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Sellen Community Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Sellen Community Foundation

Its FY2021 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$600k
Granted FY2021
42
Grants FY2021
3
States reached
$250k
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 2021.

Health$1.0MPhilanthropy$302kArts & Culture$220kEducation$117kEmployment$96kHousing & Shelter$38kAnimals$38kHuman Services$33kOther$0
02FY2021 · 42 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2021

  • Under $10k31 grants · $42k
  • $10k–50k7 grants · $76k
  • $50k–250k4 grants · $482k
$500
Median grant
3
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
THE SEATTLE FOUNDATION$249,956
SEATTLE CHILDRENS HOSPITAL FOUNDATION$100,000
SWEDISH MEDICAL CENTER FOUNDATION$82,500
FRANCISCAN FOUNDATION WASHINGTON$50,000
LOW INCOME HOUSING INSTITUTE$15,000
UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON FOUNDATION - SEATTLE$10,527
WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION$10,500
ARTSFUND$10,000
AGC OF WASHINGTON EDUCATION FOUNDATION$10,000
UNITED WAY OF KING COUNTY$10,000
CENTRAL WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION$10,000
APPRENTICESHIP AND NON-TRADITIONAL EMPLOYMENT FOR$5,000
GLOVER EMPOWERMENTORING$5,000
RECKONING TRADE PROJECT$5,000
ACE MENTOR PROGRAM OF AMERICA INC$5,000
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 (FY17–21, $32k) land where the poverty rate runs at 9%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%MALTBY FOOD BANK: $500 → 9%THE SAFE CROSSINGS FOUNDATION: $10k → 9%THE SAFE CROSSINGS FOUNDATION: $5k → 9%THE SAFE CROSSINGS FOUNDATION: $5k → 9%MARYS PLACE SEATTLE: $2k → 9%MILLIONAIR CLUB INC: $3k → 9%MILLIONAIR CLUB INC: $3k → 9%WESTSIDE BABY: $500 → 9%MILLIONAIR CLUB INC: $166 → 9%WESTSIDE BABY: $500 → 9%CANCER PATHWAYS: $500 → 9%BIRTHDAY DREAMS: $500 → 9%YOUTHCARE: $500 → 9%YOUTHCARE: $250 → 9%YOUTHCARE: $250 → 9%BREAD OF LIFE MISSION: $166 → 9%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
IL
NY
MA
CA
CO
VA
MD
AZ
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.
04

Where the work is directed

The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.

About 14% of Sellen Community Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address.

Sellen Community Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address
How this is measured
Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the funder’s own 990 grant descriptions.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

91%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.6M · 41 repeat orgs$155k to everyone else

41 repeat relationships: 25 still active in FY2021, 16 since wound down; 15 grantees were first funded in FY2021 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

41
56

Total granted

$1.6M
$124k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+33%
+33%

Still filing today

85%
71%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2021, 91% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $31k went to new ones.

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

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

’17’18’19’20’21
Arts & CultureHealthHuman ServicesEducationRecreation & SportsInternationalOther
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

  • SWEDISH MEDICAL CENTER FOUNDATION
    4× · 2017–2021 · $355k · revenue +400%
  • SC
    Seattle Children's Foundation
    3× · 2019–2021 · $300k · revenue +45%
  • FF
    FRANCISCAN FOUNDATION
    4× · 2017–2021 · $200k · revenue +16%

Funded once

  • SS
    Sunny Skys Animal Rescue and Hospital
    one grant, 2019 · $28k · revenue -34%
  • AA
    APPRENTICESHIP AND NON-TRADITIONAL EMPL FOR WOMEN
    one grant, 2020 · $10k
  • MS
    MULTICARE SOUTH KING HEALTH FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2017 · $10k
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
Seattle Architectural Foundation

The Seattle Architecture Foundation connects people to the architecture, design, and history of Seattle. We believe the more you engage with design, the more you feel connected to your changing city. As a volunteer driven organization, we…

Arts & Culture
2
Washington Bikes

Washington Bikes works to ensure that all who ride a bicycle in Washington have safe comfortable and convenient places to ride. Organization advocates for bicyclists rights and shapes policies.

Recreation & Sports
3
Siff

Siff is a seattle-based 501(c)(3) arts nonprofit dedicated to the creation of vibrant experiences and spaces that champion film discovery and arts education.

Youth Development
4
Association of Washington Cities

The association of washington cities builds connections between our state's diverse cities and towns, while providing our members with the support needed to thrive through delivery of data-driven education, nationally recognized pooling…

—
5
The Humane Society for Seattleking County

Seattle humane promotes the human-animal bond by saving and serving pets in need, regardless of age, ability, circumstance or geography.

Animals
6
Invest in Washington Now Campaign

Advocate for tax policy in Washington State

—
7
Washington Filmworks

To build and enhance the competitiveness of Washington State's film and associated creative industry. We accomplish this by marketing and managing the state's production incentive program, representing the state in national and…

Community Improvement
8
School's Out Washington

School's out washington (sowa) drives positive systemic change so that all washington's children and youth, particularly those furthest from justice, have access to a robust ecosystem of high-quality expanded learning programs.

Youth Development
9
Friends of Seattle Waterfront

To bring people, communities, and resources together to ensure waterfront park thrives as a vibrant gathering space - uplifting locals, fostering connections and honoring seattle's natural beauty and stories.

Community Improvement
10
Seattle Economic Development Fund Business Impact Nw

To provide economic development financing to serve the needs of small businesses in the state of washington that would not qualify for private financing under conventional financing criteria.

Community Improvement
11
Washington Progress Fund

Washington Progress Fund is building a permanent and powerful social change movement in Washington state supported by a network of committed donors. WPF envisions a Washington state where government serves the public interest and we all…

Philanthropy
12
Washington Ethnic Studies Now

Washington Ethnic Studies Now WAESN is a multigenerational majority POC-led nonprofit advancing Ethnic Studies and racial justice in Washington. We center people of color build youth-centered leadership and learning and organize…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Leadership Tomorrow; the most unlike its peers is Construction for Change. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
05the grantee network

93 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. 93 of the 114 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)
27
Early backer (in before they grew)
86/93
Grantees still filing
74/93
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

SWEDISH MEDICAL CENTER FOUNDATION: $355,000 · HealthSWEDISH MEDICAL CENTER FOUNDATIONFRANCISCAN FOUNDATION: $200,000 · HealthFRANCISCAN FOUNDATIONMULTICARE FOUNDATIONS: $115,000 · HealthMULTICARE FOUNDATIONSAmerican Heart Association Inc: $35,000 · Health+5 more: $15,550 · HealthSeattle Children's Foundation: $300,000 · OtherSeattle Children's FoundationAGC OF WASHINGTON EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $45,750 · OtherAGC OF WASHINGTON EDUCATION FOUNDA…UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON FOUNDATION - SEATTLE: $40,554 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON FOUNDATIO…APPRENTICESHIP AND NONTRADITIONAL EMPLOYMENT FOR WOMEN: $27,250 · OtherCENTRAL WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $23,750 · Other+65 more: $151,649 · Other+65 moreSEATTLE FOUNDATION: $250,456 · PhilanthropySEATTLE FOUNDATIO…UNITED WAY OF KING COUNTY: $51,200 · PhilanthropyUNITED WAY OF KIN…+1 more: $2,000 · PhilanthropyMUSEUM OF FLIGHT FOUNDATION: $93,750 · Arts & CultureMUSEUM OF FL…ARTSFUND: $61,000 · Arts & CultureARTSFUNDVASHON ALLIED ARTS: $15,000 · Arts & CultureVASHON ALLIE…Tacoma Art Museum: $12,000 · Arts & CultureTacoma Art M…Town Hall Association: $10,000 · Arts & CultureSEATTLE REPERTORY THEATRE: $10,000 · Arts & CultureNAVY SEAL FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 · Arts & Culture+6 more: $8,750 · Arts & CultureACE MENTOR PROGRAM OF WASHINGTON: $25,000 · EducationWASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $24,500 · EducationSawhorse Revolution: $5,000 · Education+5 more: $3,500 · EducationSunny Skys Animal Rescue and Hospital: $27,500 · AnimalsProgressive Animal Welfare Society aka PAWS: $10,000 · AnimalsSAFE CROSSINGS FOUNDATION: $20,000 · Human ServicesUPLIFT NORTHWEST: $6,166 · Human ServicesMARY'S PLACE SEATTLE: $2,000 · Human Services+6 more: $3,666 · Human Services
Health$720,550Other$588,953Philanthropy$303,656Arts & Culture$220,500Education$58,000Animals$37,500Human Services$31,832

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 budgetSWEDISH MEDICAL CENTER FOUNDATION: $355,000 over 4y, 0.6% of budgetSeattle Children's Foundation: $300,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetSEATTLE FOUNDATION: $250,456 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetFRANCISCAN FOUNDATION: $200,000 over 4y, 1.5% of budgetMULTICARE FOUNDATIONS: $115,000 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetMUSEUM OF FLIGHT FOUNDATION: $93,750 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetARTSFUND: $61,000 over 5y, 0.6% of budgetUNITED WAY OF KING COUNTY: $51,200 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetAGC OF WASHINGTON EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $45,750 over 5y, 0.8% of budgetAmerican Heart Association Inc: $35,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSunny Skys Animal Rescue and Hospital: $27,500 over 1y, 3.8% of budgetAPPRENTICESHIP AND NONTRADITIONAL EMPLOYMENT FOR WOMEN: $27,250 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetACE MENTOR PROGRAM OF WASHINGTON: $25,000 over 5y, 2.2% of budgetWASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $24,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCENTRAL WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $23,750 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetSAFE CROSSINGS FOUNDATION: $20,000 over 3y, 1.6% of budgetLOW INCOME HOUSING INSTITUTE: $18,800 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetVASHON ALLIED ARTS: $15,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetGLOVER EMPOWERMENTORING: $10,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetTown Hall Association: $10,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetProgressive Animal Welfare Society aka PAWS: $10,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetSEATTLE REPERTORY THEATRE: $10,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetNAVY SEAL FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetRonald McDonald House Charities of Western Washington & Alaska: $9,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetCONSTRUCTION FOR CHANGE: $8,950 over 5y, 0.6% of budgetPIKE PLACE MARKET FOUNDATION: $8,333 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetFRED HUTCHINSON CANCER RESEARCH CENTER: $6,200 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetUPLIFT NORTHWEST: $6,166 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetMAKE A DIFFERENCE LEADERSHIP FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 2.2% of budgetSEATTLE ART MUSEUM: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLavender Rights Project: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetSOCIAL JUSTICE FUND NORTHWEST: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetRECKONING TRADE PROJECT: $5,000 over 1y, 6.3% of budgetLEADERSHIP TOMORROW: $5,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetSawhorse Revolution: $5,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetIMAGINE HOUSING: $2,600 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetOUTRIGHT INTERNATIONAL: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWASHINGTON STATE COALITION AGAINST DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: $2,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetMARY'S PLACE SEATTLE: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNAIOP Washington State Foundation: $2,000 over 1y, 3.3% of budgetSEATTLE CHILDREN'S GUILD ASSOCIATION: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetPIKE MARKET CHILD CARE & PRESCHOOL: $2,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetPAN-MASSACHUSETTS CHALLENGE INC: $1,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSILVER LAKE YOUTH SOCCER CLUB: $1,000 over 2y, 4.1% of budgetA CONTEMPORARY THEATRE INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWESTSIDE BABY: $1,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetRENTON TECHNICAL COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetTHE NOBLE MARITIME COLLECTION: $1,000 over 2y, 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.

Puget Sound Energy Fo…Seattle FoundationThe Norcliffe Foundat…United Way of King Co…Credit Unions in the …Moccasin Lake Foundat…Raikes FoundationMedina FoundationGates FoundationArtsfundEmployees Community F…Real Progress Foundat…
Puget Sound Energy FoundationDE63.4× affinity33 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Puget Sound Energy Foundation · Seattle Foundation · The Norcliffe Foundation · United Way of King County · Credit Unions in the State of Washington · Moccasin Lake Foundation · Raikes Foundation · Medina Foundation · Gates Foundation · Artsfund · Employees Community Fund of Boeing-Puget Sound · Real Progress 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 Sellen Community Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Sellen Community Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • Pan-Massachusetts Challenge Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
39report 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.

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 114 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 Sellen’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