Oregon · Nonprofit
FOUNDATIONS FOR A BETTER OREGON
FOUNDATIONS FOR A BETTER OREGON (Oregon) receives grants from 13 organizations whose IRS filings report $8,966,200 to it, the largest being THE OREGON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ($3,035,500). 9 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $2.8M
- Funders on record
- 13
- Grants received
- $9.0M
- Net assets
- $3.2M
What Foundations for a Better Oregon does
Mission
Foundations for a Better Oregon advances oregon's commitment to supporting every child to learn, grow, and thrive. We build bridges between community, policymakers, and philanthropy, setting a foundation for shared vision and collective action.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Program
Advocacy - working primarily at the state level, we collaborate with impacted communities throughout the state to analyze, develop, and advocate for policy changes and public investments that create a better oregon for every child. We believe public systems work best when impacted communities engage in the entire cycle of change, from problem identification to policy design to accountability. Community partner support - engaging multiple perspectives and examining issues from different vantage points are critical to driving collective action. Through oregon partners for education justice, we convene oregonians to form a statewide network of community-based organizations, culturally specific service providers, and education advocates who are championing a racially just and community-centered education system, and also work to support a broad range of partners across oregon. Narrative - we move beyond traditional messaging campaigns to disrupt damaging narratives and tell a more nuanced oregon story. By addressing longstanding systemic failures and uplifting the deep-rooted strengths of our children and communities, we can narrate the path to a more just future. Policy development &…
$1,278,495 spentof which $3,905 as grants100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2025 Form 990. Program spending in total: $1,278,495.
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 2019 to 2020, from $2.9M to $4.2M (+45%).
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 31% · 2018 71% · 2019 38%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
100% of FOUNDATIONS FOR A BETTER OREGON’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (48% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 6 of the last 9 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.
Chief executive
Whitney Grubbs
Executive director
Board chair
Peter Koehler
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base narrowed from 6 funders to 5 funders, grant income rose $357k → $1.2M.
2 of 13 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 34% 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 FOUNDATIONS FOR A BETTER OREGON’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
FOUNDATIONS FOR A BETTER OREGON leans on a few funders — its largest provides 34% of grant income and the top three 71%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
35% 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 FOUNDATIONS FOR A BETTER OREGON.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 78% · 2018 29% · 2019 26% · 2020 59% · 2021 27% · 2022 27% · 2023 25% — 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
42% of FOUNDATIONS FOR A BETTER OREGON's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 69% 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 FOUNDATIONS FOR A BETTER OREGON's grant income comes from Oregon funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $3.0M arriving through sponsors registered in 2 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
FOUNDATIONS FOR A BETTER OREGON runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 9,615 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 9,615 education nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Government funding FOUNDATIONS FOR A BETTER OREGON receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $1.5M on record.
- PROFESSIONAL SERVICES NON-IT>$75K$1.2M
- DISTRIBUTION TO NON-GOVERNMENTS$310k
- PROFESSIONAL SERVICES NON-IT$1k
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like FOUNDATIONS FOR A BETTER OREGON
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 Oregon
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
84% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
32%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for FOUNDATIONS FOR A BETTER OREGON: 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 FOUNDATIONS FOR A BETTER OREGON?
- FOUNDATIONS FOR A BETTER OREGON (Oregon) receives grants from 13 organizations whose IRS filings report $8,966,200 to it, the largest being THE OREGON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ($3,035,500). 9 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does FOUNDATIONS FOR A BETTER OREGON have?
- IRS filings report 13 organizations giving $8,966,200 in grants to FOUNDATIONS FOR A BETTER OREGON, 9 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of FOUNDATIONS FOR A BETTER OREGON?
- THE OREGON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $3,035,500 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like FOUNDATIONS FOR A BETTER OREGON find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Oregon. 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 FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 13 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