Washington · Nonprofit
501 Commons
501 Commons (Washington) receives grants from 39 organizations whose IRS filings report $13,327,908 to it, the largest being GS DONOR ADVISED PHILANTHROPY FUND FOR WEALTH MANAGEMENT INC ($5,050,000). 19 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 72% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $21M
- Funders on record
- 39
- Grants received
- $13M
- Net assets
- $592k
What 501 Commons does
Mission
We all rise when nonprofits thrive. At 501 Commons we serve nonprofits as experts, innovators, and partners. Our passion is to amplify the strength of nonprofits - so all people and communities flourish.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
On its FY2024 return the organization reported a significant change in how it conducts a program.
On August 31, 2024, 501 Commons ceased being the Program Administrator for the Washington State Opportunity Scholarship.
Its own explanation, from Schedule O of that return (Part III, line 3).
501 Commons serves as the program administrator for Washington Opportunity Scholarship. WSOS removes barriers to education and helps Washington students forge their path to high-demand STEM, health care, and trade careers in Washington state. Opportunity scholars receive financial assistance, career training, and mentorship services that uniquely position them to meet our states workforce shortages. 70% of participants are scholars of color, 57% are women or nonbinary, and 67% are first generation scholars.
$13,372,068 spentof which $11,534,564 as grants$435,553 earned by the program80% of program spendingOur technology programs include IT infrastructure, cybersecurity, and data solutions. Data solutions worked on 58 database development and maintenance projects with 32 organizations. IT infrastructure worked on 100 projects or ongoing IT managed services with 90 organizations. Organizations receiving managed services have the benefits of ongoing backup, antivirus, and monitoring the security of their networks. These services allow nonprofits of all types and sizes keep their data safe, work efficiently, communicate effectively, and track relationships and results.
$1,220,238 spent$1,176,161 earned by the program7% of program spendingOur financial services program worked on 127 accounting, tax, and consulting engagements with organizations. Having professional financial services at affordable rates provides our clients with the financial data they need to make sound management decisions and allows them to focus on their mission. Budgets, financial reports, and tax returns that meet professional standards are a baseline requirement for effective fundraising.
$589,907 spent$850,305 earned by the program4% of program spending1370 nonprofits raised $9.3 million on Washington Gives, our year-round fundraising platform, management services include HR, Coaching, Executive Advising, Fundraising guidance, and Management Consulting. BIPOC-led organizations participated in next level, an action learning program that partners executives with an experienced BIPOC leader. Management services provided 217 services to 162 organizations. Many management services are provided by skilled volunteers who are members of our Executive Serivice Corps. Their donated expertise and time is valued at $391,993. Free nonprofit advisory services were provided to 317 organizations. Over 1100 people participated in learning sessions.
$1,434,206 spent$878,526 earned by the program9% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $16,616,419.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2023 to 2024, from $127M to $1.0M (−99%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2017 3% · 2018 2% · 2019 3% · 2020 12% · 2021 23% · 2022 6% · 2023 42% · 2024 58%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
82% of 501 Commons’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (60% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 6 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 7 funders to 12 funders, grant income rose $934k → $3.3M.
8 of 39 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 72% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of 501 Commons’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 39 funders by total. Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
501 Commons leans on a few funders — its largest provides 38% of grant income and the top three 66%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
82% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund 501 Commons.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 56% · 2018 43% · 2019 41% · 2020 41% · 2021 81% · 2022 45% · 2023 76% — growing more concentrated.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
41% of 501 Commons's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 49% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
72% of 501 Commons's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $3.7M that is directly attributable, 82% of it comes from Washington funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $9.6M arriving through sponsors registered in 7 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
501 Commons has grown faster than three-quarters of the 659 community improvement nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 659 community improvement nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2024
Organizations like 501 Commons
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In Washington
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
85% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
85%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for 501 Commons: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds 501 Commons?
- 501 Commons (Washington) receives grants from 39 organizations whose IRS filings report $13,327,908 to it, the largest being GS DONOR ADVISED PHILANTHROPY FUND FOR WEALTH MANAGEMENT INC ($5,050,000). 19 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 72% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does 501 Commons have?
- IRS filings report 39 organizations giving $13,327,908 in grants to 501 Commons, 19 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of 501 Commons?
- GS DONOR ADVISED PHILANTHROPY FUND FOR WEALTH MANAGEMENT INC is the largest funder on record, with $5,050,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like 501 Commons find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Washington. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 39 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing