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North Star Foundation at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Private foundation

North Star Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$71k
Granted FY2024still arriving
2
Grants FY2024still arriving
2
States reached
$71k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
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 2024.

Community Improvement$98kEnvironment$67kInternational$66kArts & Culture$49kPublic Benefit$33kCivil Rights$21kPhilanthropy$18kEducation$15kOther$0
02FY2024 · 2 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k1 grant · $500
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $71k
$70,900
Median grant
2
States reached
$656k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
NORTH STAR COLLABORATIVE FOUNDATION$70,900
FRIENDS OF PALM SPRINGS ANIMAL SHEL$500
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 (FY17–23, $71k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 99% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%THE DINER PARTY LABS: $8k → 10%NEIGHBORIMPACT: $1k → 10%World Pulse: $10k → 12%The Jeremy Wilson Foundation: $2k → 12%World Pulse: $10k → 12%World Pulse: $10k → 12%WORLDPULSE: $10k → 12%World Pulse: $10k → 12%World Pulse: $10k → 12%WORLDPULSE: $1k → 12%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
MN
MI
NY
MA
OR
NV
CA
UT
CO
AZ
DC
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.

67%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$283k · 21 repeat orgs$139k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +28% since the first grant, against +19% for those funded once.

21 repeat relationships: 1 still active in FY2024, 20 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

21
71

Total granted

$283k
$138k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+28%
+19%

Still filing today

71%
54%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 99% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $500 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 & CultureEnvironmentCivil RightsHuman ServicesHealthCommunity 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

  • NS
    North Star Collaborative Foundation
    3× · 2020–2024 · $86k · revenue +20%
  • SO
    SAVE OSWIT CANYON INC
    2× · 2020–2023 · $51k · revenue +38%
  • ONE ARIZONA
    2× · 2018–2019 · $15k · revenue +416%

Funded once

  • PS
    Palm Springs Center for Creativity
    one grant, 2019 · $10k · revenue -77%
  • MF
    MI FAMILIA VOTAgraduated
    one grant, 2018 · $10k · revenue +72%
  • TD
    THE DINNER PARTY LABS CO NPOC SERVICES
    one grant, 2023 · $8k · revenue -15%
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
350PDX

Building a diverse grassroots movement to address the causes of climate disruption through justice-based solutions by inspiring, training and mobilizing people to act.

Environment
2
Oregon Center for Public Policy

The oregon center for public policy's mission is to achieve economic justice for all oregonians through research, analysis, and advocacy. ocpp works to change policies that foster economic security and stability for all oregonians. we do…

Employment
3
Asociacion Interamericana Para La Defensa Del Ambiente

To strenghten people's ability to guarantee their individual and collective right to a healthy environment, via the development, implementation, and effective enforcement of national and international law.

Crime & Legal
4
Nw Energy Coalition

The NW Energy Coalition is an alliance of over 100 environmental, civic, and human service organizations, utilities, and businesses in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, and British Columbia, plus many individual members. The NW Energy…

—
5
The Climate Center

The Climate Center is a climate and energy policy nonprofit working to rapidly reduce climate pollution at scale, starting in California.

Education
6
Rogue Climate

Rogue Climate's mission is to empower Southern Oregon communities most impacted by climate change including low-income, rural, youth, seniors & communities of color, to win climate justice by organizing for clean energy, sustainable jobs &…

Education
7
Portland Business Alliance

To ensure economic prosperity in the portland region by providing strong leadership, partnership, and programs that encourage business growth and vitality.

Community Improvement
8
Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah

Heal utah's mission is to protect utah's environment and its people by promoting clean air, clean energy, and comprehensive solutions to radioactive and toxic waste.

Environment
9
Oregon Justice Network

Oregon Justice Network is an alliance built and staffed by criminal legal system impacted people advocating for the well-being of people affected or at-risk of being affected by carceral systems. Our work centers around restorative…

Human Services
10
Portland Community Media

Open signal's mission is to nurture the change-making power of community media in service of a just and equitable world.

Arts & Culture
11
Climate Catalyst Inc

Climate catalyst sparks collective action to tackle the biggest climate challenges we face today: cutting emissions in heavy industries.

Environment
12
Coast Fork Willamette Watershed Council

The Coast Fork Willamette Watershed Council is a local nonprofit organization that strives to enhance and restore habitat for fish and wildlife our community and for future generations. Our Board of Directors consists of seven members with…

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is North Valley Community Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Aluminaire House Foundation Inc. 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

57 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. 57 of the 94 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)
15
Early backer (in before they grew)
54/57
Grantees still filing
36/57
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Womens Foundation of Oregon: $7,820 · OtherWomens Foundation of OregonTHE CONSTRUCT FOUNDATION: $6,000 · OtherTHE CONSTRUCT FOUNDATIONIN A LANDSCAPE: $6,000 · OtherIN A LANDSCAPEPALM SPRINGS SCHOOL BOOK PROJECT: $5,000 · OtherPlanned Parenthood: $5,000 · OtherTransition Projects Inc: $4,500 · OtherAmerican Leadership Forum: $4,000 · OtherPLAN International: $4,000 · OtherGrantmakers of Oregon SW Washington: $3,950 · OtherKAIROSPDX: $7,000 · OtherKAIROSPDX+50 more: $57,695 · Other+50 moreNorth Star Collaborative Foundation: $85,900 · PhilanthropyNorth Star Collaborative…United Way of the Columbia-Willamette: $5,000 · PhilanthropyUnited Way of the Columb…+1 more: $500 · PhilanthropyWorld Pulse Voices: $61,000 · Human ServicesWorld Pulse VoicesTHE DINNER PARTY LABS CO NPOC SERVICES: $7,500 · Human ServicesTHE DINNER PARTY LA…+2 more: $2,700 · Human ServicesSAVE OSWIT CANYON INC: $51,000 · EnvironmentSAVE OSWIT CANYO…Oregon Environmental Council: $5,000 · EnvironmentOregon Environme…FAITH ORGANIZING ALLIANCE: $4,000 · EnvironmentFAITH ORGANIZING…+3 more: $3,000 · EnvironmentONE ARIZONA: $15,000 · Civil RightsONE ARIZON…MI FAMILIA VOTA: $10,000 · Civil RightsMI FAMILIA…ARIZONA CENTER FOR EMPOWERMENT: $5,500 · Civil RightsARIZONA CE…MOTHERING JUSTICE: $5,500 · Civil RightsMOTHERING …UNITED WE DREAM NETWORK INC: $1,400 · Civil Rights+1 more: $500 · Civil RightsPalm Springs Center for Creativity: $10,000 · Arts & CulturePalm Spri…PALM SPRINGS ART MUSEUM: $9,200 · Arts & CulturePALM SPRI…UTAH FILM CENTER: $5,000 · Arts & CultureUTAH FILM…INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 · Arts & CultureINTERNATI…MADE: $1,500 · Arts & CulturePALM SPRINGS MODERN COMMITTEE: $1,350 · Arts & Culture+6 more: $4,175 · Arts & Culture+6 moreWORKER POWER INSTITUTE: $5,000 · Community ImprovementCity Club of Portland: $5,000 · Community ImprovementGREAT CORP: $1,000 · Community Improvement
Other$110,965Philanthropy$91,400Human Services$71,200Environment$63,000Civil Rights$37,900Arts & Culture$36,225Community Improvement$11,000

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 budgetNorth Star Collaborative Foundation: $85,900 over 3y, 14% of budgetWorld Pulse Voices: $61,000 over 7y, 1.0% of budgetSAVE OSWIT CANYON INC: $51,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetONE ARIZONA: $15,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetMI FAMILIA VOTA: $10,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetPALM SPRINGS ART MUSEUM: $9,200 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetTHE DINNER PARTY LABS CO NPOC SERVICES: $7,500 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetKAIROSPDX: $7,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetTHE CONSTRUCT FOUNDATION: $6,000 over 2y, 2.3% of budgetIN A LANDSCAPE: $6,000 over 2y, 1.4% of budgetARIZONA CENTER FOR EMPOWERMENT: $5,500 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetMOTHERING JUSTICE: $5,500 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetUnited Way of the Columbia-Willamette: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWORKER POWER INSTITUTE: $5,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetUTAH FILM CENTER: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetOregon Environmental Council: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCity Club of Portland: $5,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetINTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTransition Projects Inc: $4,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetCAUSA OF OREGON: $3,500 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetECOTRUST: $3,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetDAP Health Inc: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSightline Institute: $2,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetJEREMY WILSON FOUNDATION THE: $1,700 over 1y, 3.0% of budgetMADE: $1,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetPARTNERSHIP FOR SAFETY AND JUSTICE: $1,500 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetUNITED WE DREAM NETWORK INC: $1,400 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE CAMPBELL INSTITUTE: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHEALTH CARE FOR ALL OREGON: $1,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetMercy Corps: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNEIGHBORIMPACT: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCENTRAL OREGON LANDWATCH: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGREAT CORP: $1,000 over 1y, 5.0% of budgetBUTTE CREEK MILL FOUNDATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetREPRODUCTIVE FREEDOM FOR ALL FOUNDATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPalm Springs Preservation Foundation: $825 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetLIVE WIRE RADIO INC: $750 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE FILM COLLABORATIVE INC: $600 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFRACTURED ATLAS INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSPONDYLITIS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCOMPASSION & CHOICES: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE PORTLAND PLAYHOUSE: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetENVIRONMENTAL LAW ALLIANCE WORLDWIDE: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPEAR: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBLOOD CANCER UNITED INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNORTH VALLEY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $500 over 1y, 0.0% 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 Oregon Community …The Collins FoundationMeyer Memorial TrustMarie Lamfrom Charita…The Ford Family Found…Ronald W Naito Md Fou…The Roundhouse Founda…The Autzen FoundationMaybelle Clark Macdon…James F & Marion L Mi…OCF Joseph E Weston P…M J Murdock Charitabl…
The Oregon Community FoundationOR42.2× affinity24 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Oregon Community Foundation · The Collins Foundation · Meyer Memorial Trust · Marie Lamfrom Charitable Foundation Trust · The Ford Family Foundation · Ronald W Naito Md Foundation · The Roundhouse Foundation · The Autzen Foundation · Maybelle Clark Macdonald Fund · James F & Marion L Miller Foundation · OCF Joseph E Weston Public Foundation · M J Murdock Charitable Trust

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 120%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from government →median 11%
  • Neighborimpact: 68% of income from government
  • Mercy Corps: 47% of income from government
  • Bridge Meadows: 36% of income from government
  • Transition Projects Inc: 29% of income from government
  • United Way of the Columbia-Willamette: 25% of income from government
  • Kairospdx: 19% of income from government
  • Ecotrust: 14% of income from government
  • The Portland Playhouse: 11% of income from government
  • Live Wire Radio Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Pear: 1% of income from government
  • Caldera: 1% of income from government
  • Womens Foundation of Oregon: 0% of income from government
  • Central Oregon Environmental Center Inc Dba - the Environmental Center: 0% of income from government
  • In a Landscape: 0% of income from government
  • The Campbell Institute: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
12get no government money at all
5report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
1rely 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 North Star Foundation?

Find your warmest path to North Star 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 94 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 North Star’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