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The Laurel Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Laurel Foundation

Its FY2019 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$27k
Granted FY2019
2
Grants FY2019
1
States reached
$25k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0195% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2019.

Human Services$558kEducation$80kReligion$51kYouth Development$30kEmployment$15kPhilanthropy$15kInternational$12kCrime & Legal$10kOther$0
02FY2019 · 2 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2019

  • Under $10k1 grant · $2k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $25k
$25,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
The Evergreen School$25,000
Path$1,720
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 (FY17–17, $45k) land where the poverty rate runs at 9%, 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%Mockingbird Society: $45k → 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.
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.

72%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$574k · 5 repeat orgs$221k to everyone else

5 repeat relationships: 1 still active in FY2019, 4 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2019 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

5
11

Total granted

$574k
$196k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+10%
+34%

Still filing today

60%
55%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2019, 6% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $25k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19
Youth DevelopmentEducationHuman ServicesCrime & LegalEmploymentInternationalOther
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

  • Y
    YMCA
    2× · 2017–2018 · $260k
  • T
    TREEHOUSE
    2× · 2017–2018 · $238k · revenue +172%
  • UP
    UNIVERSITY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
    2× · 2017–2018 · $50k

Funded once

  • TM
    THE MOCKINGBIRD SOCIETYgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $45k · revenue +34%
  • RS
    RAINIER SCHOLARSgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $45k · revenue +359%
  • YI
    YOUTH IN FOCUS
    one grant, 2017 · $30k · revenue +24%
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 Peak School

The peak school seeks to ignite a passion for learning, to develop students of diverse talents and backgrounds who think critically and act with integrity, and to graduate compassionate, confident, capable students who will embrace their…

Education
2
The Seattle Academy of Arts & Sciences

Seattle academy is a dynamic community that challenges students to question, imagine, and create in order to contribute to a changing world.

Education
3
College Summit Inc

College summit, inc. d/b/a peerforward (peerforward)'s mission is to unleash the power of positive peer influence to transform the lives of youth living in low-income communities by connecting them to college and careers. in low-income…

Education
4
The Island School

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

Education
5
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.

—
6
Trillium Academy

The mission of trillium academy is to break away from conventional schooling and celebrate the incredible capabilities of twice-exceptional (2e) students, providing them with the learning environment they need to discover and develop their…

Education
7
Rainier Prep

Rainier prep provides public education to students in grades 5-8 in the highline area near seattle/tacoma. rainier prep seeks to prepare students for college, career readiness, and to become leaders in their communities.

Education
8
Darrow School

Darrow school is dedicated to serving students with diverse backgrounds and abilities, building on each student's talents and interests to inspire enduring confidence for success in college and life. this mission is accomplished through…

Education
9
Bosque School

To create transformative learning experiences that empower a diverse community of students to lead lives of intellectual curiosity, personal integrity, and compassionate contribution to a more just world.

Education
10
Spruce Street School

Spruce Street School is a nurturing educational community that instills in a broad range of children the social, emotional, and intellectual skills for lifelong participation in a diverse society. We offer kindergarten through fifth grade…

Education
11
Presidio Hill School

Presidio hill school is a co-ed k-8 independent, progressive school. learning is collaborative and an active experience with an emphasis on inquiry. students are engaged in their own learning and guided by an expert faculty through a…

Education
12
Lowell School

Lowell school (the school) provides educational services to approximately 314 students in grades pre-kindergarten through 8th grade. the school strives to create a diverse, equitable, and inclusive learning environment, and offers a…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Treehouse; the most unlike its peers is Humane World for Animals Inc. 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

10 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. 10 of the 17 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)
1
Early backer (in before they grew)
10/10
Grantees still filing
8/10
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

YMCA: $260,000 · OtherYMCAUNIVERSITY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH: $50,250 · OtherUNIVERSITY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHIndividual grant recipient: $25,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientWA Women's Foundation: $15,000 · Other+4 more: $20,520 · Other+4 moreTREEHOUSE: $237,500 · Youth DevelopmentTREEHOUSEYOUTH IN FOCUS: $30,000 · Youth DevelopmentYOUTH IN FOCUSRAINIER SCHOLARS: $45,000 · EducationRAINIER S…THE EVERGREEN SCHOOL: $25,000 · EducationTHE EVERG…THE MOCKINGBIRD SOCIETY: $45,000 · Human ServicesNW Childrens Foundation: $15,000 · Crime & LegalFARESTART: $15,000 · EmploymentPATH: $11,720 · InternationalHumane World for Animals Inc: $200 · Animals
Other$370,770Youth Development$267,500Education$70,000Human Services$45,000Crime & Legal$15,000Employment$15,000International$11,720Animals$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 budgetTREEHOUSE: $237,500 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetTHE MOCKINGBIRD SOCIETY: $45,000 over 1y, 1.9% of budgetRAINIER SCHOLARS: $45,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetYOUTH IN FOCUS: $30,000 over 1y, 7.3% of budgetTHE EVERGREEN SCHOOL: $25,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetNW Childrens Foundation: $15,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetFARESTART: $15,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetPATH: $11,720 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetEAGLE HILL FOUNDATION OF MASSACHUSETTSINC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHumane World for Animals Inc: $200 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.

Seattle FoundationThe Blackbaud Giving …Vanguard Charitable E…National Philanthropi…American Online Givin…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Seattle FoundationWA15.1× affinity5 shared granteesties to 7 of 7Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Seattle Foundation · The Blackbaud Giving Fund · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · National Philanthropic Trust · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving 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 The Laurel Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Laurel Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%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
    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
    ⤢ 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 The Laurel Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to The Laurel 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 17 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 2019, released 2019. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Laurel’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