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Orcasong Institute at a glance

· Private foundation

Orcasong Institute

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.

$91k
Granted FY2025still arriving
9
Grants FY2025still arriving
3
States reached
$20k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2018 to 2025.

Arts & Culture$180kHuman Services$55kFood & Nutrition$28kPhilanthropy$20kCommunity Improvement$5kEducation$3kAnimals$2kMembership Benefit$250
02FY2025 · 9 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k2 grants · $1k
  • $10k–50k7 grants · $90k
$10,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$634k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
SAGE$20,000
ORCAS ISLAND CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL$17,000
ORCAS ISLAND FILM FESTIVAL$12,500
PALM SPRINGS INTERNATIONAL PIANO COMPETITION$10,000
PALM SPRINGS SUNUP ROTARY FOUNDATION$10,000
COACHELLA VALLEY REPERTORY$10,000
THE LGBTQ COMMUNITY CENTER OF THE DESERT$10,000
ORCAS ANIMAL PROTECTION SOCIETY$1,000
CALIFORNIA LODGE NO 1 INDEPENDENT ORDER OF ODD FELLOWS$250
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 (FY24–25, $20k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, 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%PALM SPRINGS SUNUP ROTARY FOUNDATION: $10k → 11%PALM SPRINGS SUNUP ROTARY FOUNDATION: $10k → 11%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.

81%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$219k · 7 repeat orgs$53k to everyone else

7 repeat relationships: 5 still active in FY2025, 2 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

7
11

Total granted

$219k
$13k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+8%
+16%

Still filing today

86%
36%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 56% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $40k went to new ones.

50%100%’18’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’18’20’21’22’23’24’25
Arts & CultureFood & NutritionHuman ServicesInternationalAnimalsCivil RightsOther
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

  • SJ
    SAN JUAN ISLANDS ARGRICULTURAL GUILD
    2× · 2018–2022 · $28k · revenue +149%
  • PS
    Palm Springs International Piano Competition
    3× · 2023–2025 · $21k · revenue +8%
  • PS
    Palm Springs Sunup Rotary Foundation
    2× · 2024–2025 · $20k · revenue +412% · 44% of their budget

Funded once

  • CI
    CORAZON INC
    one grant, 2024 · $5k · revenue -4%
  • LS
    LEADERSHIP SAN JUAN ISLANDS
    one grant, 2022 · $3k
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2021 · $800
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
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
2
Great Peninsula Conservancy

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

Environment
3
Oregon Restaurant and Lodging Association

Orla serves as the leading industry advocate, striving to protect, improve and promote oregon hospitality.

—
4
Oregon Shakespeare Festival Association Inc

The oregon shakespeare festival creates world-class theater, revealing our collective humanity through illuminating interpretations of new and classic plays, and inspiring a love of our art form for current and future generations.

Arts & Culture
5
Opera Southwest

Professional production of opera for the public, and education about opera and the performing arts for audiences of all ages.

Arts & Culture
6
Orcas Community Resource Center

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

Human Services
7
Orcas Open Arts

We are an Orcas Island based 501(c)(3) non-profit organization focused on creating and supporting a variety of arts programs in the San Juan Archipelago. We believe that the Arts play a vital role in creating and sustaining a healthy…

Unclassified
8
Cowiche Canyon Conservancy

Protecting our shrub-steppe and connecting people to this vanishing landscape.

—
9
Portland Public Library

Portland Public Library is a welcoming cultural center that brings people together and connects them with trusted resources, ideas, experiences, and information. We build a stronger community by inspiring learning, creativity, and…

Education
10
Wild Orca

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

Animals
11
World Arts West

Founded in 1978, World Arts West is a nationally-recognized leader in advocating for cultural arts communities. Serving the largest multicultural dance and music network in the United States, we are a wraparound cultural artist service…

Arts & Culture
12
Oregon Agricultural Trust

Oregon agricultural trust partners with farmers and ranchers to protect agricultural lands for the benefit of oregons economy, communities, and landscapes.

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Orcas Center; the most unlike its peers is Palm Springs Sunup Rotary 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

15 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. 15 of the 23 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)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
15/15
Grantees still filing
6/15
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

ORCAS CENTER: $85,000 · Arts & CultureORCAS CENTEROrcas Island Chamber Music Festival: $29,000 · Arts & CultureOrcas Island Chamber Music FestivalORCAS ISLAND FILM FESTIVAL: $34,679 · OtherORCAS ISLAND FILM FESTIVALPalm Springs International Piano Competition: $21,000 · OtherPalm Springs International Piano Comp…SERVICES AND ADVOCACY FOR GAY LESBIAN BISEXUAL AND TRANSGENDER ELDERS INC: $20,000 · OtherSERVICES AND ADVOCACY FOR GAY LESBIAN…COACHELLA VALLEY REPERTORY: $10,000 · OtherCOACHELLA VALLEY REPERTORY+11 more: $9,900 · Other+11 moreSAN JUAN ISLANDS ARGRICULTURAL GUILD: $27,500 · Food & NutritionSAN JUAN I…+1 more: $150 · Food & NutritionPalm Springs Sunup Rotary Foundation: $20,000 · Human ServicesORCAS ISLAND COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $20,000 · PhilanthropyTHE LGBTQ COMMUNITY CENTER OF THE D: $10,000 · Civil RightsCORAZON INC: $5,000 · International
Arts & Culture$114,000Other$95,579Food & Nutrition$27,650Human Services$20,000Philanthropy$20,000Civil Rights$10,000International$5,000

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 budgetORCAS CENTER: $85,000 over 2y, 5.9% of budgetOrcas Island Chamber Music Festival: $29,000 over 2y, 1.7% of budgetSAN JUAN ISLANDS ARGRICULTURAL GUILD: $27,500 over 2y, 5.7% of budgetPalm Springs International Piano Competition: $21,000 over 3y, 2.7% of budgetSERVICES AND ADVOCACY FOR GAY LESBIAN BISEXUAL AND TRANSGENDER ELDERS INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetPalm Springs Sunup Rotary Foundation: $20,000 over 2y, 44% of budgetORCAS ISLAND COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $20,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTHE LGBTQ COMMUNITY CENTER OF THE D: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetCOACHELLA VALLEY REPERTORY: $10,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetCORAZON INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetORCAS ANIMAL PROTECTION SOCIETY: $2,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetWASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPlanting Justice: $150 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.

Daniel and Margaret C…Orcas Island Communit…Jewish Community Foun…ImpactassetsincAmerican Endowment Fo…Morgan Stanley Global…Vanguard Charitable E…National Philanthropi…Donor Advised Charita…American Online Givin…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Daniel and Margaret Carper FoundationWA13.6× affinity4 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Daniel and Margaret Carper Foundation · Orcas Island Community Foundation · Jewish Community Foundation of San Diego · Impactassetsinc · American Endowment Foundation · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · National Philanthropic Trust · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile 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 Orcasong Institute funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Orcasong Institute. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%3%13%28%50%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    5report 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 Orcasong Institute?

    Find your warmest path to Orcasong Institute 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 23 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 Orcasong Institute’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