The Bruce W Gilpin Memorial Foundation appears to have concluded active grantmaking and made a terminal transfer of its assets to the Greater Tacoma Community Foundation. Its giving is locally focused — preserving a philanthropic legacy for the Tacoma/Pierce County area — rather than underwriting specific program areas. No programmatic priorities are stated in the record; support was routed to a community foundation that can deploy unrestricted or targeted local grants.
A single, large terminal grant (transfer of assets in liquidation) rather than recurring program grants; funds routed to a community foundation for local grantmaking.
Bruce W Gilpin Memorial Foundation’s final year of grantmaking centered on a terminal transfer of nearly $2.0 million to Greater Tacoma Community Foundation, signaling a closeout of the funder’s assets rather than an ongoing open-ended program. Around that liquidation grant, the foundation continued to make a small set of local operating-style awards tied to immediate community needs in Pierce County and nearby areas. The grants include support for Emergency Food Network for food for low-income households, Tacoma Boat Builders for boat building and marine skills for disadvantaged youth, and Community Health Care for medical care for foster children. Other grants in the record reached a day camp program for youth, pet food provision, and animal rescue and rehoming. The pattern suggests a memorial foundation with place-based priorities and a narrow geographic footprint, directing capital to organizations serving Tacoma, University Place, Lakewood, Federal Way, and Portland’s rescue network. The named recipients show a mix of human services, youth enrichment, workforce-adjacent training, and companion-animal support, with the community foundation transfer standing out as the largest and most consequential action in the file.
The foundation’s giving touches several concrete service areas rather than a single programmatic track. In food assistance, it awarded $10,000 to Emergency Food Network for food for low-income households, showing direct support for basic-needs distribution. Youth programming appears as well: Diabetes Assn of Pierce County received $7,000 for Panther Day Camp, a named camp-based grant tied to children’s activities. Vocational and marine training also appears in the record, with $5,000 going to Tacoma Boat Builders for boat building and marine skills for disadvantaged youth. Health services for children in foster care were supported through a $5,000 grant to Community Health Care for medical care for foster children. The same $5,000 grant level also supported companion-animal needs through Puget Sound Pet Food Bank for pet food for companion animals.
Grant sizes cluster tightly around a $5,000 median, with the 25th percentile also at $5,000 and the 75th percentile at $8,500. That profile reflects a small set of program-level awards alongside one very large terminal transfer in 2023. The record shows a liquidation pattern rather than recurring annual grant cycles, with assets transferred to Greater Tacoma Community Foundation in the latest year on file. The foundation does not make grants to individuals and does not show program-related investments. Its giving is local, with most awards landing in Washington and a smaller share elsewhere in the Pacific Northwest.
$2M
$0
$77K
$2.1M
Most grants fall between $5K and $9K, with a median of $5K.
25th Percentile
$5K
Median
$5K
75th Percentile
$9K
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Notable grantees: Greater Tacoma Community Foundation
The foundation gives locally, with 86% of grants going to recipients in Washington. Tacoma appears repeatedly as a recipient city, including Greater Tacoma Community Foundation, Diabetes Assn of Pierce County, Tacoma Boat Builders, and Community Health Care. Lakewood and Federal Way also appear in the Washington grant list, while one grant reached Portland, Oregon through Pacific Pug Rescue. Oregon is the top state by grant count, but the overall footprint remains concentrated in the Tacoma/Pierce County area.
The typical award is $5,000. The grant-size distribution is tightly grouped, with a 25th percentile of $5,000, a median of $5,000, and a 75th percentile of $8,500.
Its 2023 grants went to a community foundation, a food bank, a youth day camp program, a youth boat-building program, a foster-children health provider, a pet rescue, and a pet food bank. The recipient names in the record are all U.S.-based.
The latest filing shows a terminal pattern: nearly $2.0 million was transferred to Greater Tacoma Community Foundation as a transfer of assets in liquidation of the foundation. The rest of the grants are comparatively small local awards in the same year.
Most grants went to recipients in Washington, and 86% of grants were made to organizations in the foundation’s HQ state. Tacoma is the most visible recipient city in the record, alongside Lakewood and Federal Way in Washington.
2023
Source: IRS Form 990-PF, fiscal year 2023.
Most recent grants reported to the IRS.
| Recipient | Location | Amount | Year | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GREATER TACOMA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION | TACOMA, WA | $1,986,877 | 2023 | TRANSFER OF ASSETS IN LIQUIDATION OF FOUNDATION |
| EMERGENCY FOOD NETWORK | LAKEWOOD, WA | $10,000 | 2023 | FOOD FOR LOW INCOME |
| DIABETES ASSN OF PIERCE COUNTY | TACOMA, WA | $7,000 | 2023 | PANTHER DAY CAMP |
| PUGET SOUND PET FOOD BANK | FEDERAL WAY, WA | $5,000 | 2023 | PET FOOD FOR COMPANION ANIMALS |
| COMMUNITY HEALTH CARE | TACOMA, WA | $5,000 | 2023 | MEDICAL CARE FOR FOSTER CHILDERN |
| PACIFIC PUG RESCUE | PORTLAND, OR | $5,000 | 2023 | FINDING HOMES FOR COMPANION ANIMALS |
| TACOMA BOAT BUILDERS | TACOMA, WA | $5,000 | 2023 | BOAT BUILDING AND MARINE SKILLS FOR DIADVANTAGED YOUTH |
GREATER TACOMA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION
$1,986,877TRANSFER OF ASSETS IN LIQUIDATION OF FOUNDATION
DIABETES ASSN OF PIERCE COUNTY
$7,000PANTHER DAY CAMP
PUGET SOUND PET FOOD BANK
$5,000PET FOOD FOR COMPANION ANIMALS
PACIFIC PUG RESCUE
FINDING HOMES FOR COMPANION ANIMALS