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Ellison Foundation is a private trust based in BELLEVUE, WA. The foundation received its IRS ruling in 2003. The principal officer is Thomas Ellison. It holds total assets of $45.9M. Annual income is reported at $33.6M. Total assets have grown from $8.2M in 2011 to $42.7M in 2023. The foundation is governed by 3 officers and trustees. Tax records are available from 2020 to 2023. Grantmaking is concentrated in Washington. According to available records, Ellison Foundation has made 349 grants totaling $10.6M, with a median grant of $10K. The foundation has distributed between $2.6M and $5.4M annually from 2021 to 2023. Grantmaking activity was highest in 2022 with $5.4M distributed across 176 grants. Individual grants have ranged from N/A to $600K, with an average award of $30K. The foundation has supported 178 unique organizations. The foundation primarily supports organizations in Washington, Idaho, Vermont, which account for 89% of all grants. Grantmaking reaches organizations across 14 states. Contributions to this foundation are tax-deductible.
The Ellison Foundation (Bellevue, WA; EIN 91-6557865; Thomas A. Ellison et al., Trustees) is a closed-door private family foundation. Its only public communication on ellisonfoundation.org is a single line: "The Foundation cannot accept unsolicited requests for funding." This is not Oracle founder Larry Ellison's foundation — it is a separate Pacific Northwest family foundation founded in March 2003 and run by Thomas Ellison (President) and Maureen Sue Ellison (Vice President), with long-tenured Foundation Director Robert Hurlbut as the only paid staff. The funder's grant theory is not public; its theory of action is "fund a curated, relationship-driven portfolio of trusted organizations consistently over many years." For applicants the operative fact is: do not submit an unsolicited proposal. A cold LOI will be discarded. The only paths in are (1) a warm introduction from an existing Ellison Foundation grantee, (2) a recommendation from a peer trustee or Bellevue/Seattle philanthropic network contact, or (3) long-run relationship building with the Ellison family directly through shared civic or nonprofit boards.
Based on Form 990-PF filings (ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer), the Ellison Foundation disburses approximately $2.8M-$2.95M per year in charitable grants, against an asset base that has grown from ~$40M (2022) to ~$45.9M (2024). That is a 6%-7% annual payout rate — above the IRS 5% minimum — consistent with a family foundation that intends to sustain giving level rather than grow the endowment. Income composition is investment-driven: dividends $1.1M-$1.3M and realized capital gains $0.4M-$3.6M, with zero new contributions received in recent years (the family is spending down investment returns, not adding principal). Officer comp is concentrated on one paid role — Robert Hurlbut (Foundation Director) at ~$152K/yr plus benefits — which is a tell that most program decisioning runs through him and the Ellison family, not a staffed team. Individual grant sizes are not published; typical patterns for foundations this size and this operational shape are $10K-$100K per grant across a long-standing roster of 30-60 recipient organizations. Geographic concentration is most likely Puget Sound / King County given the Bellevue base.
Against peers in the Washington State / Puget Sound private foundation space and the national $40M-$60M family foundation tier, Ellison Foundation is typical in size but unusually closed in intake posture.
| Foundation | Assets | Annual Grants | Intake | Staff |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ellison Foundation | ~$46M | ~$2.8M | Closed — no unsolicited | 1 paid director |
| Typical $40M-$60M family foundation | $40M-$60M | $2M-$3.5M | ~60% closed, ~40% open RFP | 1-3 staff |
| Seattle Foundation / Satterberg / similar PNW | $100M-$1B+ | $5M-$50M+ | Mostly open or invited RFP | 5-50+ staff |
| Bellevue/Eastside family foundations (peer size) | $30M-$100M | $1.5M-$5M | Mostly closed | 0-2 staff |
Ellison's posture — explicit "no unsolicited requests" on a single-page site — puts it in the most closed-intake ~30% of private foundations nationally. Compared to regional Washington peers like Satterberg Foundation or Medina Foundation which publish detailed guidelines, Ellison operates by invitation only. This is structurally consistent with a family-trustee governance model where the board selects and re-funds a curated list rather than running cycles.
1) Do not email or mail an unsolicited request. The foundation is explicit about this on its single-page website, and a cold ask will be ignored or discarded and may close the door on future warm intros. 2) If your nonprofit is Puget Sound / King County based — especially Bellevue-area or broader Eastside — and serves a cause category likely to align with the Ellison family's interests, focus on relationship building rather than proposal writing. 3) Identify existing grantees by retrieving the full 990-PF PDF from ProPublica (https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/916557865) — Part XV lists paid grants. Find a grantee whose leadership overlaps with yours (shared board members, shared funders, shared venues) and ask for a warm introduction. 4) Engage Robert Hurlbut (Foundation Director) through a neutral venue — a regional funder convening, a Seattle philanthropy roundtable, a joint board meeting — rather than a proposal-first cold approach. Hurlbut has held the director role for multiple years and is the functional gatekeeper. 5) Do not name-drop Oracle's Larry Ellison Foundation or confuse the two — different entities, different trustees, different strategy. 6) If a warm path does not open, invest your proposal-writing time elsewhere: this foundation's ~$2.8M/yr flows through an established roster, and cold slots are effectively zero.
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Smallest Grant
N/A
Median Grant
$10K
Average Grant
$31K
Largest Grant
$600K
Based on 82 grants from the most recent 990-PF filing.
No program descriptions are available for this foundation. Many private foundations report program activities in their annual 990-PF filings — check the Tax Filings section below for the most recent filing.
Based on Form 990-PF filings (ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer), the Ellison Foundation disburses approximately $2.8M-$2.95M per year in charitable grants, against an asset base that has grown from ~$40M (2022) to ~$45.9M (2024). That is a 6%-7% annual payout rate — above the IRS 5% minimum — consistent with a family foundation that intends to sustain giving level rather than grow the endowment. Income composition is investment-driven: dividends $1.1M-$1.3M and realized capital gains $0.4M-$3.6M, w.
Ellison Foundation has distributed a total of $10.6M across 349 grants. The median grant size is $10K, with an average of $30K. Individual grants have ranged from N/A to $600K.
The Ellison Foundation (Bellevue, WA; EIN 91-6557865; Thomas A. Ellison et al., Trustees) is a closed-door private family foundation. Its only public communication on ellisonfoundation.org is a single line: "The Foundation cannot accept unsolicited requests for funding." This is not Oracle founder Larry Ellison's foundation — it is a separate Pacific Northwest family foundation founded in March 2003 and run by Thomas Ellison (President) and Maureen Sue Ellison (Vice President), with long-tenured.
Ellison Foundation is headquartered in BELLEVUE, WA. While based in WA, the foundation distributes grants to organizations across 14 states.
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| Name | Title | Compensation | Benefits | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Robert Hurlbut | FOUNDATION DIRECTOR | $148K | $10K | $158K |
| Maureen Sue Ellison | V. PRESIDENT | $0 | $0 | N/A |
| Thomas Ellison | PRESIDENT | $0 | $0 | N/A |
Total Giving
$2.9M
Total Assets
$42.7M
Fair Market Value
$42.5M
Net Worth
$42.7M
Grants Paid
$2.6M
Contributions
N/A
Net Investment Income
$1.9M
Distribution Amount
$2M
Total: $41M
Total Grants
349
Total Giving
$10.6M
Average Grant
$30K
Median Grant
$10K
Unique Recipients
178
Most Common Grant
$10K
of 2023 grantees were first-time recipients
| Recipient | Location | Amount | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| VenturesHUMAN SERVICES | Seattle, WA | $15K | 2023 |
| Cristo Rey Seattle High SchoolEDUCATION | Seattle, WA | $250K | 2023 |
| Seattle Children'S FoundationHOMELESSNESS PREVENTION | Seattle, WA | $200K | 2023 |
| University Of Washington FoundationEDUCATION-BROTHERHOOD INITIATIVE | Seattle, WA | $200K | 2023 |
| Overlake Medical Center FoundationHEALTHCARE | Bellevue, WA | $200K | 2023 |
| Seattle Art MuseumARTISTIC PROGRAMS | Seattle, WA | $200K | 2023 |
| Brothers For LifeHUMAN SERVICES | Seattle, WA | $120K | 2023 |
| Bellevue Boys & Girls ClubYOUTH PROGRAMS | Bellevue, WA | $100K | 2023 |
| Intrepid EventsHUNGER COALITION | Ketchum, ID | $100K | 2023 |
| Montpelier AliveSUPPORT FOR BUSINESSES | Montpelier, VT | $100K | 2023 |
| United Way Of King CountySAFETY NET FUND | Seattle, WA | $100K | 2023 |
| Seattle UniversityEDUCATION / GYM CONSTRUCTION | Seattle, WA | $50K | 2023 |
| KidvantageHUMAN SERVICES | Issaquah, WA | $50K | 2023 |
| Northwest Education AccessEDUCATION | Seattle, WA | $50K | 2023 |
| Vermont Community FoundationVT FLOOD RESPONSE | Middlebury, VT | $50K | 2023 |
| Vine Maple PlaceHOMELESSNESS | Maple Valley, WA | $50K | 2023 |
| Seattle AcademyEDUCATION | Seattle, WA | $40K | 2023 |
| Westside BabyYOUTH NEEDS | Seattle, WA | $30K | 2023 |
| Recovery CafeCOUNSELING PROGRAMS | Seattle, WA | $30K | 2023 |
| Rainier ScholarsEDUCATION | Seattle, WA | $29K | 2023 |
| Rwanda Girls InitiativeYOUTH SERVICES | Medina, WA | $26K | 2023 |
| Wonderland Child & Family ServicesHOPE RISING CLINIC | Shoreline, WA | $25K | 2023 |
| Vision HouseHOMELESSNESS | Renton, WA | $25K | 2023 |
| KinderingHEALTHCARE | Bellevue, WA | $25K | 2023 |
| Art CorpsARTS EDUCATION | Seattle, WA | $25K | 2023 |
| Dawson PlaceCHILD ADVOCACY | Everett, WA | $25K | 2023 |
| North HelplineFOOD ACCESSIBLITY | Seattle, WA | $20K | 2023 |
| Lahai HealthHEALTHCARE | Lynnwood, WA | $20K | 2023 |
| Worldwide Fistula FundHEALTHCARE | Schaumburg, IL | $20K | 2023 |
| Para Los Ninos De HighlineACADEMIC SUCCESS | Burien, WA | $20K | 2023 |
| Ada Developers AcademyEDUCATIONAL | Seattle, WA | $20K | 2023 |
| Family Law CasaPROVIDE ADVOCATES FOR CHILDREN | Tukwila, WA | $15K | 2023 |
| Rainier AthletesEDUCATION, YOUTH SERVICES | Bellevue, WA | $15K | 2023 |
| Businesses Ending Slavery & TraffickingSJC SUPPORT | Seattle, WA | $15K | 2023 |
| Elizabeth Gregory HomeHUMAN SERVICES | Seattle, WA | $15K | 2023 |
| YwcaPASSAGE POINT OPERATIONS | Seattle, WA | $15K | 2023 |
| Degrees Of ChangeSEED INTERNSHIPS | Tacoma, WA | $15K | 2023 |
| Eastside Legal Assistance ProgramLEGAL SERVICES | Bellevue, WA | $15K | 2023 |
| Legal Counsel For Youth And ChildrenACCESS TO JUSTICE | Seattle, WA | $15K | 2023 |
| LifewireHOUSING | Bellevue, WA | $15K | 2023 |
| Literacy SourceEDUCATION | Seattle, WA | $15K | 2023 |
| Reading PartnersEDUCATION | Seattle, WA | $15K | 2023 |
| Northwest CenterHUMAN SERVICES | Renton, WA | $15K | 2023 |
| Attain HousingRENTAL ASSISTANCE | Kirkland, WA | $15K | 2023 |
| Evergreen Public SchoolsEDUCATION | Vancouver, WA | $10K | 2023 |
| Sun Valley Performing ArtsPERFORMING ARTS | Ketchum, ID | $10K | 2023 |
| Washington Women In NeedSCHOLARSHIPS | Kirkland, WA | $10K | 2023 |
| Freedom HouseDEMOCRACY & FREEDOM | Washington, DC | $10K | 2023 |
| Cocoon HouseHOMELESSNESS | Everett, WA | $10K | 2023 |
| Northwest Film ForumFILM PRODUCTION | Seattle, WA | $10K | 2023 |