Washington · Nonprofit
SEATTLE UNIVERSITY
SEATTLE UNIVERSITY (Washington) receives grants from 253 organizations whose IRS filings report $64,265,181 to it, the largest being Moccasin Lake Foundation ($5,115,000). 138 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $521M
- Funders on record
- 253
- Grants received
- $64M
- Net assets
- $892M
What Seattle University does
Mission
Seattle University is dedicated to educating the whole person, to professional formation, and to empowering leaders for a just and humane world.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
On its FY2024 return the organization reported starting a significant new program and a significant change in how it conducts a program.
On March 18, 2025, Seattle University ("the University) entered into an Asset Contribution Agreement ("Agreement") with Cornish College of the Arts ("Cornish") located in Seattle, Washington. The Agreement closed on June 2, 2025, after the completion of required conditions by both the University and Cornish. Upon closing, Cornish contributed substantially all of its assets to the University, and the University assumed certain Cornish liabilities. The transaction is a significant step for the University as it continues to elevate and enhance its arts education offerings for students.
Its own explanation, from Schedule O of that return (Part III, line 2).
On March 18, 2025, Seattle University ("the University) entered into an Asset Contribution Agreement ("Agreement") with Cornish College of the Arts ("Cornish") located in Seattle, Washington. The Agreement closed on June 2, 2025, after the completion of required conditions by both the University and Cornish. Upon closing, Cornish contributed substantially all of its assets to the University, and the University assumed certain Cornish liabilities. The transaction is a significant step for the University as it continues to elevate and enhance its arts education offerings for students.
Its own explanation, from Schedule O of that return (Part III, line 3).
Founded in 1891, Seattle University is a Jesuit, Catholic university located on a beautiful campus of more than 55 acres in the dynamic heart of Seattle. Our diverse and inclusive campus is comprised of more than 7,100 students enrolled in undergraduate and graduate programs within six schools and colleges. In the 2024-25 academic year, Seattle University awarded 1089 bachelor's degrees or equivalents, 137 post-baccalaureate certificates, 748 master's degrees, 1 post-master's certificates, and 286 doctoral degrees. Awards and high rankings for academic rigor, sustainability, community service and social justice are among the university's touchstones of excellence. SU ranks among the top universities for its academics, student-centered teaching, Community Engaged Learning and leadership in sustainability. It ranked in the Top 16 percent of universities nationally-and #23 in the West-in the Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education College Ranking 2021. The Princeton Review continues to recognize the university as one of the best colleges in the nation for undergraduate education, according to its Best Colleges guide. Additionally, Seattle University is well represented in the…
$354,513,629 spentof which $136,582,265 as grants$354,346,946 earned by the program100% of program spendingOther program services, not described on the e-filed return.
$0 spent0% of program spending
The 2 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $354,513,629.
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.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2020 to 2021, from $792M to $949M (+20%).
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 2% · 2018 3% · 2019 2% · 2020 3% · 2021 4% · 2022 4% · 2023 2% · 2024 1% · 2025 2%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
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.
Board chair
Patrick Callans
Board Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 60 funders to 92 funders, grant income rose $5.3M → $7.0M.
37 of 253 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 33% 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 SEATTLE UNIVERSITY’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 253 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
SEATTLE UNIVERSITY has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 8% of grant income, and it takes 9 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 9 funders to its left
52% 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 SEATTLE UNIVERSITY.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 36% · 2018 16% · 2019 16% · 2020 34% · 2021 41% · 2022 21% · 2023 17% — 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
36% of SEATTLE UNIVERSITY's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 55% 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
SEATTLE UNIVERSITY draws 50% of its grant income from funders outside Washington, across 32 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $21M arriving through sponsors registered in 16 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.
Government funding SEATTLE UNIVERSITY receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $43.1M on record — $43.1M federal, $36k state.
- Department of Education$22.9M
- National Science Foundation$12.5M
- Department of Health and Human Services$5.8M
- Department of Justice$1.0M
- Department of State$868k
- Department of Agriculture$45k
- OR$28k
- NJ$7k
- FL$50
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like SEATTLE UNIVERSITY
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
85% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
59%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 2 states
Part of a family of 4 related entities
- Seattle University Foundation · exempt
- Fortissimo · exempt
- Charitable Remainder Unitrusts (9) · corp_trust
- Charitable Remainder Annuity Trusts (1) · corp_trust
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for SEATTLE UNIVERSITY: 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 SEATTLE UNIVERSITY?
- SEATTLE UNIVERSITY (Washington) receives grants from 253 organizations whose IRS filings report $64,265,181 to it, the largest being Moccasin Lake Foundation ($5,115,000). 138 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does SEATTLE UNIVERSITY have?
- IRS filings report 253 organizations giving $64,265,181 in grants to SEATTLE UNIVERSITY, 138 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of SEATTLE UNIVERSITY?
- Moccasin Lake Foundation is the largest funder on record, with $5,115,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like SEATTLE UNIVERSITY 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 Seattle University →
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 253 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