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Gow Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Gow Family Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$2.0M
Granted FY2024still arriving
34
Grants FY2024still arriving
5
States reached
$220k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0197% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Human Services$2.5MHealth$2.2MEducation$1.6MArts & Culture$940kFood & Nutrition$925kEmployment$750kCivil Rights$715kEnvironment$515kOther$0
02FY2024 · 34 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • $10k–50k19 grants · $440k
  • $50k–250k15 grants · $1.5M
$40,000
Median grant
5
States reached
$16M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
POTTERY NORTHWEST$220,000
PLANNED PARENTHOOD$200,000
CENTER FOR INDEPENDENT DOCUMENTARY$200,000
YUAN TZE REN XUE CENTER$150,000
YWCA OF SEATTLEKINGSNOHOMISH COUNTY$150,000
IFWHENHOW LAWYERING FOR REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE$100,000
INQUIRING SYSTEMS$100,000
NORTHWEST IMMIGRATION RIGHTS PROJECT$50,000
VANCOUVER FOUNDATION$50,000
NORTHWEST COMMUNITY BAIL FUND$50,000
RAINIER SCHOLARS$50,000
WASHINGTON WOMEN IN NEED$50,000
FARESTART$50,000
ISLANDWOOD$50,000
Individual grant recipient$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 (FY17–24, $1.9M) land where the poverty rate runs at 8%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%CLACKAMAS WOMEN'S SERVICES: $100k → 8%YWCA OF SEATTLEKINGSNOHOMISH COUNTY: $150k → 9%YWCA OF SEATTLEKINGSNOHOMISH COUNTY: $150k → 9%YWCA OF SEATTLEKINGSNOHOMISH COUNTY: $150k → 9%YOUTHCARE: $70k → 9%YOUTHCARE: $20k → 9%YOUTHCARE: $20k → 9%YOUTHCARE: $20k → 9%YOUTHCARE: $20k → 9%YOUTHCARE: $20k → 9%YOUTHCARE: $20k → 9%LIFEWIRE FKA EASTSIDE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE PROGRAM: $140k → 9%LIFEWIRE FKA EASTSIDE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE PROGRAM: $40k → 9%LIFEWIRE FKA EASTSIDE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE PROGRAM: $40k → 9%LIFEWIRE FKA EASTSIDE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE PROGRAM: $40k → 9%LIFEWIRE FKA EASTSIDE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE PROGRAM: $40k → 9%LIFEWIRE FKA EASTSIDE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE PROGRAM: $40k → 9%LIFEWIRE FKA EASTSIDE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE PROGRAM: $40k → 9%BELLEVUE LIFESPRING: $75k → 9%BELLEVUE LIFESPRING: $25k → 9%BELLEVUE LIFESPRING: $25k → 9%BELLEVUE LIFESPRING: $25k → 9%BELLEVUE LIFESPRING: $25k → 9%BELLEVUE LIFESPRING: $25k → 9%BELLEVUE LIFESPRING: $25k → 9%CHILDREN'S HOME SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON DBA AKIN: $30k → 9%CHILDREN'S HOME SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON DBA AKIN: $30k → 9%REFUGEE WOMEN'S ALLIANCE: $60k → 9%REFUGEE WOMEN'S ALLIANCE: $35k → 9%REFUGEE WOMEN'S ALLIANCE: $35k → 9%REFUGEE WOMEN'S ALLIANCE: $35k → 9%REFUGEE WOMEN'S ALLIANCE: $35k → 9%REFUGEE WOMEN'S ALLIANCE: $35k → 9%REFUGEE WOMEN'S ALLIANCE: $35k → 9%AMARA: $25k → 9%AMARA: $25k → 9%AMARA: $25k → 9%AMARA: $25k → 9%AMARA: $25k → 9%AMARA: $25k → 9%SEXUAL VIOLENCE LAW CENTER: $20k → 9%AMARA: $25k → 9%SEXUAL VIOLENCE LAW CENTER: $20k → 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.

93%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$11M · 43 repeat orgs$775k to everyone else

43 repeat relationships: 32 still active in FY2024, 11 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

43
8

Total granted

$11M
$475k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+35%
+80%

Still filing today

72%
88%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 85% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $300k went to new ones.

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

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

’17’18’20’21’22’23’24
Human ServicesEducationYouth DevelopmentArts & CultureEnvironmentHealthOther
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

  • FL
    FOOD LIFELINE
    5× · 2017–2022 · $850k · revenue +89%
  • YT
    Yuan Tze Ren Xue Center
    6× · 2018–2024 · $840k · revenue +32% · 50% of their budget
  • POTTERY NORTHWEST
    7× · 2017–2024 · $460k · revenue +288%

Funded once

  • YT
    YUAN TZE REN XUE CENTER
    one grant, 2017 · $140k
  • CW
    CLACKAMAS WOMEN'S SERVICESgraduated
    one grant, 2018 · $100k · revenue +264%
  • Save The Children Federation Inc
    one grant, 2023 · $75k · 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
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…

—
2
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
3
Building Changes

Building changes advances equitable responses to homelessness in washington state, with a focus on children, youth, and families. we work at the intersection of housing, education, and health systems, partnering with communities and public…

Health
4
King County Sexual Assault Resource Center

KCSARC is the largest and most comprehensive non-profit provider of sexual assault services in King County and Washington State. Our vision is a community free of sexual violence. Our mission is to: give voice to victims, their families,…

—
5
School's Out Washington

School's out washington (sowa) drives positive systemic change so that all washington's children and youth, particularly those furthest from justice, have access to a robust ecosystem of high-quality expanded learning programs.

Youth Development
6
Pro-Choice Washington

To protect and promote every persons right to access the full range of reproductive healthcare choices in Washington State, including safe and legal abortion, through education, advocacy, lobbying and coalition-building

—
7
Lutheran Community Services Northwest

LCSNW partners with individuals, families and communities for health, justice and hope. LCSNW provides a wide variety of social services in Oregon, Washington and Idaho and serves people of all ages, cultures and faiths.

Human Services
8
Re Sources

RE Sources mobilizes people of Northwest Washington to build just and thriving communities and to protect the land, water, and climate on which we all depend.

Environment
9
Disability Rights Washington

Disability rights washington's mission is to advance the dignity, equality, and self determination of people with disabilities. we work to pursue justice on matters related to human and legal rights.

Human Services
10
Gender Justice League

Gender Justice League's mission is to empower all people to eliminate discrimination and prejudice based on sex, gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation in Washington State, and to ensure that trans and gender diverse…

Civil Rights
11
Family Violence Law Center

FVLC helps diverse communities in Alameda County heal from domestic violence and sexual assault, advocating for justice and healthy relationships. We provide survivor-centered legal and crisis intervention services, offer prevention for…

Crime & Legal
12
Invest in Washington Now Campaign

Advocate for tax policy in Washington State

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Childrens Home Society of Washington; the most unlike its peers is Beecher's Pure Food Kids Foundation. 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

43 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. 43 of the 53 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)
10
Early backer (in before they grew)
40/43
Grantees still filing
32/43
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

PLANNED PARENTHOOD: $850,000 · OtherPLANNED PARENTHOODYMCA: $450,000 · OtherYMCANORTHWEST IMMIGRATION RIGHTS PROJECT: $350,000 · OtherNORTHWEST IMMIGRATION RIGHTS PROJECTVANCOUVER FOUNDATION: $342,159 · OtherVANCOUVER FOUNDATIONIndividual grant recipient: $315,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientYWCA OF SEATTLEKINGSNOHOMOISH COUNTY: $300,000 · OtherYWCA OF SEATTLEKINGSNOHOMOISH COUNTYWashington Women in Need: $250,000 · OtherPOTTERY NORTHWEST: $460,000 · OtherPOTTERY NORTHWESTTHE CENTER FOR INDEPENDENT DOCUMENTARY INC: $200,000 · OtherIFWHENHOW: $300,000 · OtherIFWHENHOW+23 more: $1,625,000 · Other+23 moreYOUNG WOMENS CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF SEATTLE-KING COUNTY-SNOHOMISH COUNTY: $450,000 · Human ServicesYOUNG WOMENS CHRIS…LifeWire: $380,000 · Human ServicesLifeWireRefugee Womens Alliance: $270,000 · Human ServicesRefugee Womens All…OVERLAKE SERVICE LEAGUE: $225,000 · Human ServicesOVERLAKE SERVICE L…YOUTHCARE: $190,000 · Human ServicesYOUTHCAREAMARA: $175,000 · Human ServicesAMARACLACKAMAS WOMEN'S SERVICES: $100,000 · Human Services+2 more: $100,000 · Human ServicesYuan Tze Ren Xue Center: $840,000 · HealthYuan Tze Re…RECOVERY CAFE: $330,000 · HealthRECOVERY CA…FOOD LIFELINE: $850,000 · Food & NutritionRAINIER SCHOLARS: $350,000 · EducationRAINIER PREP: $175,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON FOUNDATION: $170,000 · EducationDELTA GAMMA FOUNDATION: $100,000 · EducationFARESTART: $750,000 · EmploymentISLANDWOOD: $350,000 · EnvironmentThe Pachamama Alliance: $325,000 · EnvironmentSUGi FOUNDATION: $50,000 · Environment
Other$5,442,159Human Services$1,890,000Health$1,170,000Food & Nutrition$850,000Education$795,000Employment$750,000Environment$725,000

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 budgetFOOD LIFELINE: $850,000 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetYuan Tze Ren Xue Center: $840,000 over 6y, 50% of budgetFARESTART: $750,000 over 6y, 1.4% of budgetPOTTERY NORTHWEST: $460,000 over 7y, 21% of budgetYOUNG WOMENS CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF SEATTLE-KING COUNTY-SNOHOMISH COUNTY: $450,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetLifeWire: $380,000 over 7y, 2.0% of budgetISLANDWOOD: $350,000 over 7y, 0.8% of budgetRAINIER SCHOLARS: $350,000 over 7y, 1.3% of budgetRECOVERY CAFE: $330,000 over 7y, 2.5% of budgetThe Pachamama Alliance: $325,000 over 7y, 1.0% of budgetIFWHENHOW: $300,000 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetRefugee Womens Alliance: $270,000 over 7y, 0.9% of budgetWashington Women in Need: $250,000 over 7y, 4.2% of budgetOVERLAKE SERVICE LEAGUE: $225,000 over 7y, 2.1% of budgetTHE CENTER FOR INDEPENDENT DOCUMENTARY INC: $200,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetYOUTHCARE: $190,000 over 7y, 0.4% of budgetCAMP KOREY: $175,000 over 7y, 0.8% of budgetRAINIER PREP: $175,000 over 7y, 0.8% of budgetAMARA: $175,000 over 7y, 0.6% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON FOUNDATION: $170,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetNorthwest Community Bail Fund: $150,000 over 3y, 10% of budgetWILD SALMON CENTER: $140,000 over 7y, 0.5% of budgetDELTA GAMMA FOUNDATION: $100,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetINQUIRING SYSTEMS INC: $100,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetCLACKAMAS WOMEN'S SERVICES: $100,000 over 1y, 2.8% of budgetCHILDHAVEN: $90,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetBEECHER'S PURE FOOD KIDS FOUNDATION: $75,000 over 3y, 6.8% of budgetSave The Children Federation Inc: $75,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLEGAL HOPE: $70,000 over 4y, 19% of budgetCHILDRENS HOME SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON: $60,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetISSAQUAH SCHOOLS FOUNDATION: $60,000 over 3y, 2.2% of budgetCOCOON HOUSE: $60,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetVILLAGE THEATRE: $60,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetSUGi FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 1y, 3.9% of budgetLOW INCOME HOUSING INSTITUTE: $50,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetInternational Rescue Committee INC: $50,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetART WITH HEART: $40,000 over 2y, 4.2% of budgetSEXUAL VIOLENCE LAW CENTER: $40,000 over 2y, 3.9% of budgetHOUSING HOPE: $30,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetThe Garage A Teen Cafe: $30,000 over 3y, 2.8% of budgetAmerican Civil Liberties Union of Washington Found: $25,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetTREEHOUSE: $25,000 over 1y, 0.2% 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 FOOD LIFELINE ↗
  • Who funds Yuan Tze Ren Xue Center ↗
  • Who funds FARESTART ↗
  • Who funds POTTERY NORTHWEST ↗
  • Who funds YOUNG WOMENS CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF SEATTLE-KING COUNTY-SNOHOMISH COUNTY ↗
  • Who funds LifeWire ↗
  • Who funds ISLANDWOOD ↗
  • Who funds RAINIER SCHOLARS ↗
  • Who funds RECOVERY CAFE ↗
  • Who funds The Pachamama Alliance ↗
  • Who funds IFWHENHOW ↗
  • Who funds Refugee Womens Alliance ↗
  • Who funds Washington Women in Need ↗
  • Who funds OVERLAKE SERVICE LEAGUE ↗
  • Who funds THE CENTER FOR INDEPENDENT DOCUMENTARY INC ↗
  • Who funds YOUTHCARE ↗
  • Who funds CAMP KOREY ↗
  • Who funds RAINIER PREP ↗
  • Who funds AMARA ↗
  • Who funds UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Northwest Community Bail Fund ↗
  • Who funds WILD SALMON CENTER ↗
  • Who funds DELTA GAMMA FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds INQUIRING SYSTEMS INC ↗
  • Who funds CLACKAMAS WOMEN'S SERVICES ↗
  • Who funds CHILDHAVEN ↗
  • Who funds BEECHER'S PURE FOOD KIDS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Save The Children Federation Inc ↗
  • Who funds LEGAL HOPE ↗
  • Who funds CHILDRENS HOME SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON ↗
  • Who funds ISSAQUAH SCHOOLS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds COCOON HOUSE ↗

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 FoundationUnited Way of King Co…The Norcliffe Foundat…Puget Sound Energy Fo…Medina FoundationGrousemont FoundationReal Progress Foundat…Employees Community F…Windermere FoundationGlassybaby White Ligh…Lucky Seven FoundationGs Donor Advised Phil…
Seattle FoundationWA38.4× affinity19 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Seattle Foundation · United Way of King County · The Norcliffe Foundation · Puget Sound Energy Foundation · Medina Foundation · Grousemont Foundation · Real Progress Foundation · Employees Community Fund of Boeing-Puget Sound · Windermere Foundation · Glassybaby White Light Fund · Lucky Seven Foundation · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%4%15%34%60%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 33%
  • Wild Salmon Center: 49% of income from government
  • Clackamas Women's Services: 33% of income from government
  • Save the Children Federation Inc: 30% of income from government
  • The Center for Independent Documentary Inc: 6% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
13report 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 Gow Family Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Gow Family 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 53 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 Gow Family’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