Skip to content
Orcas Bay Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Orcas Bay 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.

$20k
Granted FY2025still arriving
15
Grants FY2025still arriving
4
States reached
$5k
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.

Social Science$81kEducation$45kYouth Development$32kPublic Benefit$22kHuman Services$16kHealth$15kAnimals$14kFood & Nutrition$9kOther$0
02FY2025 · 15 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$800
Median grant
4
States reached
$545k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
LUDWIG VON MISES EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTE$5,000
AMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR ECONOMIC RESEARCH INC$5,000
Individual grant recipient$1,400
HILLSDALE COLLEGE$1,400
ORCAS AVIATION ASSOCIATION MERCY FLIGHT FUND$1,000
AIRHAWKS FLYING CLUB$1,000
ORCAS GARDEN CLUB$1,000
ORCAS SENIOR CENTER$800
SEADOC SOCIETY$600
KALEIDOSCOPE ORCAS DAYCARE ASSOCIATION$600
ORCAS ANIMAL PROTECTION SOCIETY$500
ORCAS CHORAL SOCIETY$500
THE FUNHOUSE COMMONS$500
ORCAS ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY$500
SAIL ORCAS - A SAILING EDUCATION FOUNDATION$300
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 89% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%AMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR ECONOMIC RESEARCH INC: $6k → 12%JUDICIAL WATCH INC: $4k → 14%LUDVIG VON MISES INSTITUTE: $6k → 15%YMCA CAMP ORKILA CO YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF GREATER SEATTLE: $3k → 9%INSTITUTE FOR HUMANE STUDIES AT GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY: $2k → 7%SALVATION ARMY: $2k → 9%AMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR ECONOMIC RESEARCH INC: $5k → 12%JUDICIAL WATCH INC: $3k → 14%LUDVIG VON MISES INSTITUTE: $6k → 15%YMCA CAMP ORKILA: $2k → 9%INSTITUTE FOR HUMANE STUDIES AT GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY: $2k → 7%AMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR ECONOMIC RESEARCH INC: $5k → 12%JUDICIAL WATCH INC: $3k → 14%LUDVIG VON MISES INSTITUTE: $6k → 15%YMCA CAMP ORKILA CO YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF GREATER SEATTLE: $2k → 9%AMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR ECONOMIC RESEARCH INC: $5k → 12%JUDICIAL WATCH INC: $3k → 14%LUDWIG VON MISES EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTE: $5k → 15%YMCA CAMP ORKILA CO YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF GREATER SEATTLE: $2k → 9%AMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR ECONOMIC RESEARCH INC: $5k → 12%LUDWIG VON MISES EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTE: $5k → 15%YMCA CAMP ORKILA CO YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF GREATER SEATTLE: $2k → 9%AMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR ECONOMIC RESEARCH INC: $5k → 12%LUDVIG VON MISES INSTITUTE: $4k → 15%YMCA CAMP ORKILA CO YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF GREATER SEATTLE: $2k → 9%AMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR ECONOMIC RESEARCH INC: $5k → 12%LUDVIG VON MISES INSTITUTE: $4k → 15%YMCA CAMP ORKILA: $1k → 9%ORCAS FAMILY HEALTH CENTER: $13k → 10%LUDVIG VON MISES INSTITUTE: $3k → 15%YMCA CAMP ORKILA: $1k → 9%THE FUNHOUSE DISCOVERY CENTER OF ORCAS ISLAND WASHINGTON: $4k → 10%ORCAS MONTESSORI SCHOOL: $4k → 10%ORCAS MONTESSORI SCHOOL: $3k → 10%ORCAS MONTESSORI SCHOOL: $3k → 10%ORCAS MONTESSORI SCHOOL: $3k → 10%ORCAS MONTESSORI SCHOOL: $3k → 10%ORCAS ISLAND FOOD BANK: $3k → 10%THE FUNHOUSE DISCOVERY CENTER OF ORCAS ISLAND WASHINGTON: $3k → 10%ORCAS MONTESSORI SCHOOL: $2k → 10%ORCAS FAMILY HEALTH CENTER: $2k → 10%ORCAS ISLAND FOOD BANK: $2k → 10%ORCAS ISLAND FOOD BANK: $2k → 10%THE EXCHANGE ORCAS RECYCLING SERVICES: $2k → 10%ORCAS ISLAND HISTORICAL MUSEUM: $2k → 10%ORCAS CHORAL SOCIETY: $2k → 10%SEADOC SOCIETY WILDLIFE HEALTH CENTER FOUNDATION: $2k → 10%ORCAS GARDEN CLUB: $2k → 10%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
MI
MA
CA
CO
VA
DC
AL
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.

99%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$258k · 31 repeat orgs$4k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +78% since the first grant, against -1% for those funded once.

31 repeat relationships: 11 still active in FY2025, 20 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

31
2

Total granted

$258k
$2k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+78%
-1%

Still filing today

35%
50%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 90% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $2k 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
Arts & CultureEnvironmentSocial ScienceEducationRecreation & SportsAnimalsOther
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

  • AI
    AMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR ECONOMIC RESEARCH
    7× · 2019–2025 · $37k · revenue +202%
  • OM
    Orcas Montessori School
    6× · 2017–2022 · $18k · revenue +77%
  • JUDICIAL WATCH INC
    4× · 2018–2021 · $13k · revenue +78%

Funded once

  • OI
    ORCAS ISLAND HISTORICAL MUSEUM
    one grant, 2023 · $2k
  • NF
    NATIONAL FOUNDATION FOR GUN RIGHTS INC
    one grant, 2021 · $500 · revenue -1%
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
The Orcas Island Education Foundati On

Support orcas island public school district.

—
2
Orcas Community Resource Center

To ensure that all orcas islanders have access to services and support for their well-being.

Human Services
3
Orcas Daycare Association

To provide infant, toddler, and preschool childcare services for the rural Orcas Island community. 75 children age 1 month to 12 years are enrolled in 4 classrooms:Infants, toddler, preschool,and school age.

Human Services
4
Wild Orca

Translating science into action to save Southern Resident killer whales from extinction.

Animals
5
Orca Conservancy

Orca conservancy is working on behalf of orcinus orca, the killer whale, and protecting the wild places on which it depends.

Animals
6
Orcas Island Childrens House

The mission of oich is to prepare children for kindergarten and lifeby providing dynamic play-based curriculum in an inclusive environment

Education
7
The Island School

The Island School provides a flexible learning environment where each child is known and celebrated.

Education
8
Islesboro Islands Trust

The mission of Islesboro Islands Trust is to enhance the quality of residents' lives through the preservation of open space, educate all residents as to the value of the island's natural ecosystems, and act as an environmental advocate on…

Philanthropy
9
Orcas Recycling Services

Building a zero waste community and mitigating climate crisis through service, education, and stewardship of our waste/resource streams.

Human Services
10
Orcas Island Foundation

Indralaya is both a sanctuary and a dynamic community engaged in an ongoing experiment in theosophical living and study. We honor and work with nature and aspire to live according to the principles of altruism, peaceful engagement with the…

Religion
11
Great Peninsula Conservancy

Preserve in perpetuity the natural habitats, rural landscapes, and open spaces of the great peninsula of washington's puget sound.

Environment
12
Alaska Whale Foundation

Alaska Whale Foundation is dedicated to marine mammal conservation through research monitoring and education.

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Orcas Island Community Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Hillsdale College. 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

17 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. 17 of the 38 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)
8
Early backer (in before they grew)
16/17
Grantees still filing
12/17
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

LUDVIG VON MISES INSTITUTE: $34,600 · OtherLUDVIG VON MISES INSTITUTEHILLSDALE COLLEGE THE OFFICE OF INSTITUTIONAL ADVANCEMENT: $14,700 · OtherHILLSDALE COLLEGE THE OFFICE OF INSTITUTIONAL ADVANCEMENTOrcas Family Health Center: $14,500 · OtherOrcas Family Health CenterYMCA CAMP ORKILA CO YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF GREATER SEATTLE: $11,600 · OtherYMCA CAMP ORKILA CO YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF GREATER SEATTLESALVATION ARMY: $10,200 · OtherSALVATION ARMYLUDWIG VON MISES EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTE: $10,000 · OtherLUDWIG VON MISES EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTEORCAS ISLAND FOOD BANK: $9,000 · OtherFREEDOM FOUNDATION: $9,000 · OtherKALEIDOSCOPE CO ORCAS DAYCARE ASSOCIATION: $8,500 · OtherInstitute for Humane Studies: $7,000 · OtherTHE FUNHOUSE DISCOVERY CENTER OF ORCAS ISLAND WASHINGTON: $6,700 · Other+18 more: $45,525 · Other+18 moreAMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR ECONOMIC RESEARCH: $36,600 · Social ScienceAMERICAN INSTIT…Orcas Montessori School: $17,900 · EducationHILLSDALE COLLEGE: $2,800 · EducationJUDICIAL WATCH INC: $13,000 · Public BenefitTHE SAN JUAN PRESERVATION TRUST: $3,100 · EnvironmentWildlife Health Center Foundation: $2,000 · EnvironmentORCAS CENTER: $3,920 · Arts & CultureCHILDREN'S DISCOVERY FOUNDATION: $500 · Arts & CultureSAIL ORCAS - A SAILING EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $4,200 · Recreation & Sports
Other$181,325Social Science$36,600Education$20,700Public Benefit$13,000Environment$5,100Arts & Culture$4,420Recreation & Sports$4,200

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 budgetAMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR ECONOMIC RESEARCH: $36,600 over 7y, 0.2% of budgetOrcas Montessori School: $17,900 over 6y, 1.4% of budgetOrcas Family Health Center: $14,500 over 2y, 2.4% of budgetJUDICIAL WATCH INC: $13,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetORCAS ISLAND FOOD BANK: $9,000 over 5y, 2.5% of budgetInstitute for Humane Studies: $7,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetSAIL ORCAS - A SAILING EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $4,200 over 8y, 0.7% of budgetORCAS CENTER: $3,920 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetTHE SAN JUAN PRESERVATION TRUST: $3,100 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetHILLSDALE COLLEGE: $2,800 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetORCAS ANIMAL PROTECTION SOCIETY: $2,500 over 6y, 0.3% of budgetWildlife Health Center Foundation: $2,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetORCAS ISLAND COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetORCAS OPEN ARTS: $850 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetNATIONAL FOUNDATION FOR GUN RIGHTS INC: $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.

  • Who funds AMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR ECONOMIC RESEARCH ↗
  • Who funds Orcas Montessori School ↗
  • Who funds Orcas Family Health Center ↗
  • Who funds JUDICIAL WATCH INC ↗
  • Who funds ORCAS ISLAND FOOD BANK ↗
  • Who funds Institute for Humane Studies ↗
  • Who funds SAIL ORCAS - A SAILING EDUCATION FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds ORCAS CENTER ↗
  • Who funds THE SAN JUAN PRESERVATION TRUST ↗
  • Who funds HILLSDALE COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds ORCAS ANIMAL PROTECTION SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds Wildlife Health Center Foundation ↗
  • Who funds ORCAS ISLAND COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds ORCAS OPEN ARTS ↗
  • Who funds CHILDREN'S DISCOVERY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds ORCAS ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds NATIONAL FOUNDATION FOR GUN RIGHTS 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.

Orcas Island Communit…Donald Family Foundat…Daniel and Margaret C…Sos FoundationSeattle FoundationThe Anders FoundationThe Hoagland Family F…Dutton Jones Foundati…Kemper Freeman Founda…Glasser Family FundThe GreerSolien FundWww Foundation
Orcas Island Community FoundationWA30.5× affinity12 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Orcas Island Community Foundation · Donald Family Foundation · Daniel and Margaret Carper Foundation · Sos Foundation · Seattle Foundation · The Anders Foundation · The Hoagland Family Foundation · Dutton Jones Foundation · Kemper Freeman Foundation · Glasser Family Fund · The GreerSolien Fund · Www 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 Orcas Bay Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Orcas Bay Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%6%13%19%25%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    3report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–25%
    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 38 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 Orcas Bay’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