingham Technical College Foundation: $100,000 over 9y, 1.7% of budgetWHATCOM COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $100,000 over 9y, 0.9% of budgetThe Skagit Valley Family YMCA: $100,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetBURLINGTON-EDISON ALUMNI FOUNDATION DOLLARS FOR SC: $50,000 over 5y, 3.0% of budgetSKAGIT ADULT DAY CARE: $43,250 over 9y, 3.7% of budgetBURLINGTON ROTARY FOUNDATION: $37,500 over 3y, 10% of budgetAlternatives to Hunger Bellingham Food Bank: $27,500 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetTHE SALISH SEA SCHOOL: $19,500 over 7y, 4.8% of budgetHELPING HANDS FOOD BANK: $15,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetNorth Cascades Institute: $15,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetLINCOLN THEATRE CENTER FOUNDATION: $15,000 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetKALAMAZOO COLLEGE: $14,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetHOOP FOR THE VALLEY: $12,500 over 3y, 11% of budgetSKAGIT HOSPICE FOUNDATION: $11,500 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetMOUNT VERNON LIBRARY FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 2y, 2.1% of budgetCHILDREN OF THE VALLEY: $5,000 over 2y, 0.3% 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 Skagit Valley College Foundation ↗
  • Who funds THE SKAGIT COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Bellingham Technical College Foundation ↗
  • Who funds WHATCOM COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds The Skagit Valley Family YMCA ↗
  • Who funds BURLINGTON-EDISON ALUMNI FOUNDATION DOLLARS FOR SC ↗
  • Who funds SKAGIT ADULT DAY CARE ↗
  • Who funds BURLINGTON ROTARY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Alternatives to Hunger Bellingham Food Bank ↗
  • Who funds THE SALISH SEA SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds HELPING HANDS FOOD BANK ↗
  • Who funds North Cascades Institute ↗
  • Who funds LINCOLN THEATRE CENTER FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds KALAMAZOO COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds HOOP FOR THE VALLEY ↗
  • Who funds SKAGIT HOSPICE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds MOUNT VERNON LIBRARY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds CHILDREN OF THE VALLEY ↗

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.

The Skagit Community …Puget Sound Energy Fo…The Albertsons Compan…Jack and Shirley McIn…North Sound Accountab…Shell USA Company Fou…Baird Foundation IncJerry H Walton Founda…Tucker Family Foundat…Building ChangesThe Norcliffe Foundat…Janson Foundation
The Skagit Community FoundationWA24.1× affinity9 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Skagit Community Foundation · Puget Sound Energy Foundation · The Albertsons Companies Foundation · Jack and Shirley McIntyre Foundation · North Sound Accountable Community of Health · Shell USA Company Foundation · Baird Foundation Inc · Jerry H Walton Foundation · Tucker Family Foundation · Building Changes · The Norcliffe Foundation · Janson 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 Ferguson Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Ferguson Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    7report 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 30 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 Ferguson’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