Gary E Milgard Family Foundation-Cari
Tacoma, WA · EIN 81-1292744. Reported 85 grants totalling $23.6M to 44 recipients across tax years 2021-2025. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.
Does this foundation accept applications?
Yes -- on its own tax return. Form 990-PF asks every private foundation whether it makes grants only to organizations it selects itself. Of the 91,758 foundations in our data that made a grant and answered, 78% said yes -- and applying to those is wasted effort. Gary E Milgard Family Foundation-Cari did not check that box on its most recent filing, which puts it in the minority that is at least open to being approached.
How big are its grants?
The median grant is $100,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $50,000 and $250,000; the smallest was $2,500 and the largest $10.0M. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.
Every organization it funded
This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Recipients are grouped by name and state as they were written on the returns, so an organization entered under two different names appears twice. Years funded is the number of separate tax years in which that name received money.
| Organization | Location | Total received | Grants | Years funded | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Multicare Health Foundation | Tacoma, WA | $10.2M | 2 | 1 | 2021 |
| Boys & Girls Club of South Puget Sound | Tacoma, WA | $1,730,000 | 5 | 4 | 2025 |
| Tacoma Rescue Mission | Tacoma, WA | $1,000,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Tra Medical Imaging Foundation | Tacoma, WA | $1,000,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Goodroots | Bonney Lake, WA | $782,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Asia Pacific Cultural Center | Tacoma, WA | $750,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| YMCA of Pierce and Kitsap Counties | Tacoma, WA | $750,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Nourish Pierce County | Tacoma, WA | $646,000 | 5 | 4 | 2025 |
| Pack-People for Animal Care and Kindness | Tacoma, WA | $600,000 | 4 | 3 | 2025 |
| Lutheran Community Services Nw | Tacoma, WA | $500,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Tacomapierce County Habitat for Humanity | Tacoma, WA | $500,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| YWCA Pierce County | Tacoma, WA | $400,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Making a Difference Foundation | Tacoma, WA | $395,000 | 5 | 4 | 2025 |
| Hopesparks Family Services | Tacoma, WA | $350,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Step By Step | Milton, WA | $350,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Greentrike | Tacoma, WA | $310,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Clark Assistance Fund | Bellingham, WA | $300,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Kitsap Humane Society | Silverdale, WA | $300,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Olive Crest | Bellevue, WA | $300,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Toy Rescue Mission | Tacoma, WA | $265,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Associated Ministries of Tacoma-Pierce Co | Tacoma, WA | $200,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Emergency Food Network of Tacoma-Pierce County | Tacoma, WA | $200,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Medical Teams International | Portland, OR | $200,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Partners for Parks | Lacey, WA | $200,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| The Greater Tacoma Community Foundation | Tacoma, WA | $200,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| South Sound Care Foundation | Tacoma, WA | $170,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Rebuilding Hope | Tacoma, WA | $150,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Emergency Food Network | Tacoma, WA | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Korean Women's Association | Tacoma, WA | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| New Phoebe House Association | Tacoma, WA | $80,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Sumner Community Food Bank | Sumner, WA | $80,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Youth Marine Foundation | Tacoma, WA | $80,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| United Way of Pierce County | Tacoma, WA | $75,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| People for Animal Care and Kindness | Tacoma, WA | $60,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Amara | Seattle, WA | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Gig Harbor Peninsula Fish Food Bank and Community Services | Gig Harbor, WA | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Page Ahead Children's Literacy Program | Seattle, WA | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Cjk Community Homes | Tacoma, WA | $30,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Children's Home Society of Washington | Vaughn, WA | $20,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Food Backpacks 4 Kids | Gig Harbor, WA | $20,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Northwest Harvest | Tacoma, WA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Soar | Palm Desert, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Soar (societys Outkasts Animal Rescue) | Palm Desert, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Page Ahead Childrens's Literacy Program | Seattle, WA | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
20 of 44 (45%) received money in more than one year over the 5 years we hold.
Measured the way we measure every foundation -- what share of one year's grantees are funded again the next -- this one retains 44%, across 4 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is less consistent than most. This measures how often it paid the same organizations again. It says nothing about whether it would consider a new one.
What the money was for
Taken verbatim from the purpose field of its filings. This is the closest thing to a statement of what this foundation cares about, in its own words.
- Multicare Health Foundation
MARY BRIDGE HOSPITAL CAPITAL CAMPAIGN - Tacoma Rescue Mission
SERVICES/SHELTER EXPANSION - Asia Pacific Cultural Center
ONE HEART ONE HOME NEW BLDG - Boys & Girls Club of South Puget Sound
OPERATIONS/TEEN MENTAL HEALTH - Goodroots
LOCKER NETWORK- ROUND TWO - Clark Assistance Fund
SPAY NEUTER PIERCE COUNTY
What kind of organizations it funds
By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 50 grants where we could match the recipient to a registered organization. The categories are the IRS's. The match, made from the name and address on the return, is ours.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 13 | $11.2M | $75,000 |
| 2022 | 15 | $1,765,000 | $65,000 |
| 2023 | 13 | $1,101,000 | $100,000 |
| 2024 | 21 | $4,588,000 | $200,000 |
| 2025 | 23 | $4,874,000 | $100,000 |
Tax years, not calendar years, and the most recent year is usually incomplete -- filings arrive about a year late, so a low final year means late paperwork rather than a foundation winding down.
Already committed for future years
Form 990-PF has a separate schedule for grants approved but not yet paid. Gary E Milgard Family Foundation-Cari has 3 of them, worth $1,200,000. This is the one part of the filing that looks forward rather than back.
| Organization | Location | Approved |
|---|---|---|
| Tacoma Rescue Mission | Tacoma, WA | $1,000,000 |
| Kitsap Humane Society | Silverdale, WA | $100,000 |
| Kitsap Humane Society | Silverdale, WA | $100,000 |
Where its money goes
99% of its giving went to organizations in Washington. If your organization is based elsewhere, look in the recipient list for grants to your area before writing.
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Funders that support the same organizations
These funders gave to organizations this one also funded -- some private foundations, some community foundations and other grantmaking charities. Shared grantees are a sign of overlapping priorities and nothing more: they do not show that any of these funders would consider a new organization. Each page says what its filings show.
How to approach this foundation
- Check you are its size. The median grant is $100,000. A request many times that size asks for something it has rarely or never given.
- Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in Washington.
- Read the recipient list above for organizations like yours. If nothing on it resembles your work, that is a real answer, and a cheap one to get.
- Look up the current filing before writing. The 990-PF names the foundation's officers and, where one exists, its application procedure. We link it below.
Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from Gary E Milgard Family Foundation-Cari's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 5 returns (tax years 2021-2025). Grant figures are from its returns. Matching recipients to registered organizations, their IRS classifications, the retention rate and the funders that support the same organizations are our own calculations, described in how we build this.
Address of record on the latest return: 1701 Commerce Street, Tacoma, WA, 98402. This is the address the foundation gave the IRS; many small foundations file through an accountant or a bank trust department, so it may not be where post to a programme officer should go.
EIN 81-1292744 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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