Washington · Nonprofit
THE WASHINGTON STEM CENTER
THE WASHINGTON STEM CENTER (Washington) receives grants from 47 organizations whose IRS filings report $37,665,533 to it, the largest being AMERICAN ONLINE GIVING FOUNDATION INC ($13,238,592). 30 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 57% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $6.2M
- Funders on record
- 47
- Grants received
- $38M
- Net assets
- $8.8M
What The Washington STEM Center does
Mission
Washington stem (wa stem) is a statewide, education nonprofit leveraging stem for social change, removing barriers to credential attainment, and creating pathways to long-term economic security for systemically underserved students. Founded on the principles of equity, partnership, and sustainability, washington stem seeks smart, scalable solutions that lead to removing barriers and creating equitable access for historically excluded students-students who will become the leaders, critical thinkers, and creators that will tackle the biggest challenges facing our state, nation, and the world. We envision a state where skin color, zip code, income, and gender do not predict educational and career outcomes.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Program
Washington stem (wa stem) is a statewide, education nonprofit leveraging stem for social change, removing barriers to credential attainment, and creating pathways to long-term economic security for systemically underserved students. Founded on the principles of equity, partnership, and sustainability, washington stem seeks smart, scalable solutions that lead to removing barriers and creating equitable access for historically excluded students-students who will become the leaders, critical thinkers, and creators that will tackle the biggest challenges facing our state, nation, and the world. We envision a state where skin color, zip code, income, and gender do not predict educational and career outcomes. Wa stem's work revolves around three main strategies: partnership, direct support, and advocacy. Partnership - washington stem collaborates with 10 stem networks across the state to identify, scale, and spread effective local solutions and convene cross sector partners in business, education, and the community to solve big problems. Direct support - washington stem provides direct support through targeted community investments, open-source access to data and measurement tools, and…
$5,169,494 spentof which $1,307,854 as grants$2,125 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $5,169,494.
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 $145M to $7.7M (−95%).
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 53% · 2018 48% · 2019 40% · 2020 49% · 2021 11% · 2022 76% · 2023 10% · 2024 13%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
97% of THE WASHINGTON STEM CENTER’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (48% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 6 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
Lynne Varner
Chief executive officer
Board chair
Mary Snapp
Board chair
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 11 funders to 14 funders, grant income rose $1.7M → $9.3M.
13 of 47 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 57% 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 THE WASHINGTON STEM CENTER’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 47 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 WASHINGTON STEM CENTER leans on a few funders — its largest provides 35% of grant income and the top three 70%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
62% 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 WASHINGTON STEM CENTER.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 59% · 2018 84% · 2019 47% · 2020 51% · 2021 28% · 2022 39% · 2023 69% — 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.
How long its funders stay
41% of THE WASHINGTON STEM CENTER'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
57% of THE WASHINGTON STEM CENTER'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 $16M that is directly attributable, 55% of it comes from Washington funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $21M arriving through sponsors registered in 10 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 WASHINGTON STEM CENTER holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 11,752 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 11,752 education nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Organizations like THE WASHINGTON STEM CENTER
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
78% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
52%
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 THE WASHINGTON STEM CENTER: 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 WASHINGTON STEM CENTER?
- THE WASHINGTON STEM CENTER (Washington) receives grants from 47 organizations whose IRS filings report $37,665,533 to it, the largest being AMERICAN ONLINE GIVING FOUNDATION INC ($13,238,592). 30 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 57% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does THE WASHINGTON STEM CENTER have?
- IRS filings report 47 organizations giving $37,665,533 in grants to THE WASHINGTON STEM CENTER, 30 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE WASHINGTON STEM CENTER?
- AMERICAN ONLINE GIVING FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $13,238,592 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE WASHINGTON STEM CENTER 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 FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 47 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