Skip to content
The Ron and Eva-Maria Sher Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Ron and Eva-Maria Sher 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.

$165k
Granted FY2025still arriving
43
Grants FY2025still arriving
9
States reached
$25k
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, FY2023 to 2025.

Environment$147kEducation$59kFood & Nutrition$52kYouth Development$45kArts & Culture$29kInternational$19kRecreation & Sports$13kReligion$12kOther$0
02FY2025 · 43 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k40 grants · $106k
  • $10k–50k3 grants · $59k
$2,500
Median grant
9
States reached
$602k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
FUTUREWISE$25,000
WASHINGTON CONSERVATION ACTION EDUCATION FUND$20,000
WHIDBEY INSTITUTE$14,000
WHIDBEY INSTITUTE$6,000
M-LISADA AFRICA FOUNDATION$6,000
EVERGREEN COLLABORATIVE$5,000
CASCADE BICYCLE CLUB$5,000
YOUTH SERVICE AMERICA$5,000
KING COUNTY LIBRARY SYSTEM FOUNDATION$5,000
ISLANDWOOD$5,000
BRAIDED RIVER$5,000
PANORAMA GLOBAL$5,000
EARTH SCHOOL EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION INC$5,000
SHELBURNE FARMS$5,000
WHIDBEY ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION NETWORK$4,875
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 (FY25–25, $1k) land where the poverty rate runs at 7%, 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%SENIOR SERVICES OF ISLAND COUNTY: $500 → 7%SENIOR SERVICES OF ISLAND COUNTY: $500 → 7%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

AK
VT
WA
WI
NY
CA
CO
AZ
NC
DC
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.

67%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$269k · 25 repeat orgs$131k to everyone else

25 repeat relationships: 24 still active in FY2025, 1 since wound down; 15 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

25
19

Total granted

$269k
$83k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+2%
+14%

Still filing today

92%
95%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 71% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $48k went to new ones.

50%100%’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’23’24’25
EnvironmentEducationArts & CultureRecreation & SportsInternationalAnimalsOther
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

  • WC
    WASHINGTON CONSERVATION ACTION EDUCATION FUND
    2× · 2023–2025 · $28k · revenue +26%
  • YS
    Youth Service America
    3× · 2023–2025 · $23k · revenue +15%
  • TN
    TIBETAN NUNS PROJECT
    3× · 2023–2025 · $12k · revenue +4%

Funded once

  • PC
    Pitzer College
    one grant, 2023 · $15k · revenue +10%
  • WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2023 · $10k · revenue +18%
  • TC
    THE COLORADO COLLEGE
    one grant, 2023 · $10k · revenue +16%
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
Fsc I&P

Fsc i&p promotes environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial, and economically viable management of the world's forests. this mission aligns with the forest stewardship council (fsc), its network of offices, and other organizations.…

Philanthropy
2
Whatcom Land Trust

The mission of the Whatcom Land Trust is to preserve and protect wildlife habitat, scenic, agricultural and open space lands in Whatcom County for future generations by securing interests in land and promoting land stewardship.

Environment
3
Washington Wild

Washington wild protects and restores wild lands and waters in washington state through advocacy, education and civic engagement.

Animals
4
Cascade Climate Inc

To accelerate progress in interventions that harness Earths natural systems to stabilize the climate.

Environment
5
Earthcorps

To cultivate leaders and community partnerships to advance environmental justice.

International
6
Discover Your Northwest

Discover Your Northwest promotes the discovery of northwest public lands, enriches the experience of visitors and builds community stewardship of these special places today and for generations to come.

Recreation & Sports
7
Cowiche Canyon Conservancy

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

—
8
Center for Environmental Law & Policy

The Center for Environmental Law & Policy is a statewide organization whose mission is to protect, preserve and restore Washington's waters through education, advocacy, policy reform, and public interest litigation.

Environment
9
Stewardship Partners

Stewardship Partners helps private landowners restore and preserve the natural landscapes of WA State. We collaborate with diverse interest groups to build bridges and find solutions that achieve mutual goals of environmental protection,…

Environment
10
Great Peninsula Conservancy

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

Environment
11
10000 Years Institute

10,000 Years Institute evaluates the ecological effects of human activities on natural environments, and promotes the maintenance and restoration of ecological integrity through the integration of reliable scientific information, sound…

Unclassified
12
Coast Fork Willamette Watershed Council

The Coast Fork Willamette Watershed Council is a local nonprofit organization that strives to enhance and restore habitat for fish and wildlife our community and for future generations. Our Board of Directors consists of seven members with…

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Forterra Nw; the most unlike its peers is M-Lisada Africa 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

55 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 55 of the 59 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)
6
Early backer (in before they grew)
55/55
Grantees still filing
34/55
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

FUTUREWISE: $30,000 · EnvironmentFUTUREWISEWASHINGTON CONSERVATION ACTION EDUCATION FUND: $27,500 · EnvironmentWASHINGTON CONSERVATION ACTION EDUCATION FUNDSHELBURNE FARMS: $15,000 · EnvironmentSHELBURNE FARMSEVERGREEN COLLABORATIVE: $10,000 · EnvironmentEVERGREEN COLLABORATIVEISLANDWOOD: $10,000 · EnvironmentISLANDWOODFORTERRA NW: $10,000 · EnvironmentFORTERRA NWTHE TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND: $10,000 · EnvironmentTHE TRUST FOR PUBLIC LANDBRAIDED RIVER: $9,500 · EnvironmentBRAIDED RIVERWHIDBEY ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION NETWORK: $7,375 · Environment+15 more: $32,000 · Environment+15 morePitzer College: $15,000 · EducationPitzer CollegeWASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $10,000 · EducationWASHINGTON STA…King County Library System Foundation: $10,000 · EducationKing County Li…THE COLORADO COLLEGE: $10,000 · EducationTHE COLORADO C…EARTH SCHOOL EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 · EducationEARTH SCHOOL E…+1 more: $1,000 · EducationORGANIC FARM SCHOOL FORMERLY GREENBANK FARM MANAGE: $35,000 · OtherORGANIC FARM SCHO…NATURE CONSERVANCY - WASHINGTON: $5,000 · OtherNATURE CONSERVANC…LIFT EVERY VOICE FOUNDATION: $4,000 · OtherLIFT EVERY VOICE …WHIDBEY ISLAND WALDORF SCHOOL: $3,500 · OtherWHIDBEY ISLAND WA…Phila Venture Fund: $4,500 · OtherPhila Venture Fun…+9 more: $10,000 · Other+9 moreBike Works Seattle: $22,500 · Recreation & SportsBike Works …Cascade Bicycle Club: $11,000 · Recreation & SportsCascade Bic…Friends of Third Place Commons: $6,000 · Recreation & SportsFriends of …+1 more: $1,000 · Recreation & SportsTHE WHIDBEY INSTITUTE: $21,000 · Arts & CultureKUOW PUGET SOUND PUBLIC RADIO: $4,500 · Arts & CultureFRIENDS OF EBEYS LANDING NATIONAL HISTORICAL RESERVE: $2,500 · Arts & CulturePOSITIVE FUTURES NETWORK DBA YES MEDIA: $1,500 · Arts & Culture+2 more: $2,000 · Arts & CultureM-LISADA AFRICA FOUNDATION: $13,000 · InternationalTIBETAN NUNS PROJECT: $11,500 · InternationalPANORAMA GLOBAL: $5,000 · International+1 more: $1,000 · InternationalYouth Service America: $22,500 · Youth Development
Environment$161,375Education$51,000Other$62,000Recreation & Sports$40,500Arts & Culture$31,500International$30,500Youth Development$22,500

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 budgetFUTUREWISE: $30,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetWASHINGTON CONSERVATION ACTION EDUCATION FUND: $27,500 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetBike Works Seattle: $22,500 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetYouth Service America: $22,500 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetPitzer College: $15,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSHELBURNE FARMS: $15,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetM-LISADA AFRICA FOUNDATION: $13,000 over 3y, 4.0% of budgetTIBETAN NUNS PROJECT: $11,500 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetCascade Bicycle Club: $11,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetEVERGREEN COLLABORATIVE: $10,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetISLANDWOOD: $10,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetWASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetKing County Library System Foundation: $10,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetTHE COLORADO COLLEGE: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFORTERRA NW: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetTHE TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBRAIDED RIVER: $9,500 over 2y, 1.0% of budgetWHIDBEY ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION NETWORK: $7,375 over 2y, 1.4% of budgetFriends of Third Place Commons: $6,000 over 2y, 1.4% of budgetFuse Innovation Fund: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetNATUREBRIDGE: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetALASKA WILDERNESS LEAGUE: $5,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetPhila Venture Fund: $4,500 over 1y, 3.5% of budgetKUOW PUGET SOUND PUBLIC RADIO: $4,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetWHIDBEY ISLAND WALDORF SCHOOL: $3,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetEastrail Partners: $3,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetThe Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF EBEYS LANDING NATIONAL HISTORICAL RESERVE: $2,500 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetPCC FARMLAND TRUST: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetPLANNED PARENTHOOD GREAT NORTHWEST HAWAII ALASKA INDIANA AND KENTUCKY: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE MOUNTAINEERS: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetPOSITIVE FUTURES NETWORK DBA YES MEDIA: $1,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFRIENDS OF FRIENDS: $1,500 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetTILTH ALLIANCE: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMEERKERK RHODODENDRON GARDENS: $1,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetSoutheast Alaska Conservation Council Inc-SEACC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFOUR WINDS: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCLOCKSHOP: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE WILDERNESS SOCIETY: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAmerican Forests: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE GRAND CANYON TRUST INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGIRAFFE PROJECT INC: $1,000 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetWashington Wildlife & Recreation Coalition: $1,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetWHIDBEY WATERSHED STEWARDS: $1,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetCASCADE PUBLIC MEDIA: $1,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetRAILS TO TRAILS CONSERVANCY: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGrist Magazine Inc: $500 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 Norcliffe Foundat…Puget Sound Energy Fo…Kaleidoscope Foundati…The Bullitt FoundationMightycause Charitabl…The Hugh and Jane Fer…The Russell Family Fo…The Satterberg Founda…PatagoniaorgWhidbey Community Fou…Ridge Road Foundation
Seattle FoundationWA40.4× affinity22 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Seattle Foundation · The Norcliffe Foundation · Puget Sound Energy Foundation · Kaleidoscope Foundation · The Bullitt Foundation · Mightycause Charitable Foundation · The Hugh and Jane Ferguson Foundation · The Russell Family Foundation · The Satterberg Foundation Inc · Patagoniaorg · Whidbey Community Foundation · Ridge Road 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 Ron and Eva-Maria Sher Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Ron and Eva-Maria Sher 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%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 3%
  • Shelburne Farms: 3% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
21report 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 59 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 Ron and Eva-Maria Sher’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