Oregon · Nonprofit
Mainspring Portland
Mainspring Portland (Oregon) receives grants from 6 organizations whose IRS filings report $543,915 to it, the largest being OCF Joseph E Weston Public Foundation ($323,300). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2023
- $348k
- Funders on record
- 6
- Grants received
- $544k
- Net assets
- $2.1M
What Mainspring Portland does
Mission
To provide temporary emergency assistance to people in the Portland area who are unable to meet their basic needs, including food, clothing, and referral services. Clients include unemployed, under employed, families/individuals with physical or mental problems.
As stated on its FY2023 Form 990.
Programs
Emergency Food - Mainspring facilitated the distribution of food, clothing, and personal care items, along with emergency mobile services to home-bound individuals and individuals with barriers that prevent them from accesssing our services on site. During the year ended September 30, 2023, Mainspring provided over 26,000 pounds of food. The organization promotes the healthy food initiative and receives fresh seasonal produce in partnership with the City of Portland Produce for the Poeple Community Gardens.
$314,294 spent100% of program spendingEmergency Clothing and Household - Mainspring Portland facilitated the distribution of clothing and personal care items, along with emergency mobile services to home-bound individuals and individuals with barriers that prevent them from accesssing our services on site. During the year ended September 30, 2023, Mainspring Portland provided over 46,000 pounds of clothing and over 17,000 pounds of personal care items to children, families, and seniors in need.Additionally, the organization distributed a fare relief program that provides Tri-Met Public Transit passes and tickets to individuals that rely on this to access their jobs, medical appointments, and the local food pantry. Toiletries including toothpaste, dental floss, and toothbrushes are provided to promote oral and dental health and reduce the impact of dental caries in historically underserved communities. Toilet paper, soap, and other hygiene products are distributed to assist unemployed parents and individuals.
Information and Referral - Mainspring facilitates contact with other area agencies who can provide resources beyond the services provided by Mainspring.
The 3 programs described on its FY2022 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $314,294.
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 2021 to 2022, from $1.9M to $2.1M (+12%).
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.
91% of Mainspring Portland’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (91% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 of the last 7 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.
Board chair
Diane Walker
Board Chair
As listed on its FY2023 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base held at 2 funders, grant income fell $73k → $51k.
3 of 6 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 39% 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 Mainspring Portland’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
Mainspring Portland leans on a few funders — its largest provides 59% of grant income and the top three 99%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
99% 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 Mainspring Portland.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 73% · 2018 72% · 2019 57% · 2020 100% · 2021 55% · 2022 98% · 2023 100% — 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.
Where its funders are
100% of Mainspring Portland's grant income comes from Oregon funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $215k arriving through sponsors registered in 3 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
Mainspring Portland's revenue fell 27% between 2017 and 2023.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 21,056 human services nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2023
Organizations like Mainspring Portland
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
90% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
99%
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 Mainspring Portland: 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 Mainspring Portland?
- Mainspring Portland (Oregon) receives grants from 6 organizations whose IRS filings report $543,915 to it, the largest being OCF Joseph E Weston Public Foundation ($323,300). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does Mainspring Portland have?
- IRS filings report 6 organizations giving $543,915 in grants to Mainspring Portland, 2 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Mainspring Portland?
- OCF Joseph E Weston Public Foundation is the largest funder on record, with $323,300 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Mainspring Portland 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.
Play a game about who funds Mainspring Portland →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2023 (financials across 2017–2023), and the filings of 6 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