FundersWashington

The Baker Foundation

Tacoma, WA · EIN 94-3027892. Reported 133 grants totalling $1,023,250 to 58 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$7,500median grant
$1,023,250granted, 2021-2024
58organizations funded
69%of grantees funded again the next year
$8,433,767assets, latest filing

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. The Baker 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.

This is the foundation's own statement to the IRS, not our judgement, and it says nothing about whether they have a form, a deadline, or an appetite for new grantees. Treat it as the reason this foundation is worth your research time, not as an invitation. Many small foundations of this kind have no website and no application process -- a letter of inquiry is the normal first step.

How big are its grants?

The median grant is $7,500. Half of everything it gave fell between $5,000 and $8,000; the smallest was $500 and the largest $35,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
4 grants
$1,000 - $5,000
9 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
100 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
12 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
8 grants

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.

OrganizationLocationTotal receivedGrantsYears fundedLast
Foss WaterwayTacoma, WA$47,500442024
Lindquist DentalTacoma, WA$45,000222024
Children's TherapyKent, WA$35,000332023
Gig Harbor High SchoolGig Harbor, WA$32,000442024
Henry Foss High SchoolTacoma, WA$32,000442024
Lincoln High SchoolTacoma, WA$32,000332024
Mount Tahoma High SchoolTacoma, WA$32,000442024
Peninsula High SchoolWauna, WA$32,000442024
Stadium High SchoolTacoma, WA$32,000442024
Boys & Girls Clubs of South Puget SoundTacoma, WA$30,000442024
Northwest Furniture BankTacoma, WA$30,000442024
Pacific Science CenterSeattle, WA$30,000442024
Tacoma Symphony OrchestraTacoma, WA$30,000442024
Mary Bridge Childrens HospitalTacoma, WA$29,500442024
Centrum FoundationPort Townsend, WA$27,500332023
Toy Rescue MissionTacoma, WA$27,500222024
Emergency Food NetworkLakewood, WA$25,000112022
Lakewold GardensLakewood, WA$25,000112022
Partners for ParksLacey, WA$25,000112023
Pierce County LibraryTacoma, WA$25,000112021
Tacoma Little TheaterTacoma, WA$25,000112024
GreentrikeTacoma, WA$22,500332024
Job Carr MuseumTacoma, WA$22,500442024
Reach MinistriesTacoma, WA$22,500442024
Crohn's & Colitis FoundationBellevue, WA$20,000332023
Hilltop Artists in ResidenceTacoma, WA$20,000442024
Maui StrongKahului, HI$20,000112023
Museum of GlassTacoma, WA$20,000332024
Silas High SchoolTacoma, WA$16,000222023
Diabetes Association of Pierce CountyTacoma, WA$15,000442024
Palmer ScholarsTacoma, WA$15,000222022
First TeeTacoma, WA$12,500222024
Greater Metro Parks FoundationTacoma, WA$11,000222022
Living VoicesSeattle, WA$10,250222024
ArivvaTacoma, WA$10,000222024
Junior AchievementAuburn, WA$10,000222023
Tacoma Art MuseumTacoma, WA$10,000222024
Tacoma Arts LiveTacoma, WA$10,000222023
University of Puget SoundTacoma, WA$10,000222024
Zee SpeedTacoma, WA$10,000222022
Wilson High SchoolTacoma, WA$8,000112021
Girl Scouts of Western WashingtonTacoma, WA$7,500222023
Children's Home Society (key Peninsula Resource Center)Tacoma, WA$7,000112022
Friends of the ChildrenTacoma, WA$5,000112023
Grand CinemaTacoma, WA$5,000112024
Humanities WashingtonSeattle, WA$5,000112023
Lindquist Dental ClinicTacoma, WA$5,000112021
Peace Community CenterTacoma, WA$5,000112021
Rain IncubatorTacoma, WA$5,000112022
Rebuilding Hope Sexual Assault CenterTacoma, WA$5,000112024
Sunshine PhysicallyGold Bar, WA$5,000222024
Washington EducationSeattle, WA$5,000112021
Washington State Historical SocietyTacoma, WA$5,000112024
YMCA of Pierce & Kitsap CountiesTacoma, WA$5,000112024
Arts FirstTacoma, WA$2,500112023
Innovative Change MakersTacoma, WA$2,500112024
Tacoma Youth SymphonyTacoma, WA$2,500112024
ArtsfundSeattle, WA$2,000442024

37 of 58 (64%) 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 69%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is about typical. 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 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.

What kind of organizations it funds

By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 61 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.

Arts & Culture
22 grants
Education
8 grants
Youth Development
7 grants
Human Services
5 grants
Diseases & Disorders
4 grants
Religion
4 grants
Philanthropy & Grantmaking
3 grants

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202130$218,000$7,000
202235$278,500$7,500
202334$265,000$7,500
202434$261,750$6,375

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.

Washington
$1.0M
Hawaii
$20K

Find more foundations like The Baker 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.

Fuchsg & M Fdn Tai23 shared recipientsThe Bamford Foundation21 shared recipientsGreater Tacoma Community Foundation21 shared recipientsFidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund20 shared recipientsThe Norcliffe Foundation18 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc17 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $7,500. Asking for ten times that is the most common way small organizations waste a submission.
  2. Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in Washington.
  3. 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.
  4. 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 The Baker 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: 110 S 9TH Street Suite 300, 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 94-3027892 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this

This is history, not an open call. Foundation returns are published about a year after the tax year ends. Nothing on this page is a deadline. It is a record of who this foundation has actually funded, which is the best available predictor of who it will fund next -- and a much better basis for deciding whether to write to them than a mission statement.

Is something here wrong about your foundation? Email hello@funderscope.com and we will correct it.