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Pauline and Edgar Stern Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Pauline and Edgar Stern 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.

$86k
Granted FY2025still arriving
3
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$50k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0196% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2025.

Arts & Culture$203kEnvironment$125kHealth$60kFood & Nutrition$60kHousing & Shelter$50kCrime & Legal$25kEducation$13kPhilanthropy$10kOther$0
02FY2025 · 3 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k1 grant · $3k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $33k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $50k
$33,200
Median grant
1
States reached
$921k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
HOUSING RESOURCES BAINBRIDGE$50,000
BLOEDEL RESERVE$33,200
THE ISLAND SCHOOL$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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY20–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, 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%EQUAL JUSTICE WORKS: $15k → 14%VIRGINIA MASON FOUNDATION: $20k → 9%BLOEDEL RESERVE: $50k → 10%LONGUE VUE HOUSE & GARDENS: $89k → 23%EQUAL JUSTICE WORKS: $10k → 14%UW MEDICINE ADVANCEMENT: $8k → 9%HOUSING RESOURCES BAINBRIDGE: $50k → 10%LONGUE VUE HOUSE & GARDENS: $44k → 23%THE CIESLA FOUNDATION: $25k → 14%UW MEDICINE ADVANCEMENT: $3k → 9%BLOEDEL RESERVE: $33k → 10%LONGUE VUE HOUSE & GARDENS: $25k → 23%FOOD LIFELINE: $20k → 9%BLOEDEL RESERVE: $22k → 10%BLOEDEL RESERVE: $20k → 10%HYLA MIDDLE SCHOOL: $10k → 10%BAINBRIDGE PERFORMING ARTS: $5k → 10%BAINBRIDGE ISLAND MUSEUM OF ART: $5k → 10%BAINBRIDGE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $5k → 10%BAINBRIDGE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $5k → 10%BAINBRIDGE ISLAND MUSEUM OF ART: $5k → 10%BAINBRIDGE PERFORMING ARTS: $5k → 10%THE ISLAND SCHOOL: $3k → 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.
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.

66%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$367k · 7 repeat orgs$188k to everyone else

7 repeat relationships: 1 still active in FY2025, 6 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

7
6

Total granted

$367k
$135k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+10%
+40%

Still filing today

86%
67%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 39% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $53k went to new ones.

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

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

’20’22’23’24’25
Arts & CultureFood & NutritionHealthCrime & LegalHousing & ShelterEducationOther
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

  • LV
    LONGUE VUE HOUSE & GARDENS
    3× · 2020–2024 · $158k · revenue +74%
  • THE BLOEDEL RESERVE
    4× · 2022–2025 · $125k · revenue +10%
  • EJ
    EQUAL JUSTICE WORKS
    2× · 2022–2024 · $25k · revenue +3%

Funded once

  • Feeding Americagraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $40k · revenue +40%
  • TC
    The Ciesla Foundationgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $25k · revenue +306%
  • VM
    VIRGINA MASON FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2020 · $20k
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
Burien Cooperative Education Project

The Bridge School is a cooperative, multi-age, progressive elementary school program that fosters authentic learning through whole child development.

—
2
Bridgewater Village Inc

Retirement housing

Housing & Shelter
3
Bainbridge Island Parks & Trails Foundation

Building on community creativity and inspiration, we mobilize resources to improve parks and trails on bainbridge island.

Arts & Culture
4
Islandwood

The primary goal is to help children & adults develop a commitment to lifelong learning & environmental and community stewardship through hands-on learning experiences combining science, technology, & the arts at islandwood's 255-acre…

Environment
5
Boston Architectural College

The bac is committed to provide excellence in design education grounded in practice and accessible to diverse communities.

—
6
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
7
President and Trustees of Bates College

Bates is a college of the liberal arts and sciences, and is a coeducational, nonsectarian, residential college with special commitments to academic rigor, and to assuring in all of its efforts the dignity of each individual, and access to…

Education
8
Bowdoin International Music Festival

The mission of the Bowdoin International Music Festival is to provide gifted young musicians from around the world with an opportunity to study with world-class artists, and to provide audiences with classical music performed to the…

Arts & Culture
9
Berkeley Public Library Foundation

The Berkeley Public Library Foundation (BPLF) amplifies the public investment to make a great public library extraordinary. To that end, we provide vital funds and ongoing advocacy to advance the Library's mission, vision, and strategic…

Philanthropy
10
Bainbridge Island Land Trust

Land preservation and conservation education.

Environment
11
Bainbridge Public Library

The organization's mission is to ensure a vibrant community space dedicated to the joy of reading, the discovery of ideas, and the power of information by owning, operating, and maintaining the library building and grounds.

Education
12
Bridgewater Home Inc

Assisted Living and Nursing Care

Human Services
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Bainbridge Community Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Feeding America. 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

13 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. 13 of the 16 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)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
13/13
Grantees still filing
9/13
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE BLOEDEL RESERVE: $124,729 · OtherTHE BLOEDEL RESERVEThe Ciesla Foundation: $25,000 · OtherThe Ciesla FoundationVIRGINA MASON FOUNDATION: $20,000 · OtherVIRGINA MASON FOUNDATIONVIRGINIA MASON FOUNDATION: $20,000 · OtherVIRGINIA MASON FOUNDATIONHyla Middle School: $10,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON: $10,000 · OtherBAINBRIDGE PERFORMING ARTS: $10,000 · OtherLONGUE VUE HOUSE & GARDENS: $157,752 · Arts & CultureLONGUE VUE HOUSE & GARDENSBAINBRIDGE ISLAND MUSEUM OF ART: $10,000 · Arts & CultureBAINBRIDGE ISLAND MUSEUM OF ARTFeeding America: $40,000 · Food & NutritionFeeding Amer…FOOD LIFELINE: $20,000 · Food & NutritionFOOD LIFELIN…Housing Resources Bainbridge: $50,000 · Housing & ShelterHousing Re…MARY BRIDGE CHILDREN'S FOUNDATION: $30,000 · HealthEQUAL JUSTICE WORKS: $25,000 · Crime & LegalBAINBRIDGE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $10,000 · PhilanthropyThe Island School: $3,000 · Education
Other$219,729Arts & Culture$167,752Food & Nutrition$60,000Housing & Shelter$50,000Health$30,000Crime & Legal$25,000Philanthropy$10,000Education$3,000

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetLONGUE VUE HOUSE & GARDENS: $157,752 over 3y, 3.0% of budgetTHE BLOEDEL RESERVE: $124,729 over 4y, 1.3% of budgetHousing Resources Bainbridge: $50,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetFeeding America: $40,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMARY BRIDGE CHILDREN'S FOUNDATION: $30,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetEQUAL JUSTICE WORKS: $25,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetThe Ciesla Foundation: $25,000 over 1y, 11% of budgetFOOD LIFELINE: $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHyla Middle School: $10,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetBAINBRIDGE ISLAND MUSEUM OF ART: $10,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetBAINBRIDGE PERFORMING ARTS: $10,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetBAINBRIDGE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetThe Island School: $3,000 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.

One Call for AllSeattle FoundationKitsap Community Foun…Bainbridge Community …Crabby Beach Foundati…Archarios FoundationRotary Club of Bainbr…The Bank of America C…Vanguard Charitable E…Donor Advised Charita…American Online Givin…Fidelity Investments …
One Call for AllWA20× affinity7 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: One Call for All · Seattle Foundation · Kitsap Community Foundation · Bainbridge Community Foundation · Crabby Beach Foundation · Archarios Foundation · Rotary Club of Bainbridge Island Trust · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund

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 Pauline and Edgar Stern Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Pauline and Edgar Stern Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%4%8%15%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
    0get no government money at all
    6report 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.
    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to Pauline and Edgar Stern Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Pauline and Edgar Stern 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 16 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 Pauline and Edgar Stern’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