Washington · Nonprofit
PAPER WHALE ARTS SPC
PAPER WHALE ARTS SPC (Washington) receives grants from 4 organizations whose IRS filings report $74,500 to it, the largest being WHATCOM COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ($38,500). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 63% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $873k
- Funders on record
- 4
- Grants received
- $75k
- Net assets
- $264k
What Paper Whale Arts Spc does
Mission
Cultivate community in an evolving program of multi-sensory events to inspire and creatively activate placemaking.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
On its FY2025 return the organization reported starting a significant new program.
Public art activation: program curates a wide variety of murals and installations to support the beautification of the downtown cityscape.
Its own explanation, from Schedule O of that return (Part III, line 2).
Activation: curating a wide variety of murals and installations to support the beautification of the downtown cityscape.
$213,865 spent$315,000 earned by the program43% of program spendingFire & story: a family-friendly winter festival brimming with illuminated art installations, roaring fire pits, and captivating performances which include music, storytelling, fire dancing, live metalsmithing, saunas and so much more. This outdoor event celebrates the spirit of winter while embracing the weather.
$169,467 spent$284,893 earned by the program34% of program spendingNoisy waters mural fest: world-renowned muralists gather in bellingham, wa for a weekend of mural painting, demos, music, parties, education and inspiration. This festival is a friendly art contest, in which artists will have three days to paint 8x8 portable walls on public display for the community to enjoy. Attendees will vote for their favorites and the top three winners will receive cash contracts to paint large murals in bellingham.
$101,218 spent$193,247 earned by the program20% of program spendingPaper whale hosts gatherings to platform creativity and discussion around community beautification. The port of bellingham continues to be a stage and testing ground for innovative approaches to gathering community.
$11,575 spent$33,394 earned by the program2% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $496,125.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2024, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2024, 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 2024 to 2025, from $118k to $297k (+152%).
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.
5% of PAPER WHALE ARTS SPC’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (64% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 of the last 2 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
Nicholas Hartrich
Executive director
Board chair
Chelsea Jepson
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
Grant support over time, funder by funder — shade shows the grant size each year.
2 of 4 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 63% 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 PAPER WHALE ARTS SPC’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
PAPER WHALE ARTS SPC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 52% of grant income and the top three 89%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
100% 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 PAPER WHALE ARTS SPC.
“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
63% of PAPER WHALE ARTS SPC's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $28k that is directly attributable, 100% of it comes from Washington funders.
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $47k 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
PAPER WHALE ARTS SPC has grown faster than three-quarters of the 11,634 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 11,634 arts & culture nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Organizations like PAPER WHALE ARTS SPC
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
70% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for PAPER WHALE ARTS SPC: 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 PAPER WHALE ARTS SPC?
- PAPER WHALE ARTS SPC (Washington) receives grants from 4 organizations whose IRS filings report $74,500 to it, the largest being WHATCOM COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ($38,500). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 63% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does PAPER WHALE ARTS SPC have?
- IRS filings report 4 organizations giving $74,500 in grants to PAPER WHALE ARTS SPC, 1 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of PAPER WHALE ARTS SPC?
- WHATCOM COMMUNITY FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $38,500 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like PAPER WHALE ARTS SPC 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.
Play a game about who funds Paper Whale Arts Spc →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2024–2025), and the filings of 4 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