Washington · Nonprofit
HIGHLINE SCHOOLS FOUNDATION FOR EXCELLENCE
HIGHLINE SCHOOLS FOUNDATION FOR EXCELLENCE (Washington) receives grants from 33 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,335,821 to it, the largest being BRAD AND DANIELLE TILDEN FAMILY FOUNDATION (C/O KOVARK & KIM PLLC) ($505,000). 16 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $2.8M
- Funders on record
- 33
- Grants received
- $2.3M
- Net assets
- $8.2M
What Highline Schools Foundation for Excellence does
Mission
Highline schools foundation was established in 1999 to help bridge the gap between what the state of washington provides our district and what is needed for our students, families, staff and teachers to achieve success.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
School and classroom grants: the foundation grants teachers, staff, and administrators the funds they need to support unique and innovative programs that state funding cannot provide. We support activities and experiences that expand the learning process and actively engage students. Our goal is to provide teachers and schools with the resources they need to help our students be successful. The grants we select try to reach the most students and district schools possible. The foundation grants also support student success and programs to improve graduation rates for students in highline public schools. More than 75% of highline schools applied for and received funding through our grants programs this year, with 51 grants funded and a total of $100,000 awarded.
$420,386 spentof which $420,386 as grants35% of program spendingStudent support programs: more than two-thirds of highline public school students live in poverty. Our community programs support students whose families are struggling financially or are homeless (mckinney-vento). This includes basic needs support (food, clothing, and shoes), back-to-school supplies, prom wear for high school students, athletic equipment so that students can participate on their schools' sports teams, and musical instruments for students who want to participate in band or orchestra but cannot afford instrument purchase or rental. We provided access to more than $82,000 in donated athletics equipment and supplies, $21,000 in food and clothing support, and $36,977.00 in school supplies.
$424,348 spentof which $75,584 as grants35% of program spendingCollege scholarships: each year, the foundation awards scholarships to selected graduating seniors attending two- and four-year colleges. These scholarships are awarded based on need, leadership, and academic performance. Last year, 61 scholarships totaling $395,750 were awarded to graduating seniors from across highline public schools.
$369,054 spentof which $369,054 as grants30% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,213,788.
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 $4.6M to $6.7M (+47%).
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 8% · 2021 4% · 2022 22% · 2023 5% · 2024 3% · 2025 4%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
81% of HIGHLINE SCHOOLS FOUNDATION FOR EXCELLENCE’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (82% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 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
Fred Swanson
Executive director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 5 funders to 6 funders, grant income rose $57k → $152k.
9 of 33 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 45% 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 HIGHLINE SCHOOLS FOUNDATION FOR EXCELLENCE’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 33 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
HIGHLINE SCHOOLS FOUNDATION FOR EXCELLENCE has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 22% of grant income, and it takes 4 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 4 funders to its left
69% 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 HIGHLINE SCHOOLS FOUNDATION FOR EXCELLENCE.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 65% · 2018 43% · 2019 56% · 2020 23% · 2021 35% · 2022 32% · 2023 35% — 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
24% of HIGHLINE SCHOOLS FOUNDATION FOR EXCELLENCE's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 48% 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
71% of HIGHLINE SCHOOLS FOUNDATION FOR EXCELLENCE's grant income comes from Washington funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.1M 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
HIGHLINE SCHOOLS FOUNDATION FOR EXCELLENCE runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 1,645 philanthropy nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 1,645 philanthropy nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like HIGHLINE SCHOOLS FOUNDATION FOR EXCELLENCE
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
81% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
75%
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 HIGHLINE SCHOOLS FOUNDATION FOR EXCELLENCE: 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 HIGHLINE SCHOOLS FOUNDATION FOR EXCELLENCE?
- HIGHLINE SCHOOLS FOUNDATION FOR EXCELLENCE (Washington) receives grants from 33 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,335,821 to it, the largest being BRAD AND DANIELLE TILDEN FAMILY FOUNDATION (C/O KOVARK & KIM PLLC) ($505,000). 16 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does HIGHLINE SCHOOLS FOUNDATION FOR EXCELLENCE have?
- IRS filings report 33 organizations giving $2,335,821 in grants to HIGHLINE SCHOOLS FOUNDATION FOR EXCELLENCE, 16 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of HIGHLINE SCHOOLS FOUNDATION FOR EXCELLENCE?
- BRAD AND DANIELLE TILDEN FAMILY FOUNDATION (C/O KOVARK & KIM PLLC) is the largest funder on record, with $505,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like HIGHLINE SCHOOLS FOUNDATION FOR EXCELLENCE 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 33 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