The Thomsen Foundation appears to split its giving between local Seattle civic and youth services and broader humanitarian and environmental causes. It funds visible place‑based projects (notably the Seattle waterfront) and regional social‑service intermediaries, while also supporting clean water and medical relief organizations internationally. Grants are typically mid-sized unrestricted or 'for exempt purposes' awards to established nonprofits rather than small experimental projects.
A modest number of mid‑sized grants ($15k–$50k) concentrated among a handful of recurring, established organizations; mix of local civic/youth investments and selective global humanitarian/environmental gifts, often unrestricted or general support.
Two Seattle waterfront grants of $25,000, one in 2024 and one in 2025, point to a clear thread in The Thomsen Foundation’s giving: support for public-space revitalization in the city where it gives most often. Alongside that place-based work, the foundation also backs regional social-service intermediaries and youth-serving organizations, suggesting a mix of civic and community-focused grantmaking. Its recent awards include $21,000 to Schools Out Washington and $21,000 to United Way of King County, both in Seattle and both listed for exempt purposes. The pattern continues with support for organizations connected to environmental, humanitarian, and educational work, including Charity Water, Direct Relief Foundation, Nia Tero, and Mona Foundation. The foundation’s annual grants total $228,000, and its recent awards are generally mid-sized rather than small exploratory grants. Most recipients are in Washington, especially Seattle, which aligns with the foundation’s regional scope of giving and heavy concentration of grants in its headquarters state. Across the recent list, the foundation appears to favor established nonprofits and recurring relationships over one-off experiment-driven bets.
The Thomsen Foundation’s recent grantmaking shows four recurring themes. In public-space revitalization, it gave $25,000 to Friends of Seattle Waterfront in both 2024 and 2025, reinforcing an ongoing civic interest in the waterfront. In youth development, it awarded $21,000 to Schools Out Washington and $15,000 to Upower, both Seattle-based organizations tied to out-of-school time and youth programming. Community safety and basic needs are also present through gifts to United Way of King County, including $21,000 in 2025 and earlier $10,000 awards in 2024 and 2023. Its humanitarian and global giving appears in a $21,000 grant to Charity Water and a $20,000 grant to Direct Relief Foundation, both listed for exempt purposes.
The foundation’s typical grant size is mid-sized, with a p25 of $10,000, a median of $17,500, and a p75 of $21,000. Recent awards include repeated gifts to the same nonprofits across multiple years, such as Friends of Seattle Waterfront and United Way of King County, which points to recurring relationships rather than one-time support. The grant descriptions are consistently marked “for exempt purposes,” indicating a compliance-oriented framing in the records. The foundation does not fund individuals and is not listed as making program-related investments.
$100K
$1.1M
$126K
$137K
Most grants fall between $10K and $21K, with a median of $18K.
25th Percentile
$10K
Median
$18K
75th Percentile
$21K
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Notable grantees: Friends of Seattle Waterfront, United Way of King County, Charity: water (Charity Global Inc), Schools Out Washington (SOWA), Direct Relief Foundation
Grantmaking is heavily centered in Washington, where 79% of grants go to recipients in the headquarters state. Seattle is the most common recipient city, with grants to Friends of Seattle Waterfront, Schools Out Washington, United Way of King County, Upower, Northwest Film Forum, Nia Tero Foundation, and Nia Tero. Outside Washington, recent awards also went to New York, Santa Barbara, Washington, DC, and Bellevue. All recent grants in the dataset went to US recipients.
Its grant sizes cluster in the mid-range: the 25th percentile is $10,000, the median is $17,500, and the 75th percentile is $21,000. Recent grants in the list mostly fall between $10,000 and $25,000.
Yes. Friends of Seattle Waterfront received $25,000 in both 2024 and 2025, and United Way of King County appears in 2025, 2024, and 2023 with grants of $21,000, $10,000, and $10,000.
The recent grants point to civic, youth, community, environmental, and humanitarian organizations. Examples include Seattle waterfront work, out-of-school youth programming, a local United Way, clean-water funding, and disaster or medical relief.
Washington receives 79% of the foundation’s grants, and Seattle is the most frequent recipient city in the recent list. The foundation’s geographic scope is regional.
2026
Source: IRS Form 990-PF, fiscal year 2026.
Most recent grants reported to the IRS.
| Recipient | Location | Amount | Year | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WASHINGTON'S NATIONAL PARK FUND | SEATTLE, WA | $25,005 | 2026 | FOR EXEMPT PURPOSES |
| THE NATURE CONSERVANCY | ARLINGTON, VA | $25,000 | 2026 | FOR EXEMPT PURPOSES |
| WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION | PULLMAN, WA | $25,000 | 2026 | FOR EXEMPT PURPOSES |
| CHARITY WATER (CHARITY GLOBAL INC) | NEW YORK, NY | $25,000 | 2026 | FOR EXEMPT PURPOSES |
| FRIENDS OF SEATTLE WATERFRONT | SEATTLE, WA | $25,000 | 2025 | FOR EXEMPT PURPOSES |
| UNITED WAY OF KING COUNTY | SEATTLE, WA | $21,000 | 2025 | FOR EXEMPT PURPOSES |
| SCHOOLS OUT WASHINGTON (SOWA) | SEATTLE, WA | $21,000 | 2025 | FOR EXEMPT PURPOSES |
| CHARITY WATER (CHARITY GLOBAL INC) | NEW YORK, NY | $21,000 | 2025 | FOR EXEMPT PURPOSES |
| FRIENDS OF SEATTLE WATERFRONT | SEATTLE, WA | $25,000 | 2024 | FOR EXEMPT PURPOSES |
| UPOWER | SEATTLE, WA | $15,000 | 2024 | FOR EXEMPT PURPOSES |
| MONA FOUNDATION | BELLEVUE, WA | $10,000 | 2024 | FOR EXEMPT PURPOSES |
| NORTHWEST FILM FORUM | SEATTLE, WA | $10,000 | 2024 | FOR EXEMPT PURPOSES |
| UNITED WAY OF KING COUNTY | SEATTLE, WA | $10,000 | 2024 | FOR EXEMPT PURPOSES |
| NIA TERO | SEATTLE, WA | $10,000 | 2024 | FOR EXEMPT PURPOSES |
| AMERICAN RIVER | WASHINGTON, DC | $20,000 | 2023 | FOR EXEMPT PURPOSES |
| DIRECT RELIEF FOUNDATION | SANTA BARBARA, CA | $20,000 | 2023 | FOR EXEMPT PURPOSES |
| UNITED WAY OF KING COUNTY | SEATTLE, WA | $10,000 | 2023 | FOR EXEMPT PURPOSES |
| NIA TERO FOUNDATION | SEATTLE, WA | $10,000 | 2023 | FOR EXEMPT PURPOSES |
CHARITY WATER (CHARITY GLOBAL INC)
$25,000FOR EXEMPT PURPOSES
CHARITY WATER (CHARITY GLOBAL INC)
$21,000FOR EXEMPT PURPOSES
UPOWER
$15,000FOR EXEMPT PURPOSES
NIA TERO
$10,000FOR EXEMPT PURPOSES
AMERICAN RIVER
$20,000FOR EXEMPT PURPOSES