Washington · Nonprofit
Greater Metro Parks Foundation dba Tacoma Parks Foundation
Greater Metro Parks Foundation dba Tacoma Parks Foundation (Washington) receives grants from 44 organizations whose IRS filings report $7,038,175 to it, the largest being NAMES FAMILY FOUNDATION ($1,666,100). 28 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $4.4M
- Funders on record
- 44
- Grants received
- $7.0M
- Net assets
- $9.6M
What Greater Metro Parks Foundation dba Tacoma Parks Foundation does
Mission
Greater Metro Parks Foundation's mission is to cultivate a community invested in providing parks and recreation access to all.Its vision is plentiful, equitable access to nature, play, and recreation in Tacoma.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Program Support- The Foundation works in partnership with the Metropolitan Park District of Tacoma (MPT) to support mission-priority programs. These include the arts, youth sports and development, fitness and wellness, specialized recreation, heritage and special events. Donations help fill the gap and sustain these programs. For example our community arts programs provide free access to arts in low income communities for health, learning and community, providing access to underserved children and families with opportunities to access league sports play, arts programming, environmental education and exploration, and more.The Foundation also raises and invests endowment funds for sustainable programming.
$3,423,340 spentof which $3,421,458 as grants95% of program spendingPark Maintenance - The Foundation supports parks and parks projects throughout the district. Individual parks have special significance their surrounding communities and the foundation offers a way for neighbors to give to their parks. Donors can give to the Chip-In! Program which engages thousands of volunteer park stewards every year who remove invasive species, replace natural areas, clean up garbage, and patrol to maintain safety. The Foundation also manages capital campaigns and leverages district funds to enhance communities and park facilities.
$176,307 spentof which $176,307 as grants5% of program spendingFinancial aid, known as the Active Kids Fund, removes barriers by reducing MetroParks program registration fees by 50-75% for hundreds of qualifying families.Through the Active Kids Fund, Children can enjoy activities such as swimming classes,nature education, sports leagues and performing arts lessons. The fund helps youth who otherwise would not have the financial means to get active, build skills, make healthy choices, expand personal expression and experience scientific discovery.Verification of income and proof of residency are required. Every year requests increase and Metro Parks and the Foundation work together to meet the need.
$2,462 spentof which $2,462 as grants0% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $3,602,109.
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 $8.2M to $10M (+25%).
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 0% · 2021 31% · 2022 71% · 2023 61% · 2024 48% · 2025 55%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
95% of Greater Metro Parks Foundation dba Tacoma Parks Foundation’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (72% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 5 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.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 12 funders to 15 funders, grant income fell $1.2M → $651k.
6 of 44 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 25% 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 Greater Metro Parks Foundation dba Tacoma Parks Foundation’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 44 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
Greater Metro Parks Foundation dba Tacoma Parks Foundation has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 24% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
34% 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 Greater Metro Parks Foundation dba Tacoma Parks Foundation.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 42% · 2018 25% · 2019 58% · 2020 59% · 2021 27% · 2022 23% · 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
41% of Greater Metro Parks Foundation dba Tacoma Parks Foundation's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 64% 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
87% of Greater Metro Parks Foundation dba Tacoma Parks Foundation's grant income comes from Washington funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.8M arriving through sponsors registered in 5 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
Greater Metro Parks Foundation dba Tacoma Parks Foundation's revenue grew 48% between 2017 and 2025.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 369 unclassified nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like Greater Metro Parks Foundation dba Tacoma Parks Foundation
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
80% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
95%
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 Greater Metro Parks Foundation dba Tacoma Parks Foundation: 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 Greater Metro Parks Foundation dba Tacoma Parks Foundation?
- Greater Metro Parks Foundation dba Tacoma Parks Foundation (Washington) receives grants from 44 organizations whose IRS filings report $7,038,175 to it, the largest being NAMES FAMILY FOUNDATION ($1,666,100). 28 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does Greater Metro Parks Foundation dba Tacoma Parks Foundation have?
- IRS filings report 44 organizations giving $7,038,175 in grants to Greater Metro Parks Foundation dba Tacoma Parks Foundation, 28 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Greater Metro Parks Foundation dba Tacoma Parks Foundation?
- NAMES FAMILY FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $1,666,100 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Greater Metro Parks Foundation dba Tacoma Parks Foundation 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 FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 44 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