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· Private foundation

The Foster Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$2.3M
Granted FY2024still arriving
59
Grants FY2024still arriving
2
States reached
$750k
Largest
01What you fundRead
02The needRead
03Your edgeRead
04Your fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What you fund
0198% classified

What you funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year — across FY2020–2024.

Education$4.1MHealth$1.8MHuman Services$835kPhilanthropy$654kHousing & Shelter$490kArts & Culture$300kFood & Nutrition$210kAnimals$173kOther$0
02FY2024 · 59 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k1 grant · $5k
  • $10k–50k49 grants · $600k
  • $50k–250k7 grants · $683k
  • $250k+2 grants · $1.0M
$10,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$57M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Individual grant recipient$750,000
SWEDISH MEDICAL CENTER FOUNDATION$260,000
Individual grant recipient$160,000
OVERLAKE MEDICAL CENTER FOUNDATION$135,000
SEATTLE FOUNDATION$127,792
UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON - FOSTER SCHOOL BUILDING$100,000
NORTHWEST HARVEST$60,000
FRED HUTCHINSON CANCER RESEARCH CENTER$50,000
SEATTLE ART MUSEUM$50,000
PAWS- PROGRESSIVE ANIMAL WELFARE SOCIETY$47,500
MAKE-A-WISH$35,000
OVERLAKE SCHOOL$25,000
UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON - TOUGHER TOGETHER$22,500
SEATTLE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL$20,000
YOUTHCARE$20,000
02The need
03

Do your dollars go where the need is?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, then read against the area’s typical level.

show:

Your human-services grants (FY20–24, $455k) land where the poverty rate runs at 9%, against an area that typically sits at 7%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of your grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 7%SOUND GENERATIONS: $10k → 9%SOUND GENERATIONS: $10k → 9%SOUND GENERATIONS: $10k → 9%WELLSPRING FAMILY SERVICES: $10k → 9%CATHOLIC COMMUNITY SERVICES OF WESTERN WASHINGTON: $10k → 9%WELLSPRING FAMILY SERVICES: $10k → 9%CATHOLIC COMMUNITY SERVICES OF WESTERN WASHINGTON: $10k → 9%WELLSPRING FAMILY SERVICES: $10k → 9%WELLSPRING FAMILY SERVICES: $10k → 9%WELLSPRING FAMILY SERVICES: $10k → 9%CATHOLIC COMMUNITY SERVICES OF WESTERN WASHINGTON: $5k → 9%RYTHER: $15k → 9%RYTHER: $10k → 9%RYTHER: $10k → 9%RYTHER: $10k → 9%RYTHER: $10k → 9%HOPELINK: $15k → 9%HOPELINK: $10k → 9%HOPELINK: $10k → 9%HOPELINK: $10k → 9%HOPELINK: $10k → 9%AKIN: $10k → 9%PROVIDENCE HOSPICE OF SEATTLE: $10k → 9%YMCA OF GREATER SEATTLE: $10k → 9%PROVIDENCE HOSPICE OF SEATTLE: $10k → 9%YMCA OF GREATER SEATTLE: $10k → 9%PROVIDENCE HOSPICE OF SEATTLE: $10k → 9%YMCA OF GREATER SEATTLE: $10k → 9%YMCA OF GREATER SEATTLE: $10k → 9%PROVIDENCE HOSPICE OF SEATTLE: $10k → 9%YOUTHCARE: $20k → 9%YOUTHCARE: $15k → 9%AMARA: $15k → 9%FULL LIFE CARE: $10k → 9%YOUTHCARE: $10k → 9%AMARA: $10k → 9%YMCA OF GREATER SEATTLE: $10k → 9%YOUTHCARE: $10k → 9%AMARA: $10k → 9%YOUTHCARE: $10k → 9%AMARA: $10k → 9%PROVIDENCE HOSPICE OF SEATTLE: $10k → 9%AMARA: $10k → 9%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount

Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty linein the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP; grantee ZIP can differ from where services are delivered.

US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are actually delivered. Need from public data — U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA — shown as context about the area, never attributed to your giving.

03Your edge
repeat funding

Who you back again

Which organizations you funded more than once, and which you funded a single time. Each grantee is matched to its own filings.

99%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$9.9M · 68 repeat orgs$125k to everyone else

68 repeat relationships — 56 still active in FY2024, 12 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

68
7

Total granted

$9.9M
$105k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+29%
+84%

Still filing today

75%
57%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 99% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $20k went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24
HealthHuman ServicesEducationArts & CultureYouth DevelopmentRecreation & SportsOther

First-time = a grantee’s first year in your filing window; renewed = funded in an earlier year too. As a portfolio matures the renewed share naturally climbs — once funded, an org stays “renewable” — so the signal is the years that buck it (a new-grantee intake wave). 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

  • TO
    THE OVERLAKE SCHOOL
    5× · 2020–2024 · $1.1M · revenue +89%
  • ST
    ST THOMAS SCHOOL
    3× · 2020–2022 · $700k · revenue +13%
  • SWEDISH MEDICAL CENTER FOUNDATION
    5× · 2020–2024 · $600k · revenue +234%

Funded once

  • OH
    OVERLAKE HOSPITAL
    one grant, 2022 · $50k
  • MP
    MADDIE'S PLACEgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $10k · revenue +236%
  • PS
    PASADO'S SAFE HAVENgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $10k · revenue +84%

Repeat = funded in two or more distinct years; growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Your field

The map has a center of gravity: the average direction from the rest of the sector toward the organizations the foundation funds — the shape of its giving. Scoring every nonprofit along that direction surfaces the ones that look most like the portfolio. These are the closest matchesthat aren’t grantees — a resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
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
2
Nexus Youth and Families

Restoring hope, building futures, and strengthening our communities through programs with youth, young adults and families. we support the behavioral health of at-risk and in-crisis youth across the greater south king county area. we take…

Human Services
3
North Olympic Healthcare Network

To provide patient-centered, quality-driven, whole-person healthcare services, accessible to everyone in our community.

Health
4
Planned Parenthood of Greater Washington and North Idaho

To provide exceptional reproductive and complementary health care services, honest education, and advocacy for all.

Health
5
Western Healthconnect

Support significant improvements in health care delivery and outcomes within the context of nonprofit, charitable ownership.

Health
6
King County Sexual Assault Resource Center

KCSARC is the largest and most comprehensive non-profit provider of sexual assault services in King County and Washington State. Our vision is a community free of sexual violence. Our mission is to: give voice to victims, their families,…

—
7
Senior Life Resources Northwest

To preserve and enhance the quality of life at home, with dignity and care.

Human Services
8
University Cooperative School

We take a joyful, community-oriented approach to raising engaged citizens, deep learners, and brave adventurers with the skills, creativity, and heart needed to better the world.

—
9
One Community Health

Advance health and social justice for all members of our community.

—
10
Life Science Washington

Life science washington is a non-profit trade and professional association dedicated to promoting innovation and responsible growth in the life sciences and biomedical industries in the state of washington. promotion and education are…

—
11
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…

—
12
Cares of Washington

Support people with disabilities and low incomes to realize their purpose, potential and strength.

Employment

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Providence Hospice of Seattle Foundation and the most unlike its peers is Conservation International Foundation. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.

For each theme you fund, this compares how the sector’s money is shifting with how your own giving is shifting.

← shrinkinggrowing →↓ leaning in → pulling backsteadyFamily Philanthropic Founda…Independent SchoolsYouth & Family Support Serv…Food Banks and Hunger ReliefFaith-Based Health & Social…Seattle Community & Cultura…Senior Affordable HousingLive Theatre & Performing A…Youth Education & Career Pa…
the sector your giving your giving is ahead of the sector the sector’s ahead of you· dot size = how much the theme matters to each side
Ordered by the change in your giving — leaning in on top, pulling back at the bottom. The bar between the two dots is how out of step you are with the sector. Hover any row for detail.

Sector change and giving change are each shown relative to their own range, growing (right) or shrinking (left); both normalized, so inflation isn’t mistaken for growth.

Your grantees are a median of 47 years old; the field is 14. You back the established end — and your money leans older still.

THE FIELDby orgYOUR GRANTEESby number22%0%<5yr15%4%5–10yr19%9%10–20yr19%23%20–35yr12%32%35–55yr12%32%55yr+
THE FIELDby orgYOUR MONEYby value22%0%<5yr15%0%5–10yr19%3%10–20yr19%31%20–35yr12%24%35–55yr12%42%55yr+

The field is 22% startups (under 5 years old) — 0% of your grantees by number, and just 0% of your money.

Closures · last 5 years

The orgs you fund almost never close — 3% lost their exemption, against 14% of the field you don’t fund.

orgs you fund
3%2/61
the rest of the field
14%
1,717/12,678

Age = years since IRS exemption (a founding proxy). “Closed” = auto-revocation for 3 years of non-filing — a floor on closure, not proof, and bigger established orgs lapse least. Association, not causation.

04the grantee network

60 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each one resolved to its own IRS returns and tracked year by year — your grant beside their revenue from every source. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

Counted here: distinct organizations you funded across 2017–2025, not grant rows in a single year — so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 60 of the 78 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile; the rest are funded organizations whose filings we could not track year by year.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
8
Early backer (in before they grew)
58/60
Grantees still filing
46/60
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON — $1,645,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTONIndividual grant recipient — $1,500,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientUNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON - FOSTER SCHOOL BUILDING — $300,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient — $260,000 · OtherTOGETHER CENTER — $205,000 · Other+33 more — $1,760,219 · Other+33 moreTHE OVERLAKE SCHOOL — $1,050,000 · EducationTHE OVERLAKE SCHOOLST THOMAS SCHOOL — $700,000 · EducationST THOMAS SCHOOL+4 more — $179,409 · Education+4 moreSWEDISH MEDICAL CENTER FOUNDATION — $600,000 · HealthSWEDISH MEDICAL…OVERLAKE HOSPITAL FOUNDATION — $325,000 · HealthOVERLAKE HOSPIT…Downtown Emergency Service Center — $55,000 · HealthBoyer Children's Clinic — $55,000 · HealthYouth Eastside Services — $55,000 · HealthNEIGHBORCARE HEALTH — $50,000 · HealthRIVKIN CENTER FOR OVARIAN CANCER — $50,000 · HealthHEALTHPOINT — $50,000 · HealthUPOWER — $50,000 · HealthCANCER LIFELINE — $50,000 · Health+4 more — $80,000 · Health+4 moreSEATTLE FOUNDATION — $593,869 · PhilanthropyThe Big Table — $60,000 · PhilanthropyYOUTHCARE — $65,000 · Human ServicesRYTHER — $55,000 · Human ServicesMARY'S PLACE SEATTLE — $55,000 · Human ServicesAMARA — $55,000 · Human ServicesHOPELINK — $55,000 · Human ServicesPROVIDENCE HOSPICE OF SEATTLE FOUNDATION — $50,000 · Human ServicesWELLSPRING FAMILY SERVICES — $50,000 · Human ServicesTHE YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF GREATER SEATTLE (6871) — $50,000 · Human ServicesSOUND GENERATIONS — $30,000 · Human ServicesCATHOLIC COMMUNITY SERVICES OF WESTERN WASHINGTON — $25,000 · Human Services+2 more — $20,000 · Human ServicesSEATTLE ART MUSEUM — $250,000 · Arts & CultureSEATTLE OPERA — $50,000 · Arts & CulturePACIFIC SCIENCE CENTER FOUNDATION — $30,000 · Arts & CultureTREEHOUSE — $55,000 · Youth DevelopmentCAMP KOREY — $45,000 · Youth DevelopmentRISE ABOVE — $15,000 · Youth Development
Other$5,670,219Education$1,929,409Health$1,420,000Philanthropy$653,869Human Services$510,000Arts & Culture$330,000Youth Development$115,000

Each org by its size and your share of it — top-left is where you’re load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ your share of their budgetTHE OVERLAKE SCHOOL — $1,050,000 over 5y, 1.2% of budgetST THOMAS SCHOOL — $700,000 over 3y, 1.9% of budgetSWEDISH MEDICAL CENTER FOUNDATION — $600,000 over 5y, 0.6% of budgetSEATTLE FOUNDATION — $593,869 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetOVERLAKE HOSPITAL FOUNDATION — $325,000 over 5y, 1.0% of budgetSEATTLE ART MUSEUM — $250,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetTOGETHER CENTER — $205,000 over 5y, 4.2% of budgetNORTHWEST HARVEST EMM — $155,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetOutdoors for all Foundation — $107,500 over 5y, 1.4% of budgetFRED HUTCHINSON CANCER RESEARCH CENTER — $90,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetYOUTHCARE — $65,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetThe Big Table — $60,000 over 5y, 0.7% of budgetRYTHER — $55,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetLOW INCOME HOUSING INSTITUTE — $55,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetDowntown Emergency Service Center — $55,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetKINDERING CENTER — $55,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetNEW BEGINNINGS — $55,000 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetMARY'S PLACE SEATTLE — $55,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetTILTH ALLIANCE — $55,000 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetFARESTART — $55,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetTREEHOUSE — $55,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetAMARA — $55,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetNORTHWEST CENTER — $55,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetJUBILEE WOMEN'S CENTER — $55,000 over 5y, 1.0% of budgetHOPELINK — $55,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetBoyer Children's Clinic — $55,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetCOMPASS HOUSING ALLIANCE — $55,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetYouth Eastside Services — $55,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetNEIGHBORCARE HEALTH — $50,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetPROVIDENCE HOSPICE OF SEATTLE FOUNDATION — $50,000 over 5y, 0.6% of budgetRIVKIN CENTER FOR OVARIAN CANCER — $50,000 over 5y, 0.8% of budgetBELLEVUE SCHOOLS FOUNDATION — $50,000 over 5y, 0.7% of budgetWELLSPRING FAMILY SERVICES — $50,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetHEALTHPOINT — $50,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetTHE YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF GREATER SEATTLE (6871) — $50,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetSEATTLE OPERA — $50,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetUPOWER — $50,000 over 5y, 1.9% of budgetHAMLIN ROBINSON SCHOOL — $50,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetRAINIER SCHOLARS — $50,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetCANCER LIFELINE — $50,000 over 5y, 0.7% of budgetCAMP KOREY — $45,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetCHILDHAVEN — $45,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetMEDIC ONE FOUNDATION — $40,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetEVERGREEN GOODWILL OF NORTHWEST WASHINGTON — $35,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSOUND GENERATIONS — $30,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetPACIFIC SCIENCE CENTER FOUNDATION — $30,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetJubilee REACH — $29,409 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetCATHOLIC COMMUNITY SERVICES OF WESTERN WASHINGTON — $25,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budget
Go grantee by grantee — a decade per org, and how each moved after you funded them

A decade per grantee — revenue shaded, your grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

  • Who funds THE OVERLAKE SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds ST THOMAS SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds SWEDISH MEDICAL CENTER FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds SEATTLE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds OVERLAKE HOSPITAL FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds SEATTLE ART MUSEUM ↗
  • Who funds TOGETHER CENTER ↗
  • Who funds NORTHWEST HARVEST EMM ↗
  • Who funds Outdoors for all Foundation ↗
  • Who funds FRED HUTCHINSON CANCER RESEARCH CENTER ↗
  • Who funds YOUTHCARE ↗
  • Who funds The Big Table ↗
  • Who funds RYTHER ↗
  • Who funds LOW INCOME HOUSING INSTITUTE ↗
  • Who funds Downtown Emergency Service Center ↗
  • Who funds KINDERING CENTER ↗
  • Who funds NEW BEGINNINGS ↗
  • Who funds MARY'S PLACE SEATTLE ↗
  • Who funds TILTH ALLIANCE ↗
  • Who funds FARESTART ↗
  • Who funds TREEHOUSE ↗
  • Who funds AMARA ↗
  • Who funds NORTHWEST CENTER ↗
  • Who funds JUBILEE WOMEN'S CENTER ↗
  • Who funds HOPELINK ↗
  • Who funds Boyer Children's Clinic ↗
  • Who funds COMPASS HOUSING ALLIANCE ↗
  • Who funds Youth Eastside Services ↗
  • Who funds NEIGHBORCARE HEALTH ↗
  • Who funds PROVIDENCE HOSPICE OF SEATTLE FOUNDATION ↗

The grantmakers whose grantees overlap with yours far more than size alone predicts. Each orbits closer the stronger the alignment; the arcs between them show where they also fund each other. Here it reads as a tightly interlocked camp — most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Seattle FoundationPuget Sound Energy Fo…United Way of King Co…The Norcliffe Foundat…Employees Community F…Grousemont FoundationEmployees Community F…Moccasin Lake Foundat…Medina FoundationLiberty Mutual Founda…Elizabeth a Lynn Foun…Lucky Seven Foundation
Seattle FoundationWA65.8× affinity38 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Seattle Foundation · Puget Sound Energy Foundation · United Way of King County · The Norcliffe Foundation · Employees Community Fund of the Boeing Company · Grousemont Foundation · Employees Community Fund of Boeing-Puget Sound · Moccasin Lake Foundation · Medina Foundation · Liberty Mutual Foundation Inc · Elizabeth a Lynn Foundation · Lucky Seven Foundation

Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. A research starting point: overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

Government reliance of your grantees

Every dot is one organization The Foster Foundation funds. Left–right is the share of its income from government; up–down is the share from you. Bigger dots raise more. Filter to federal or a single department — and drag the year to watch it move.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%3%6%10%your 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
    24report 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

    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 your grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first — a floor, not 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 12–24 months.

    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to The Foster Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to The Foster 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 directly from IRS e-file XML — your own 990/990-PF and the multi-year returns of the 78 grantees we resolved across every year we hold, several hundred filings in all (a different count from the grant rows on the cover, which are one fiscal year)— each linked to its source. Grantee achievements and outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III); we read these as association with sustained funding — the foundation is one of several forces — suppress low-confidence name matches rather than guess, and say so where a figure rests on a single grant or filing. Not everything on this page is a filed figure, and the difference matters. Filed is what you reported on your 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. How we build these →

    Generated from your IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    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