Washington · Nonprofit
THE SOPHIA WAY
THE SOPHIA WAY (Washington) receives grants from 81 organizations whose IRS filings report $5,451,659 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($1,776,093). 46 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 65% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $4.5M
- Funders on record
- 81
- Grants received
- $5.5M
- Net assets
- $2.9M
What The Sophia Way does
Mission
The Sophia Way is a place of hope and change for women. We support them on their journey from homelessness to safe and stable living.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Helen's place:helen's place provides a safe and stable space for women experiencing homelessness to rest and heal. The shelter is open 24/7/365, offering women the care and comfort they need, while being supported in navigating their individual journey to stability and housing.
$1,379,797 spent41% of program spendingSophia's place: sophia's place is an extended-stay shelter for women experiencing homelessness on the eastside of king county, wa. Open from 3:00 pm to 8:00 am every night of the year, the shelter provides a safe place to stay for 21 women who stay up to six months, in semi-private cubicles, locking closets for personal belongings, life skills classes and case management.
$899,535 spentof which $281,479 as grants27% of program spendingOther services: outreach - meeting women where they are (at libraries, coffee shops, safe parking sites, etc.) and connecting them to resources and opportunities for housing; housing - includes transitional, permanent, and supportive housing.resource day center. Based in the same location as sophia's place, the resource center provides immediate assistance to women coming off the street or seeking to prevent homelessness. Open from 8:00 am to 3:00 pm, this is a safe, warm environment where women eat prepared meals, do laundry, take showers, use computers and phones, and benefit from resource referrals, rotating service providers, and life skills classes.
$341,760 spent10% of program spendingCase management:trained and skilled case managers provide guidance and assistance to women utilizing our programs and services. The case manager works with clients to navigate through barriers and obstacles that may prevent them from reaching the goal of sustainable housing.
$740,910 spent22% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $3,362,002.
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 2018 to 2019, from $1.9M to $3.1M (+66%).
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 29% · 2018 24% · 2019 19% · 2020 46% · 2021 39% · 2022 42% · 2023 46% · 2024 42%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
101% of THE SOPHIA WAY’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (81% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 of the last 8 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
Dietra Clayton
Managing executive director
Board chair
Danielle Porter
Chair
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2021 and FY2022 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 9 funders to 40 funders, grant income rose $113k → $1.1M.
15 of 81 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 65% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
Left out of every figure on this page: $757k from 2 payers (the payer shares this organization's board, largest United Way of King County). These are real filings, and they are not money THE SOPHIA WAY raised.
From the IRS filings of THE SOPHIA WAY’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 81 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
THE SOPHIA WAY leans on a few funders — its largest provides 33% of grant income and the top three 62%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
72% 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 THE SOPHIA WAY.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 41% · 2018 74% · 2019 41% · 2020 28% · 2021 38% · 2022 33% · 2023 39% — 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
51% of THE SOPHIA WAY's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 57% 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
65% of THE SOPHIA WAY'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 $1.9M that is directly attributable, 69% of it comes from Washington funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $3.5M arriving through sponsors registered in 11 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
THE SOPHIA WAY has grown faster than half of the 11,274 human services nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 11,274 human services nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Organizations like THE SOPHIA WAY
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
72% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
100%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE SOPHIA WAY: 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 THE SOPHIA WAY?
- THE SOPHIA WAY (Washington) receives grants from 81 organizations whose IRS filings report $5,451,659 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($1,776,093). 46 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 65% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does THE SOPHIA WAY have?
- IRS filings report 81 organizations giving $5,451,659 in grants to THE SOPHIA WAY, 46 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE SOPHIA WAY?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $1,776,093 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE SOPHIA WAY 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 Sophia Way →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 81 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