Oregon · Nonprofit
WORD IS BOND
WORD IS BOND (Oregon) receives grants from 19 organizations whose IRS filings report $698,174 to it, the largest being MEYER MEMORIAL TRUST ($137,750). 7 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $355k
- Funders on record
- 19
- Grants received
- $698k
- Net assets
- $-1538
What Word Is Bond does
Mission
We work with young men ages 15-20 years old and do leadership development, career exploration and public speaking.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
On its FY2023 return the organization reported starting a significant new program.
See level-up, walking tours and 5k walk
Its own explanation, from Schedule O of that return (Part III, line 2).
The blackstar homecoming expedition connects ambassadors with their ancestral roots through a journey across ghana. They explore historic sites related to the transatlantic slave trade, meet with ghanaian government leaders, and experience the cultural richness of west africa, deepening their understanding of self and heritage.
$130,133 spent52% of program spendingRising leaders is our flagship three-year program. In year one, participants (called ambassadors) gain foundational leadership and professional skills. In year two, they are placed in paid internships with leading portland-area businesses. In year three, they participate in the blackstar homecoming expedition, a transformative two-week leadership immersion in ghana.
$54,773 spent22% of program spendingThe spring leadership forum is a one-week immersion in washington, d.c., focused on public policy and college readiness. Ambassadors meet with elected officials, visit hbcus, and create a public policy proposal, which they present in d.c. And again to their local community. All travel, lodging, and meals are fully funded.
$43,665 spent17% of program spendingLevel up supports personal growth and leadership development throughout the school year. Monthly pro-social eventsopen to all young black meninclude academic support, mentorship, dinner, workshops, and discussions centered on leadership. Activities range from movie nights and sports events to an annual ski trip to mt. Hood.
$17,342 spent7% of program spendingIn my shoes is an interactive community walking and storytelling project curated and led by the community ambassadors of Word Is Bond. The program focuses on public speaking and community engagement. Ambassadors learn to design and lead walking tours of their communities and historical black neighborhoods of portland.
$5,020 spent2% of program spending
The 5 programs described on its FY2023 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $250,933.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2021, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2021, 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 2022 to 2023, from $290k to $51k (−82%).
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: 2022 13%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
100% of WORD IS BOND’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (99% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 4 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
Lakayana Drury
Executive director
Board chair
Andrew Campbell
Board chair
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2020 → 2023: the base broadened from 3 funders to 5 funders, grant income rose $56k → $125k.
6 of 19 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 31% 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 WORD IS BOND’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
WORD IS BOND has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 20% of grant income, and it takes 4 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 4 funders to its left
66% 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 WORD IS BOND.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2020 90% · 2021 22% · 2022 42% · 2023 52% — 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
30% of WORD IS BOND's funders are still giving 2 years after their first grant; 37% 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
98% of WORD IS BOND's grant income comes from Oregon funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $218k arriving through sponsors registered in 4 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
WORD IS BOND has grown faster than half of the 1,798 civil rights nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 1,798 civil rights nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2024
Organizations like WORD IS BOND
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 Oregon
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
63% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
60%
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 WORD IS BOND: 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 WORD IS BOND?
- WORD IS BOND (Oregon) receives grants from 19 organizations whose IRS filings report $698,174 to it, the largest being MEYER MEMORIAL TRUST ($137,750). 7 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does WORD IS BOND have?
- IRS filings report 19 organizations giving $698,174 in grants to WORD IS BOND, 7 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of WORD IS BOND?
- MEYER MEMORIAL TRUST is the largest funder on record, with $137,750 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like WORD IS BOND find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Oregon. 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 Word Is Bond →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2021–2024), and the filings of 19 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