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· Private foundation

West Star Foundation

Its FY2020 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$583k
Granted FY2020
49
Grants FY2020
14
States reached
$73k
Largest
01What you fundRead
02The needRead
03Your edgeRead
04Your fieldRead
01What you fund
0197% classified

What you funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year — across FY2019–2020.

Education$187kPhilanthropy$169kInternational$164kHuman Services$140kReligion$74kArts & Culture$60kFood & Nutrition$57kYouth Development$44kOther$0
02FY2020 · 49 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

By grant size · FY2020

  • Under $10k24 grants · $89k
  • $10k–50k24 grants · $421k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $73k
$10,000
Median grant
14
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
IDAHO COMMUNITY FOUNDATION$73,205
LOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY$40,000
OPERATION UNDERGROUND RAILROAD INC$40,000
EVERETT GOSPEL MISSION$29,000
UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA FOUNDATION$25,000
CORNELL COLLEGE$25,000
SACRED EARTH FOUNDATION$22,000
LIGHT BEARERS MINISTRIES$20,000
THE CARTER CENTER$20,000
GLOBAL CHILD NUTRITION FOUNDATION$20,000
FRIENDS OF THE WEISER RIVER TRAIL$20,000
INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN'S CARE$20,000
ADVENTIST DEVELOPMENT AND RELIEF AGENCY$15,000
ST OLAF COLLEGE$15,000
NEW EARTH TIERRA NUEVA$10,000
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 (FY19–20, $67k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 67% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of your grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%YMCA OF THE GREATER TWIN CITIES: $10k → 11%PEPPERMINT RIDGE: $10k → 11%HEARTS WITH A MISSION: $8k → 13%SOUTH WHIDBEY AT HOME: $2k → 7%PROJECT PATCH: $10k → 9%YMCA OF THE GREATER TWIN CITIES: $10k → 11%HEARTS WITH A MISSION: $8k → 13%SOUTH WHIDBEY AT HOME: $2k → 7%RYAN'S HOUSE: $2k → 7%SOUTH WHIDBEY CHILDREN'S CENTER: $2k → 7%SOUTH WHIDBEY CHILDREN'S CENTER: $2k → 7%RYAN'S HOUSE: $2k → 7%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.

Which US states your grants reach

VT
WA
ID
MN
OR
NV
IA
CA
UT
CO
VA
MD
DC
GA
TX

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.

04

Where the work is directed

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

About 96% of West Star Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked, by their stated purpose, for a different county than the recipient’s own address — money that lands at a nonprofit in one place but is meant to do its work in another. Read by recipient address, 8% of the giving stays in NV; read by stated purpose it is 0% — less of the work is directed home than the recipients' locations suggest.

West Star Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address

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 foundation’s own 990 grant descriptions.

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.

76%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$692k · 34 repeat orgs$217k to everyone else

34 repeat relationships — 34 still active in FY2020, 0 since wound down; 14 grantees were first funded in FY2020 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

34
4

Total granted

$692k
$57k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+53%
+105%

Still filing today

71%
50%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2020, 69% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $160k went to new ones.

50%100%’19’20
RenewedFirst-time

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

’19’20
Human ServicesEducationInternationalHealthHousing & ShelterFood & NutritionOther

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

  • EG
    EVERETT GOSPEL MISSION
    2× · 2019–2020 · $58k · revenue +53%
  • CC
    CORNELL COLLEGE
    2× · 2019–2020 · $45k · revenue +34%
  • UO
    University of Nevada Reno Foundation
    2× · 2019–2020 · $45k · revenue +35%

Funded once

  • BAT CONSERVATION INTERNATIONALgraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $25k · revenue +105%
  • AR
    AMERICAN RELIEF CENTERS
    one grant, 2019 · $25k
  • FB
    Food Bank of Northern Nevada Incgraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $5k · revenue +58%

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
Wayside House Inc

Our mission is to break the cycle of addiction and trauma for women, children, and families.

—
2
United Way of Ne Minnesota

United way of northeastern minnesota invests in nonprofits, programs, and collaborations that equip and empower, creating opportunities for people to thrive in our communities.

—
3
Youth for Christ International Ministries

As part of the body of Christ, to see that every young person in every people group in every nation has the opportunity to make an informed decision to be a follower of Jesus Christ and become a part of the local church.

Religion
4
Great Plains Food Bank

End hunger together.

Food & Nutrition
5
Homeward Bound Inc

Providing innovative and life-enriching services for children, adolescents, and adults with disabilities.

Human Services
6
Senior Life Resources Northwest

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

Human Services
7
Hope Haven Inc

As followers of christ, hope haven's mission is to empower individuals with disabilities through work and life skills so that they may enjoy a productive life in their community.

—
8
Every Shelter Inc

Every Shelter's mission is to build a localized refugee-aid ecosystem centered around the needs, preferences, and aspirations of refugees.

Education
9
Next Move Homeless Services

To help families with children and individuals achieve self-reliance

—
10
Lutheran Community Services Northwest

LCSNW partners with individuals, families and communities for health, justice and hope. LCSNW provides a wide variety of social services in Oregon, Washington and Idaho and serves people of all ages, cultures and faiths.

Human Services
11
Pilgrim Africa

Pilgrim Africa's mission is to challenge despair, love boldly, and help African people create a future of sustainable prosperity and health. We give ourselves in service to others regardless of economic, religious, or social standing,…

International
12
Horizon House

Purposeful living in a diverse community. using the power of resident driven community to enhance wellbeing.

Human Services

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Feed My Starving Children Inc and the most unlike its peers is South Whidbey Homeless Coalition. 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 backsteadyDomestic Violence ServicesCommunity FoundationsAffordable Housing Construc…Food Banks and PantriesSchool Parent OrganizationsYouth Mentoring ProgramsSenior Support ServicesIndependent K-12 SchoolsChristian Missionary Organi…Environmental Conservation …
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 31 years old; the field is 16. You back the established end — and your money leans older still.

THE FIELDby orgYOUR GRANTEESby number22%0%<5yr14%0%5–10yr19%22%10–20yr16%33%20–35yr13%25%35–55yr16%19%55yr+
THE FIELDby orgYOUR MONEYby value22%0%<5yr14%0%5–10yr19%15%10–20yr16%36%20–35yr13%32%35–55yr16%17%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 — 5% lost their exemption, against 13% of the field you don’t fund.

orgs you fund
5%
2/43
the rest of the field
13%
240,394/1,819,522

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.

05the grantee network

41 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. 41 of the 53 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)
12
Early backer (in before they grew)
38/41
Grantees still filing
34/41
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

SACRED EARTH FOUNDATION — $42,000 · OtherSACRED EARTH FOUNDATIONLIGHT BEARERS MINISTRIES — $40,000 · OtherLIGHT BEARERS MINISTRIESGLOBAL CHILD NUTRITION FOUNDATION — $40,000 · OtherGLOBAL CHILD NUTRITION FOUNDATIONBAT CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL — $25,000 · OtherBAT CONSERVATION INTERNATIONALAMERICAN RELIEF CENTERS — $25,000 · OtherAMERICAN RELIEF CENTERSNEW EARTH TIERRA NUEVA — $20,000 · OtherNEW EARTH TIERRA NUEVATHE NEVADA DISCOVERY MUSEUM — $20,000 · OtherTHE NEVADA DISCOVERY MUSEUMFRIENDS OF THE WEISER RIVER TRAIL — $20,000 · OtherFRIENDS OF THE WEISER RIVER TRAILYWCA — $20,000 · OtherYWCANATIONAL PARK FOUNDATION — $20,000 · OtherNATIONAL PARK FOUNDATIONREDEMPTION RIDGE — $15,000 · Other+15 more — $87,000 · Other+15 moreCORNELL COLLEGE — $45,000 · EducationCORNELL COLLEGEUniversity of Nevada Reno Foundation — $45,000 · EducationUniversity of Nevada …LOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY — $40,000 · EducationLOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIV…ST OLAF COLLEGE — $30,000 · EducationST OLAF COLLEGEPEO Foundation — $15,000 · EducationPEO FoundationTHE MOSAIC PROJECT — $10,000 · EducationVENTURES — $10,000 · Education+1 more — $2,000 · EducationEVERETT GOSPEL MISSION — $58,000 · Human ServicesEVERETT GOSPEL …YOUNG MENS CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF THE NORTH — $20,000 · Human ServicesYOUNG MENS CHRI…EDDY HOUSE — $15,000 · Human ServicesEDDY HOUSEHEARTS WITH A MISSION — $15,000 · Human ServicesHEARTS WITH A M…PEPPERMINT RIDGE — $10,000 · Human ServicesPEPPERMINT RIDG…Project Patch — $10,000 · Human ServicesProject Patch+3 more — $12,000 · Human Services+3 moreTHE CARTER CENTER INC — $45,000 · InternationalTHE CARTER CENT…INTERNATIONAL CHILDRENS CARE INC — $40,000 · InternationalINTERNATIONAL C…ADVENTIST DEVELOPMENT & RELIEF AGENCY INTERNATIONAL — $39,000 · InternationalADVENTIST DEVEL…FEED MY STARVING CHILDREN INC — $10,000 · InternationalFEED MY STARVIN…Morning Star Development — $5,000 · InternationalIDAHO COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC — $123,205 · PhilanthropyIDAHO COMMUNIT…ASSISTANCE LEAGUE OF EVERETT — $5,000 · PhilanthropyOUR RESCUE — $40,000 · Arts & CultureJACOBS HEART CHILDRENS CANCER SUPPORT SERVICES — $10,000 · HealthFRIENDS OF FRIENDS — $4,000 · Health
Other$374,000Education$197,000Human Services$140,000International$139,000Philanthropy$128,205Arts & Culture$40,000Health$14,000

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 budgetIDAHO COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC — $123,205 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetEVERETT GOSPEL MISSION — $58,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetCORNELL COLLEGE — $45,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE CARTER CENTER INC — $45,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetLOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY — $40,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetOUR RESCUE — $40,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetINTERNATIONAL CHILDRENS CARE INC — $40,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetADVENTIST DEVELOPMENT & RELIEF AGENCY INTERNATIONAL — $39,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetST OLAF COLLEGE — $30,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetBAT CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL — $25,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetTHE NEVADA DISCOVERY MUSEUM — $20,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetYOUNG MENS CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF THE NORTH — $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL PARK FOUNDATION — $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetEDDY HOUSE — $15,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetHEARTS WITH A MISSION — $15,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetREDEMPTION RIDGE — $15,000 over 2y, 1.2% of budgetJACOBS HEART CHILDRENS CANCER SUPPORT SERVICES — $10,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetTHE MOSAIC PROJECT — $10,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetFEED MY STARVING CHILDREN INC — $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetPEPPERMINT RIDGE — $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetProject Patch — $10,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetJUBILEE WOMEN'S CENTER — $10,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetENTRUST — $10,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetVENTURES — $10,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetHOPE PARTNERS INTERNATIONAL INC — $10,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetMorning Star Development — $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetASSISTANCE LEAGUE OF EVERETT — $5,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetFood Bank of Northern Nevada Inc — $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetRYAN'S HOUSE — $4,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetSOUTH WHIDBEY CHILDREN'S CENTER — $4,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetFRIENDS OF FRIENDS — $4,000 over 2y, 2.3% of budgetSHARING ALONGSIDE — $2,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetSOUTH WHIDBEY HOMELESS COALITION — $2,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetSOUTH WHIDBEY GOOD CHEER — $2,000 over 1y, 0.1% 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.

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.

Whidbey Community Fou…Seattle FoundationM J Murdock Charitabl…Encourage & Impact Fo…Community Foundation …Medina FoundationThe Norcliffe Foundat…Puget Sound Energy Fo…The Oregon Community …Bnsf Railway Foundati…Servant FoundationGs Donor Advised Phil…
Whidbey Community FoundationWA19.9× affinity7 shared granteesties to 10 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Whidbey Community Foundation · Seattle Foundation · M J Murdock Charitable Trust · Encourage & Impact Foundation · Community Foundation of Snohomish County · Medina Foundation · The Norcliffe Foundation · Puget Sound Energy Foundation · The Oregon Community Foundation · Bnsf Railway Foundation · Servant Foundation · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc

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 West Star 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 · 10%0%1%3%5%your share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 51%
  • Hearts With a Mission — 51% of income from government
  • Adventist Development & Relief Agency International — 35% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
12report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
1rely 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.

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 53 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 2020, released 2020. 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 camps
funders cluster by geography, not ideology
By state
where grant money is based, and what stays home
State money flows
the interactive map of money crossing state lines