Koh-Lee Foundation
Seattle, WA · EIN 91-1922008. Reported 79 grants totalling $577,000 to 56 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. 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. Koh-Lee 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 $400. Half of everything it gave fell between $200 and $800; the smallest was $100 and the largest $500,000. 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. Years funded is the number of separate tax years in which the organization received money -- more than one means a real relationship rather than a one-off.
| Organization | Location | Total received | Grants | Years funded | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Uw Engineering Endowed Professorship | Seattle, WA | $500,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Page Ahead | Seattle, WA | $30,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Chinese Information & Service Center | Seattle, WA | $5,200 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Intl Community Health Services Foundation | Seattle, WA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Uw-Asian Health Studies Initiative Fund #68-1015 (co Jody Li) | Seattle, WA | $3,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Mary's Place | Seattle, WA | $2,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Northwest Harvest | Seattle, WA | $2,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Uw College of Built Environmt (jm Koh Endowed Fund Construx Mgmt) | Seattle, WA | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Protect Democracy Project | Washington, DC | $1,425 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Chinese for Affirm Action Stop Aapi Hate Program | San Francisco, CA | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Jubilee Reach | Bellevue, WA | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Low Income Housing Initiative | Seattle, WA | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Medicins Sans Frontieres | Hagerstown, MD | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Planned Parenthood | New York, NY | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Chinese for Affirmative Action | San Francisco, CA | $925 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Oxfam - Children of Gaza and Israel Emergency Appeal | Boston, MA | $900 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Save the Children (to Gaza Crisis) | Fairfield, CT | $900 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Seattle University Family Business School | Seattle, WA | $850 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Bellevue Botanical Garden Society | Bellevue, WA | $800 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Common Cause Education Fund | Washington, DC | $800 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Chief Seattle Club | Seattle, WA | $800 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Common Cause Educn Fund | Washington, DC | $800 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Alight Formerly American Refugee Center | Minneapolis, MN | $750 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Bellevue Friends of the Library | Bellevue, WA | $750 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Save the Children | Fairfield, CT | $750 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Seattle Public Library | Seattle, WA | $700 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Ballard Food Bank | Seattle, WA | $667 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Friends of Youth | Kirkland, WA | $667 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Wa Environmental Council | Seattle, WA | $667 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Center for Reproductive Rights | New York, NY | $666 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Guttmacher Institute | New York, NY | $666 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Kuow Puget Sound Public Radio | Seattle, WA | $600 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Bellevue Youth Theatre | Bellevue, WA | $500 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Center for Investigative Reporting | San Fransisco, CA | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Democracy Forward | Washington, DC | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Foundation for International Understanding Through Students | Seattle, WA | $500 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| International Medical Corps | Los Angeles, CA | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| American Constitution Society | Washington, DC | $425 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Foundation for National Progress | San Francisco, CA | $425 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Babies of Homelessness | Bothell, WA | $400 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Kuow | Seattle, WA | $400 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Tzu Chi Foundation | Bellevue, WA | $350 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Seattle Public Library Foundn (id Chinatown Bks for M Koh Section) | Seattle, WA | $334 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Uw East Asian Library Fund | Seattle, WA | $333 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Seattle Chinatown Chamber of Commerce | Seattle, WA | $300 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| St Thomas Episcopal Church | Medina, WA | $300 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Caa Stop Aapi Hate Program | San Francisco, CA | $200 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Canada America Studies at the Uw | Seattle, WA | $200 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Cisc | Seattle, WA | $200 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Fdation for Int'l Understanding Through Students | Seattle, WA | $200 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Kcts 9 Aka Cascade PBS | Seattle, WA | $200 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Kcts Channel 9 | Seattle, WA | $200 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Medicins Sans Frontieres - Gaza Crisis | Hagerstown, MD | $200 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Nw Parkinson's Foundn | Mercer Island, WA | $200 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Toys for Tots - Salvation Army East Side | Bellevue, WA | $200 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Fiuts | Seattle, WA | $150 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
16 of 56 (29%) received money in more than one year over the 4 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 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is less consistent than most. A high number means its list is close to settled and a newcomer has to displace someone; a low one means it is still moving money around, which is where an opening is.
What kind of organizations it funds
By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 37 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 21 | $522,000 | $666 |
| 2022 | 18 | $8,000 | $300 |
| 2023 | 20 | $38,000 | $425 |
| 2024 | 20 | $9,000 | $300 |
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
Foundations concentrate geographically far more than their mission statements suggest. 98% of this one's giving went to organizations in Washington. If you are outside its footprint, that matters more than how well your programme fits.
Find more foundations like Koh-Lee Foundation
We email you newly filed foundations whose giving matches your state and cause, as the IRS publishes them. Free.
No spam, unsubscribe in one click. We never sell or share your address.
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 the strongest available signal that two funders have overlapping priorities, and a funder already backing your peers is a far warmer prospect than one that merely lists your cause.
How to approach this foundation
- Check you are its size. The median grant is $400. Asking for ten times that is the most common way small organizations waste a submission.
- 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 Koh-Lee Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2021-2024). Nothing here is scraped, inferred, or estimated.
Address of record on the latest return: 4223 12TH Avenue Ne, Seattle, WA, 98105. 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 91-1922008 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
Is something here wrong about your foundation? Email hello@funderscope.com and we will correct it.