Washington · Nonprofit
Communities Rise
Communities Rise (Washington) receives grants from 24 organizations whose IRS filings report $5,267,884 to it, the largest being SEATTLE FOUNDATION ($1,546,950). 19 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $1.7M
- Funders on record
- 24
- Grants received
- $5.3M
- Net assets
- $2.9M
What Communities Rise does
Mission
Communities Rise fosters movements to build power in communities impacted by systemic oppression. To create an equitable system, we pursue cross-sector collaboration, and provide capacity building and legal services for community organizations and microenterprises.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Capacity-Building: Communities Rise provides capacity-building services to nonprofit organizations that are led by and serving communities impacted by systemic oppression, primarily from Black, Indigenous, and People of Color communities in the following programs: 9-month nonprofit Capacity Building Cohort providing peer-to-peer learning, one-on-one coaching, and workshops to 8 grassroots community organizations; Fundraising Clinics providing one-on-one consultation with a fundraising professional to leaders of nonprofit organizations; Grant Writing Clinics providing one-on-one consultation with a grant writing professional to leaders of nonprofit organizations; and Collaboration with community partners to analyze capacity building service gaps and create a system of capacity building support and increased resources for BIPOC organizations and small businesses.
$378,101 spentof which $56,000 as grants$30,240 earned by the program43% of program spendingSmall Business and Nonprofit Legal Services: Communities Rise provides low-income small business owners and nonprofit organizations pro bono legal services on business transactional matters through our limited engagement legal clinics or through direct representation. Communities Rise receives and screens applications for pro bono legal services and determines if the matter is appropriate for our monthly legal clinics (1-hour limited engagement legal consultation) or in-depth assistance through direct representation. Communities Rise matches legal services clients with a volunteer attorney or an in-house Communities Rise attorney.
$211,781 spent$28,702 earned by the program24% of program spendingEducation & Training: Communities Rise hosts legal trainings for community members and attorneys on topics relevant to nonprofits and small businesses. Most legal trainings are approved for CLE credits for attorneys. Communities Rise creates and publishes written materials and webinars designed to help nonprofits and small businesses understand the law and legal concepts that are relevant to their work.
$296,748 spent33% of program spendingOther program services, not described on the e-filed return.
$0 spent0% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $886,630.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2018, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2018, 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 2020 to 2021, from $2.4M to $3.2M (+38%).
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: 2020 54% · 2021 23% · 2022 38% · 2023 37% · 2024 27%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
97% of Communities Rise’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (93% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 6 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 3 funders to 12 funders, grant income rose $27k → $828k.
8 of 24 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 38% 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 Communities Rise’s funders (the co-funder graph). 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
Communities Rise leans on a few funders — its largest provides 29% of grant income and the top three 65%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
57% 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 Communities Rise.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 75% · 2018 43% · 2019 88% · 2020 41% · 2021 31% · 2022 33% · 2023 36% — diversifying over time.
“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
75% of Communities Rise's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 79% 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
99% of Communities Rise's grant income comes from Washington funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $2.0M arriving through sponsors registered in 6 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
Communities Rise runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 1,337 crime & legal nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 1,337 crime & legal nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Organizations like Communities Rise
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
64% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
98%
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 Communities Rise: 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 Communities Rise?
- Communities Rise (Washington) receives grants from 24 organizations whose IRS filings report $5,267,884 to it, the largest being SEATTLE FOUNDATION ($1,546,950). 19 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does Communities Rise have?
- IRS filings report 24 organizations giving $5,267,884 in grants to Communities Rise, 19 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Communities Rise?
- SEATTLE FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $1,546,950 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Communities Rise 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 2018–2024), and the filings of 24 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 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing