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Heron Oaks Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Heron Oaks 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.

$607k
Granted FY2024still arriving
17
Grants FY2024still arriving
7
States reached
$119k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0195% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2024.

Philanthropy$236kEducation$139kRecreation & Sports$96kFood & Nutrition$81kInternational$40kYouth Development$33kEnvironment$28kHealth$13kOther$0
02FY2024 · 17 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k6 grants · $18k
  • $10k–50k6 grants · $116k
  • $50k–250k5 grants · $473k
$10,000
Median grant
7
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
MASSACHUSETTS ENGLISH LEARNER COMMUNITY$118,848
SEATTLE FOUNDATION$116,248
BANK OF AMERICA CHARITABLE GIFT FUND$116,248
OTTAWA COUNTY PARKS FOUNDATION INC$66,248
KEEP GROWING DETROIT$55,200
PLANTING SEEDS INTERNATIONAL$40,000
FLINT RIVER WATERSHED COALITION$26,248
SEATTLE JUNIOR HOCKEY ASSN$20,000
BRONZE CHAPTER$10,000
PEOPLE CENTER INC$10,000
WEST WASHINGTON FEMALE HOCKEY ASSN$10,000
BLACK GIRL HOCKEY CLUB (BGHC)$5,200
NEW DANCE COMPLEX INC$5,200
MINDS MATTER$2,600
AKASHINGA INC$2,000
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 (FY20–24, $17k) land where the poverty rate runs at 8%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%PEOPLE CENTER INC: $10k → 8%ON THE RISE: $5k → 8%FACING HOMELESSNESS: $2k → 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.

Which US states its grants reach

WA
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
PA
CA
VA
LA
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.

26%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$122k · 5 repeat orgs$355k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +37% since the first grant, against -12% for those funded once.

5 repeat relationships: 5 still active in FY2024, 0 since wound down; 10 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

5
12

Total granted

$122k
$46k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+37%
-12%

Still filing today

80%
58%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 18% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $309k went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24
Recreation & SportsHuman ServicesAnimalsPhilanthropyYouth DevelopmentEnvironmentOther
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

  • KEEP GROWING DETROIT
    4× · 2021–2024 · $72k · revenue +20%
  • MM
    MINDS MATTER OF BOSTON INC
    4× · 2021–2024 · $20k · revenue +37%
  • LITTLE BIT THERAPEUTIC RIDING CENTER
    4× · 2021–2024 · $8k · revenue +32%

Funded once

  • KO
    KREWE OF RED BEANSgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $6k · revenue +56%
  • NI
    NW IMMIGRANTS RIGHTS PROJECT
    one grant, 2021 · $6k
  • TB
    TOP BOX FOODS LOUISIANA
    one grant, 2021 · $6k
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
Washingtonians for Public Banking

Washingtonians for Public banking promotes education and civic engagement on public banking and banking reform within Washington state. The organization organizes, educates, and advocates for the establishment of public banking, and…

Community Improvement
2
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
3
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…

—
4
Got Green

Got Green is a Climate Justice organization that envisions a future of healthy and powerful communities, where working class Black and Brown people in southeast Seattle have meaningful work, live in healthy homes, eat nourishing food, and…

Environment
5
Washington Wild

Washington wild protects and restores wild lands and waters in washington state through advocacy, education and civic engagement.

Animals
6
Ketcha Outdoors

To provide equitable access to outdoor experiences and gear, promoting well-being, sustainability and resilient communities.

Youth Development
7
Boston Harbor Now Inc

Our mission is to ensure that the people of greater boston benefit from a vibrant, resilient, and inclusive waterfront, harbor, and islands; these spaces are equitable, accessible, and adapted to climate change; and to ensure our public,…

Environment
8
Feeding Washington

Create a strong and effective statewide infrastructure that efficiently leverages resources to expand capacity in Washington State's Feeding America network.

Food & Nutrition
9
Bike Works Seattle

Bike Works promotes the bicycle as a vehicle for change to empower youth and build resilient communities.

Recreation & Sports
10
Dc Greens Inc

DC Greens advances health equity by building a just and resilient food system.

Community Improvement
11
Boston Public Market Association Inc

Our mission is to continue to develop and operate a permanent year-round market in boston and to support the farmers, fishers, and entrepreneurs who grow, catch, and produce local food, and to nourish our community with food and…

Public Benefit
12
GoodRoots Northwest

Providing equitable access to nutritious food, with dignity, to those in the community facing food insecurity.

Food & Nutrition
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Seattle Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Washington Health Outreach. 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

22 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. 22 of the 29 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)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
21/22
Grantees still filing
11/22
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

SEATTLE FOUNDATION: $116,248 · PhilanthropySEATTLE FOUNDATIONBANK OF AMERICA CHARITABLE GIFT FD: $116,248 · PhilanthropyBANK OF AMERICA CHARITABLE GIFT FDPlanting Seeds International: $40,000 · PhilanthropyPlanting Seeds International+1 more: $3,200 · PhilanthropyMASSACHUSETTS ENGLISH LEARNER COMMUNITY: $118,848 · OtherMASSACHUSETTS ENGLISH LEARNER …BLACK GIRL HOCKEY CLUB (BGHC): $16,800 · OtherBLACK GIRL HOCKEY CLUB (BGHC)BRONZE CHAPTER: $10,000 · OtherKREWE OF RED BEANS: $6,400 · Other+10 more: $38,600 · Other+10 moreOTTAWA COUNTY PARKS FOUNDATION INC: $66,248 · Recreation & SportsOTTAWA COUNTY PA…SEATTLE JUNIOR HOCKEY ASSOCIATION: $20,000 · Recreation & SportsSEATTLE JUNIOR H…WESTERN WASHINGTON FEMALE HOCKEY ASSOCIATION: $10,000 · Recreation & SportsWESTERN WASHINGT…LITTLE BIT THERAPEUTIC RIDING CENTER: $8,100 · Recreation & SportsLITTLE BIT THERA…KEEP GROWING DETROIT: $72,400 · Community ImprovementKEEP GROWIN…Flint River Watershed Coalition: $26,248 · EnvironmentMINDS MATTER OF BOSTON INC: $19,800 · Youth DevelopmentCOMMUNITY PASSAGEWAYS: $3,400 · Youth DevelopmentTHE PEOPLE CENTER INC: $10,000 · Human ServicesON THE RISE INC: $5,200 · Human ServicesFACING HOMELESSNESS: $1,500 · Human Services
Philanthropy$275,696Other$190,648Recreation & Sports$104,348Community Improvement$72,400Environment$26,248Youth Development$23,200Human Services$16,700

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 FOUNDATION: $116,248 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBANK OF AMERICA CHARITABLE GIFT FD: $116,248 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetKEEP GROWING DETROIT: $72,400 over 4y, 2.2% of budgetOTTAWA COUNTY PARKS FOUNDATION INC: $66,248 over 1y, 5.1% of budgetPlanting Seeds International: $40,000 over 1y, 9.2% of budgetSEATTLE JUNIOR HOCKEY ASSOCIATION: $20,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetMINDS MATTER OF BOSTON INC: $19,800 over 4y, 0.6% of budgetWESTERN WASHINGTON FEMALE HOCKEY ASSOCIATION: $10,000 over 1y, 5.7% of budgetTHE PEOPLE CENTER INC: $10,000 over 1y, 3.9% of budgetLITTLE BIT THERAPEUTIC RIDING CENTER: $8,100 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetKREWE OF RED BEANS: $6,400 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetON THE RISE INC: $5,200 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetTHE NEW DANCE COMPLEX INC: $5,200 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetWASHINGTON HEALTH OUTREACH: $4,900 over 2y, 4.1% of budgetCOMMUNITY PASSAGEWAYS: $3,400 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBoston Charitable Trust Fund City of Boston Trust Office: $3,200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBUCKETS OF RAIN: $3,200 over 1y, 2.4% of budgetSECOND HARVEST FOOD BANK GREATER NEW ORLEANS AND ACADIANA: $3,200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLewa Wildlife Conservancy USA: $3,200 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetAKASHINGA INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFACING HOMELESSNESS: $1,500 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.

The Highfield Foundat…Boston Foundation IncGs Donor Advised Phil…Network for GoodAmerican Online Givin…Paypal Charitable Giv…Vanguard Charitable E…Morgan Stanley Global…National Philanthropi…American Endowment Fo…The Bank of America C…Donor Advised Charita…
The Highfield Foundation Fifth Third BankOH24.2× affinity9 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Highfield Foundation Fifth Third Bank · Boston Foundation Inc · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · Network for Good · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Paypal Charitable Giving Fund · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · National Philanthropic Trust · American Endowment Foundation · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving 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 Heron Oaks Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Heron Oaks Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 30%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%13%25%38%50%share of the org’s income from government →median 39%
  • On the Rise Inc: 39% of income from government
  • The New Dance Complex Inc: 2% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
3get 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 · 0–50%
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 29 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.

Possibly out of date. A more recent filing (FY2025) is on record but names no grant recipient in the published copy, so the figures above are from FY2024, the most recent year this funder’s grantee list reached the public record.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Heron Oaks’ 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