Washington · Nonprofit
RAINIER SCHOLARS
RAINIER SCHOLARS (Washington) receives grants from 191 organizations whose IRS filings report $24,842,892 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($2,940,882). 122 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 52% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $18M
- Funders on record
- 191
- Grants received
- $25M
- Net assets
- $17M
What Rainier Scholars does
Mission
Cultivates the academic potential and leadership skills of underrepresented students. By creating access to opportunities and holistic support, we increase college graduation rates and empower new generations of leaders.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Academic counseling - the organization supports scholars and families on their chosen pathway to college graduation. Academic counselors visit each scholar at their schools and college campuses. The organization offers social activities, weekly tutoring, skill building workshops and annual retreats, all designed to build increased skills for academic success. Families are supported through parent empowerment workshops and individual meetings, as well as regular contact with academic counselors.
$2,177,691 spentof which $70,765 as grants31% of program spendingAcademic enrichment phase - an intensive 14-month experience centered in seattle, wa in a supportive cohort environment, designed to prepare students for placement on college preparatory pathways in public and private schools. Students build and strengthen foundation academic skills, cultural identity and resiliency over the course of two summer sessions and on wednesday afternoons and saturdays during the school year. Overall, students complete the equivalent of one additional school year (1,000 hours) of academic enrichment, designed to prepare them to be successful in college prep pathways for middle school.
$1,970,522 spentof which $159,051 as grants28% of program spendingTacoma program - the organization expanded into tacoma, wa with a strong partner relationship with tacoma public schools and several local colleges and universities. This model is different from seattle as the majority of scholars are anticipated to follow a college prep pathway in the public schools. The organization's approach to the academic enrichment on ramp differs significantly from seattle with an extended aep model spanning two years and three summers that accommodates and encourage scholars to excel academically and pursue extra curricular interests.
$1,891,497 spentof which $2,872 as grants27% of program spendingLeadership & career development - the organization develops potential and creates access to leadership and career opportunities. Middle school students participate in workshops that foster skill building, leadership development and cultural identity and resilience, as well as field trips focused on career exploration and summer enrichment opportunities. High school students participate in leadership development retreats and workshops, focused on important civic and societal issues. High school and college scholars receive summer internship opportunities, personalized career counseling, opportunities for career exploration and professional mentorship.
$915,728 spentof which $39,120 as grants13% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $6,955,438.
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 2024 to 2025, from $10M to $18M (+78%).
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: 2021 7%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
96% of RAINIER SCHOLARS’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (23% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 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.
Board chair
Joe Beliore
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 43 funders to 96 funders, grant income rose $1.6M → $4.0M.
21 of 191 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 52% 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 RAINIER SCHOLARS’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 191 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
RAINIER SCHOLARS has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 12% of grant income, and it takes 6 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 6 funders to its left
56% 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 RAINIER SCHOLARS.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 15% · 2018 15% · 2019 17% · 2020 11% · 2021 17% · 2022 14% · 2023 13% — broadly stable.
“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
57% of RAINIER SCHOLARS'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
52% of RAINIER SCHOLARS'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 $12M that is directly attributable, 70% of it comes from Washington funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $13M arriving through sponsors registered in 17 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
RAINIER SCHOLARS runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 3,794 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,794 education nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Organizations like RAINIER SCHOLARS
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
Public support
76%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- Scholarship Fund for Rainier Scholars · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for RAINIER SCHOLARS: 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 RAINIER SCHOLARS?
- RAINIER SCHOLARS (Washington) receives grants from 191 organizations whose IRS filings report $24,842,892 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($2,940,882). 122 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 52% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does RAINIER SCHOLARS have?
- IRS filings report 191 organizations giving $24,842,892 in grants to RAINIER SCHOLARS, 122 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of RAINIER SCHOLARS?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $2,940,882 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like RAINIER SCHOLARS 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 191 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