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Washington Federation of State Employees at a glance

· Public charity

Washington Federation of State Employees

Provide welfare, protection and advancement of washington state employee local unions.

$1.3M
Granted FY2025still arriving
8
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$500k
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 2025.

Public Benefit$2.8MPublic Safety & Disaster$580kCivil Rights$197kEmployment$186kEnvironment$100kArts & Culture$50kCrime & Legal$20kEducation$15kOther$0
02FY2025 · 8 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 8 grants below total $1,197,000, the rows itemized in this filing. The $1,263,786 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $66,786 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.

By grant size · FY2025

  • $10k–50k4 grants · $72k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $75k
  • $250k+3 grants · $1.1M
$75,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$28M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
INVEST IN WASHINGTON NOW$500,000
DEFEND WASHINGTON$300,000
NO ON-2109 COMMITTEE$250,000
ACTION DD$75,000
WASHINGTON STATE LABOR COUNCIL$38,000
AFSCME LOCAL 443$14,000
FOUNDATION FOR WORKING FAMILIES$10,000
WASHINGTON STATE BUDGET & POLICY CENTER$10,000
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 (FY17–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 9%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 3% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%WOMEN SUPPORT WOMEN: $10k → 10%The Council of State Governments West: $15k → 12%AFSCME FALLEN HEROES FUND: $25k → 14%INVEST IN WASHINGTON NOW: $500k → 9%Retired Public Employee Council: $13k → 9%INVEST IN WASHINGTON NOW: $263k → 9%INVEST IN WASHINGTON NOW: $250k → 9%PEOPLE FOR A BALANCED TAX CODE: $100k → 9%Washington State Budget & Policy Center: $25k → 9%WASHINGTON STATE BUDGET & POLICY CENTER: $20k → 9%WASHINGTON STATE BUDGET & POLICY CENTER: $10k → 9%Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence: $10k → 9%WASHINGTON STATE BUDGET & POLICY CENTER: $10k → 9%WASHINGTON STATE BUDGET & POLICY CENTER: $10k → 9%ACTION DD: $75k → 9%WASHINGTON STATE BUDGET & POLICY CENTER: $10k → 9%ACTION DD: $50k → 9%WASHINGTON STATE COALITION AGAINST DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: $10k → 9%FOUNDATION FOR WORKING FAMILIES: $260k → 9%FOUNDATION FOR WORKING FAMILIES: $200k → 9%NORTHWEST AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSEUM: $50k → 9%FOUNDATION FOR WORKING FAMILIES: $50k → 9%WASHINGTON STATE LABOR COUNCIL: $40k → 9%WASHINGTON STATE LABOR COUNCIL: $38k → 9%WASHINGTON STATE LABOR COUNCIL: $36k → 9%WASHINGTON STATE LABOR COUNCIL: $30k → 9%FOUNDATION FOR WORKING FAMILIES: $15k → 9%FOUNDATION FOR WORKING FAMILIES: $10k → 9%ONEAMERICA: $10k → 9%WASHINGTON FAIR TRADE COALITION: $10k → 9%FOUNDATION FOR WORKING FAMILIES: $10k → 9%FOUNDATION FOR WORKING FAMILIES: $10k → 9%WA STATE LABOR COUNCIL: $6k → 9%WA FAIR TRADE COALITION: $5k → 9%ACTION DD: $50k → 9%ACTION DD: $7k → 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.

91%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$3.6M · 11 repeat orgs$338k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +23% since the first grant, against 0% for those funded once.

11 repeat relationships: 8 still active in FY2025, 3 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

11
9

Total granted

$3.6M
$338k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+23%
0%

Still filing today

91%
78%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
Public Safety & DisasterPublic BenefitEducationArts & CultureOther
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

  • FF
    FOUNDATION FOR WORKING FAMILIES
    7× · 2018–2025 · $555k · revenue +367% · 94% of their budget
  • WS
    WASHINGTON STATE LABOR COUNCIL AFL-CIO
    5× · 2020–2025 · $149k · revenue +26%
  • TW
    THE WASHINGTON STATE BUDGET AND POLICY CENTER
    6× · 2017–2025 · $85k · revenue +119%

Funded once

  • PF
    PEOPLE FOR A BALANCED TAX CODE
    one grant, 2019 · $100k
  • NO
    No on 2117 Committee
    one grant, 2024 · $100k
  • NA
    NORTHWEST AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSEUM
    one grant, 2022 · $50k · revenue +6%
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
Working Washington

We are workers, united across different industries to improve our working conditions and our lives. We come together as working people to build power through education, organizing, and enforcement. We work to raise and uphold standards in…

—
2
Washington State Patrol Union Troopers Association

Collective bargaining for members

—
3
Emergency Management Group - Washington
Public Safety & Disaster
4
Washingtonians for Public Banking

Washingtonians for Public banking promotes education and civic engagement on public banking and banking reform within Washington state. The organization organizes, educates, and advocates for the establishment of public banking, and…

Community Improvement
5
Aft Washington

The Federation is affiliated with the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO, and assists and represents local unions of teachers in the state of Washington in labor relations issues, organizes new units of teachers and other education…

—
6
Washington State Building & Construction Trades Council

The council's mission is to further protect the rights of members of the building and constructions trades industry in the state of washington.

—
7
Fuse Washington

To achieve progress through government,by the people, and for the people, in Washington state.

Environment
8
Afl-Cio Snohomish & Island County Labor Council

Member, affiliate, and community education for worker's issues - union and non-union

—
9
Service Employees Council

The seiu washington state council builds collective power by uniting the strength of our locals in washington state and our collective membership of over 150,000 members. we work collaboratively to coordinate political and legislative…

—
10
Nw Energy Coalition

The NW Energy Coalition is an alliance of over 100 environmental, civic, and human service organizations, utilities, and businesses in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, and British Columbia, plus many individual members. The NW Energy…

—
11
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
12
Pro-Choice Washington

To protect and promote every persons right to access the full range of reproductive healthcare choices in Washington State, including safe and legal abortion, through education, advocacy, lobbying and coalition-building

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Washington State Budget and Policy Center; the most unlike its peers is Washington Fair Trade Coalition. 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

17 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. 17 of the 20 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.

4
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
17/17
Grantees still filing
8/17
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Invest in Washington Now Campaign: $1,513,091 · OtherInvest in Washington Now CampaignNO ON 2109 COMMITEE: $500,000 · OtherNO ON 2109 COMMITEEDefend Washington: $350,000 · OtherDefend WashingtonNORTHWEST ACCOUNTABILITY PROJECT: $235,000 · OtherNORTHWEST ACCOUNTABILITY PROJECTACTION: $181,500 · OtherACTIONWASHINGTON STATE LABOR COUNCIL AFL-CIO: $149,385 · Other+8 more: $297,084 · Other+8 moreFOUNDATION FOR WORKING FAMILIES: $555,000 · Public Safety & DisasterFOUNDATION FOR W…AFSCME FALLEN HEROES FUND: $25,000 · Public Safety & DisasterTHE WASHINGTON STATE BUDGET AND POLICY CENTER: $85,000 · Public BenefitONEAMERICA: $10,000 · Public BenefitNORTHWEST AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSEUM: $50,000 · Arts & CultureWilliam D Ruckelshaus Center Foundation: $15,000 · Education
Other$3,226,060Public Safety & Disaster$580,000Public Benefit$95,000Arts & Culture$50,000Education$15,000

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetInvest in Washington Now Campaign: $1,513,091 over 4y, 49% of budgetFOUNDATION FOR WORKING FAMILIES: $555,000 over 7y, 94% of budgetNO ON 2109 COMMITEE: $500,000 over 2y, 6.5% of budgetDefend Washington: $350,000 over 2y, 1.0% of budgetNORTHWEST ACCOUNTABILITY PROJECT: $235,000 over 5y, 65% of budgetWASHINGTON STATE LABOR COUNCIL AFL-CIO: $149,385 over 5y, 0.7% of budgetNo on 2117 Committee: $100,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetTHE WASHINGTON STATE BUDGET AND POLICY CENTER: $85,000 over 6y, 2.6% of budgetNORTHWEST AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSEUM: $50,000 over 1y, 2.8% of budgetWASHINGTON FEDERATION OF STATE EMPLOYEES LOCAL 443: $24,000 over 2y, 2.9% of budgetWASHINGTON STATE COALITION AGAINST DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: $20,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetWASHINGTON FAIR TRADE COALITION: $15,400 over 2y, 34% of budgetCOUNCIL OF STATE GOVERNMENTS: $15,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWilliam D Ruckelshaus Center Foundation: $15,000 over 1y, 3.1% of budgetRETIRED PUBLIC EMPLOYEES COUNCIL OF WASHINGTON: $12,684 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetONEAMERICA: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% 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.

Washington Education …Seattle FoundationGates FoundationInatai FoundationWashington Progress F…Vanguard Charitable E…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Washington Education AssociationWA22.1× affinity8 shared granteesties to 8 of 8Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Washington Education Association · Seattle Foundation · Gates Foundation · Inatai Foundation · Washington Progress Fund · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · 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 Washington Federation of State Employees funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Washington Federation of State Employees. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    2report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–75%
    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 20 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 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

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    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