Karen's Family Foundation
Seattle, WA · EIN 20-0515144. Reported 61 grants totalling $483,750 to 38 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. Karen's Family Foundation 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 $3,800. Half of everything it gave fell between $1,800 and $7,800; the smallest was $360 and the largest $50,360. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jewish Family Service Jewish Family Service | Seattle, WA | $159,840 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Temple De Hirsch Sinai Temple De Hirsch Sinai | Seattle, WA | $130,100 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Hillel U of Uw Hillel U of Uw | Seattle, WA | $25,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Folds of Honor Foundation Folds of Honor Foundation | Tulsa, OK | $23,050 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Jewish Joint Distributiion Committe Jewish Joint Distribution Committee | New York, NY | $20,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Hillel Foundation Hillel the Foundation for Jewish Campus Life | Seattle, WA | $15,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Stroum Jewish Community Center Stroum Jewish Community Center | Mercer Island, WA | $11,500 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Kline Galland Home Kline Galland Home | Seattle, WA | $10,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Westside Baby Westside Baby | Seattle, WA | $9,333 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Bet Shira Congregation Bet Shira Congregation | Port Townsend, WA | $7,400 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Crohn's & Colitis Foundation Crohn's & Colitis Foundation | Mercer Island, WA | $7,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Jewish Federation of Greater Seattl Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle | Seattle, WA | $6,800 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Jewish Joint Distribution Committee American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee | New York, NY | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Treehouse Treehouse | Seattle, WA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Westside School Westside School | Seattle, WA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Stolen Youth Stolen Youth | Seattle, WA | $3,833 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| The Rivkin Center the Rivkin Center | Seattle, WA | $3,800 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Crohn's & Colitis Foundation Crohn's & Colitis Foundation | New York, NY | $3,500 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Jcc Association of North America Jcc Association of North America | New York, NY | $3,250 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| American Rivers American Rivers | Washington, DC | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Animal Defense League Animal Defense League | San Antonio, TX | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Girls Inc Girls Inc | New York, NY | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Holocaust Center for the Humanity Holocaust Center for the Humanity | Seattle, WA | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Multiple Sclerosis National Multiple Sclerosis Society | Seattle, WA | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Seattle Children's Hospital Seattle Children's Hospital | Seattle, WA | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Hadassah Hadassah | New York, NY | $1,800 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Hebrew Free Loan Association of Wa Hebrew Free Loan Association of Wa | Mercer Island, WA | $1,800 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Rabbi Weiner Discretionary Fund Rabbi Weiner Discretionary Fund | Seattle, WA | $1,800 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| The Living Desert Zoo and Garden the Living Desert Zoo and Garden | Palm Desert, CA | $1,250 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Edmonds Waterfront Center Edmonds Waterfront Center | Edmonds, WA | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Fairmont Park PTA Fairmont Park PTA | Seattle, WA | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Fairmount Park PTA Fairmount Park PTA | Seattle, WA | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Living Desert Zoo & Gardens Living Desert Zoo & Gardens | Palm Desert, CA | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Palm Desert Community Center Palm Desert Community Center | Palm Desert, CA | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Wmb Foundation Inc Wmb Foundation Inc | Miami, FL | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Lifewire Lifewire | Bellevue, WA | $834 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Mary's Place Mary's Place | Seattle, WA | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Sephardic Bikur Holim Sephardic Bikur Holim | Seattle, WA | $360 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
14 of 38 (37%) 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 39%, 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 kind of organizations it funds
By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 14 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 | 21 | $103,040 | $2,500 |
| 2022 | 11 | $78,600 | $5,000 |
| 2023 | 12 | $101,460 | $5,000 |
| 2024 | 6 | $80,540 | $8,250 |
| 2025 | 11 | $120,110 | $5,000 |
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.
Where its money goes
86% 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 $3,800. 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 Karen's Family Foundation'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: 270 South Hanford Street 100, Seattle, WA, 98134. 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 20-0515144 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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