Skip to content
Mary Garner Esary Trust at a glance

· Private foundation

Mary Garner Esary Trust

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$143k
Granted FY2021
47
Grants FY2021
1
States reached
$18k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead

Read this first · the figures below need context

98% of Mary Garner Esary Trust’s FY2024 grant dollars went to Blue Mountain Community Foundation, not to grantees.

Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2024 names 11 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2021, the last year Mary Garner Esary Trust named its own grantees at scale: 28 organizations, $143k. It is dated, not current.

Organizations named directly on the return

20
’17
21
’18
24
’19
20
’20
28
’21
5
’22
7
’23
11
’24

Amber years are those where most dollars went to a sponsor.

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.

Philanthropy$3.5MEducation$435kArts & Culture$99kHealth$98kHuman Services$61kYouth Development$51kFood & Nutrition$32kPublic Benefit$27kOther$0
02FY2021 · 47 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2021

  • Under $10k45 grants · $116k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $28k
$2,500
Median grant
1
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
WALLA WALLA PUBLIC SCHOOL$17,500
WALLA WALLA COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUND$10,000
WALLA WALLA PUBLIC SCHOOL$7,500
WALLA WALLA CATHOLIC SCHOOLS$5,000
WALLA WALLA PICKLEBALL ASSOCIATION$5,000
CITY OF WALLA WALLA$4,000
PAGE AHEAD$4,000
FORT WALLA WALLA MUSEUM$4,000
CAMPFIRE WALLA WALLA$3,500
WALLA WALLA SYMPHONY$3,500
THE LITTLE THEATRE OF WALLA WALLA$3,500
CHILDREN'S HOME SOCIETY$3,500
TRILOGY RECOVERY COMMUNITY$3,500
COMMUNITY COUNCIL$3,500
FRIENDS OF CHILDREN OF WW$3,000
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 (FY20–21, $3k) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, 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%HOPE STREET: $2k → 13%HOPE STREET: $1k → 13%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.

95%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$873k · 46 repeat orgs$48k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +41% since the first grant, against -19% for those funded once.

46 repeat relationships: 36 still active in FY2021, 10 since wound down; 12 grantees were first funded in FY2021 (too recent to call). Read against FY2021, the last year this funder named its own grantees directly; its giving has since run through a sponsor, which reports no donor behind each grant.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

46
11

Total granted

$873k
$13k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+41%
-19%

Still filing today

48%
9%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 93% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $6k went to new ones.

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

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
Arts & CultureHealthEducationYouth DevelopmentFood & NutritionCommunity ImprovementOther
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

  • WW
    WALLA WALLA COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION
    5× · 2017–2021 · $56k · revenue +209%
  • PA
    PAGE AHEAD CHILDRENS LITERACY PRGM
    8× · 2017–2024 · $33k · revenue +37%
  • BM
    BLUE MOUNTAIN ACTION COUNCIL
    6× · 2017–2024 · $32k · revenue +141%

Funded once

  • PL
    PACIFIC LITTLE LEAGUE
    one grant, 2020 · $3k
  • BM
    BLUE MT COMMUNITY FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2017 · $2k
  • WW
    WALLA WALLA VALLEY DISABILITY NETWO
    one grant, 2019 · $2k
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
Walla Walla Valley Chamber of Commerce

The walla walla valley chamber of commerce is a member-focused organization and community partner that fosters a sustainable, healthy and vibrant economic environment through business promotion, advocacy, education and services.

—
2
Washington Museum Association

The Washington Museum Association was established to represent and serve museums of all types and sizes throughout Washington State

Arts & Culture
3
Walla Walla Alliance for the Homeless

Our mission is to provide safe/secure low-barrier shelter and food to any adult in need in the Walla Walla region. Our hope is to build upon this foundation to stabilize people's lives while helping them to become self-sufficient. We do…

Housing & Shelter
4
Walla Walla Summer Theater Group

To transform the Fort Walla Walla Amphitheater into a nationally recognized regional theater, while enhancing the cultural identity of Walla Walla through locally produced performing arts events and accessible educational opportunities.

Arts & Culture
5
The Wallace Medical Concern

We partner with our community to make good health possible for all. wallace serves individuals and families who face barriers to care throughout the east multnomah county in the portland metropolitan area.

—
6
Walla Walla Senior Citizens Center

To provide services and assistance to senior citizens

Human Services
7
Wallowa Valley Arts Council

To promote the arts in wallowa county, oregon.

—
8
Walla Walla Basin Watershed Foundation

The mission of the walla walla basin watershed council is to protect the resources of the walla walla watershed, deal with issues in advance of resource degredation and enhance the overall health of the watershed, while also protecting as…

Environment
9
Waitsburg High School Alumni Association
Education
10
Walla Walla Community Hospice

to provide compassionate care to patients in the final stages of life and support for their loved ones and caregivers.

Human Services
11
Wallowa Land Trust

Our mission is to protect the rural nature of Wallowa County by working cooperatively with private landowners,indigenous people, local communities and governmental entities to conserve land.

Environment
12
Wallingford Community Senior Center

WCSC connects and empowers older adults to live happy, healthy, and engaged lives.

Philanthropy
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Fort Walla Walla Museum Walla Walla Valley Historical Society; the most unlike its peers is Lillie Rice Center. 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

27 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. 27 of the 70 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)
6
Early backer (in before they grew)
27/27
Grantees still filing
18/27
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

BLUE MOUNTAIN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $3,480,239 · PhilanthropyBLUE MOUNTAIN COMMUNITY FOUNDATIONWALLA WALLA PUBLIC SCHOOL: $180,600 · OtherWALLA WALLA PUBL…WALLA WALLA CATHOLIC SCHOOLS: $73,000 · OtherWALLA WALLA CATH…CITY OF WALLA WALLA: $26,500 · OtherWALLA WALLA PUBLIC LIBRARY: $26,250 · OtherCHRISTIAN AID CENTER: $25,000 · OtherFort Walla Walla Museum Walla Walla Valley Historical Society: $24,500 · OtherST BASIL ACADEMY: $23,500 · OtherCOMMUNITY COUNCIL: $24,000 · Other+45 more: $249,515 · Other+45 moreWALLA WALLA COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $55,500 · EducationPAGE AHEAD CHILDRENS LITERACY PRGM: $33,325 · Education+1 more: $3,000 · EducationWalla Walla Symphony Society Inc: $18,100 · Arts & CultureLittle Theatre of Walla Walla: $16,000 · Arts & CultureWalla Walla Chamber Music Festival: $14,000 · Arts & CultureCarnegie Picture Lab: $7,500 · Arts & CultureCHILDRENS MUSEUM OF WALLA WALLA: $3,500 · Arts & Culture+1 more: $1,500 · Arts & CultureTrilogy Recovery Community: $27,000 · HealthPROVIDENCE ST MARY FOUNDATION: $12,250 · HealthVALLEY RESIDENTIAL SERVICES: $10,000 · HealthAMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY INC: $5,000 · HealthBLUE MOUNTAIN ACTION COUNCIL: $32,000 · Food & NutritionFRIENDS OF CHILDREN OF WALLA WALLA: $19,000 · Youth DevelopmentCAMP FIRE WALLA WALLA: $10,500 · Youth Development
Philanthropy$3,480,239Other$652,865Education$91,825Arts & Culture$60,600Health$54,250Food & Nutrition$32,000Youth Development$29,500

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 budgetBLUE MOUNTAIN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $3,480,239 over 4y, 25% of budgetWALLA WALLA COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $55,500 over 5y, 0.8% of budgetPAGE AHEAD CHILDRENS LITERACY PRGM: $33,325 over 8y, 0.4% of budgetBLUE MOUNTAIN ACTION COUNCIL: $32,000 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetTrilogy Recovery Community: $27,000 over 8y, 1.4% of budgetFort Walla Walla Museum Walla Walla Valley Historical Society: $24,500 over 6y, 1.0% of budgetCOMMUNITY COUNCIL: $24,000 over 6y, 2.1% of budgetFRIENDS OF CHILDREN OF WALLA WALLA: $19,000 over 6y, 4.7% of budgetWalla Walla Symphony Society Inc: $18,100 over 5y, 0.7% of budgetLittle Theatre of Walla Walla: $16,000 over 4y, 2.9% of budgetBLUE MOUNTAIN LAND TRUST: $15,500 over 5y, 0.8% of budgetWalla Walla Chamber Music Festival: $14,000 over 7y, 1.3% of budgetJUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT OF WASHINGTON: $13,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetPROVIDENCE ST MARY FOUNDATION: $12,250 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetHelpline: $12,000 over 5y, 0.6% of budgetCAMP FIRE WALLA WALLA: $10,500 over 3y, 1.5% of budgetVALLEY RESIDENTIAL SERVICES: $10,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetLillie Rice Center: $7,500 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetCarnegie Picture Lab: $7,500 over 5y, 3.2% of budgetWALLA WALLA PICKLEBALL ASSOCIATION: $5,000 over 1y, 7.2% of budgetAMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY INC: $5,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCHILDRENS MUSEUM OF WALLA WALLA: $3,500 over 2y, 6.0% of budgetBOARD OF TRUSTEES OF WHITMAN COLLEGE: $3,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetHOPE STREET: $2,750 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetBLUE MOUNTAIN HUMANE SOCIETY: $2,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetDOWNTOWN WALLA WALLA FOUNDATION: $1,500 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetKirkman House Museum: $1,500 over 1y, 2.9% 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 BLUE MOUNTAIN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds WALLA WALLA COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds PAGE AHEAD CHILDRENS LITERACY PRGM ↗
  • Who funds BLUE MOUNTAIN ACTION COUNCIL ↗
  • Who funds Trilogy Recovery Community ↗
  • Who funds Fort Walla Walla Museum Walla Walla Valley Historical Society ↗
  • Who funds COMMUNITY COUNCIL ↗
  • Who funds FRIENDS OF CHILDREN OF WALLA WALLA ↗
  • Who funds Walla Walla Symphony Society Inc ↗
  • Who funds Little Theatre of Walla Walla ↗
  • Who funds BLUE MOUNTAIN LAND TRUST ↗
  • Who funds Walla Walla Chamber Music Festival ↗
  • Who funds JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT OF WASHINGTON ↗
  • Who funds PROVIDENCE ST MARY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Helpline ↗
  • Who funds CAMP FIRE WALLA WALLA ↗
  • Who funds VALLEY RESIDENTIAL SERVICES ↗
  • Who funds Lillie Rice Center ↗
  • Who funds Carnegie Picture Lab ↗
  • Who funds WALLA WALLA PICKLEBALL ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY INC ↗

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.

Blue Mountain Communi…Clara and Art Bald Tr…Estate of Joseph L St…Sherwood TrustYancey P Winans Testa…George T Welch Testam…Bonnie & Clifford Bra…United Way of the Blu…The Sunny Day Charita…Wells Charitable TrustArtsfundCape Flattery Foundat…
Blue Mountain Community FoundationWA74.1× affinity33 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Blue Mountain Community Foundation · Clara and Art Bald Trust · Estate of Joseph L Stubblefield · Sherwood Trust · Yancey P Winans Testamentary Trust · George T Welch Testamentary Trust · Bonnie & Clifford Braden Foundation · United Way of the Blue Mountains · The Sunny Day Charitable Foundation · Wells Charitable Trust · Artsfund · Cape Flattery 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 Mary Garner Esary Trust funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Mary Garner Esary Trust. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%2%8%17%30%funder's share of their income ↑0%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    9report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–90%
    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 Mary Garner Esary Trust?

    Find your warmest path to Mary Garner Esary Trust 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 70 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 2021, released 2021. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Mary Garner Esary’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