Knossos Foundation Inc.

Knossos Foundation Inc. is an unstaffed, all-volunteer family foundation run by David Wilson (President) and Linda Wilson (Secretary/Treasurer), incorporated in 1990 and administered through the accounting firm CBIZ-SLD (formerly Shea Labagh Dobberstein / Benton Bray PLLC) in Bellevue, WA. Officer compensation has been $0 in every reported year, a strong signal this is a true family vehicle rather than an institutionally staffed grantmaker with program officers or a formal review committee. The grant record backs this up: of 109 tracked grants, dozens go to the same roughly 50 organizations repeatedly — Summer Search received 5 separate grants totaling $190,000, Vision House 5 grants totaling $115,000, and the University of Puget Sound 4 grants totaling $200,000. This is a relationship-driven funder, not a competitive RFP process. First-time, unsolicited applicants should expect long odds: there is no dedicated program staff, no public grants portal, and no application_form_url in any IRS or directory record; application_instructions in the underlying data is blank. The strongest strategic path is to identify a genuine point of connection rather than submit a cold LOI. Three likely doors exist: (1) geography — the bulk of dollars go to Shoreline/Seattle, WA human-services, youth-development, and arts organizations; (2) personal ties — recurring gifts to University of Puget Sound, Mt Holyoke College, and University of Redlands suggest family alumni connections; and (3) a second-home cluster near Wainscott, NY (Whalebone Foundation, Whalebone Village Housing Development, Wainscott Sewing Society), suggesting the Wilsons split time between the Puget Sound region and the Hamptons. Typical grants are modest — median $12,500, average $21,467 on the most recent 30-grant sample — so this reads as a complementary, general-support gift rather than a lead or capacity-building funder for large initiatives. IRS purpose codes list only "GENERAL CHARITABLE" and "GENERAL CONTRIBUTION," with no restricted program categories, meaning both general operating support and one-time project asks appear acceptable in form. Given the absence of any formal process, the most realistic approach is a short, personal letter — one page, mailed or emailed to the accounting-firm contact — that names a specific shared connection or clear geographic/mission fit, rather than a full formal proposal packet that is unlikely to reach a live reviewer.

On the most recent typical-grant-size snapshot (30 grants), Knossos gives a median of $12,500 and an average of $21,467, ranging from $1,500 to $100,000 — a spread that favors many small, distributed gifts over a few large ones. Across the fuller 109-grant historical dataset, the average climbs slightly to $22,375 on total tracked giving of $2,438,855. Annual figures from Form 990-PF show total giving of $675,520 (FY2023), $710,027 (FY2022), $722,761 (FY2021), $654,213 (FY2020), and $712,746 (FY2019) — averaging roughly $695,000/year over the last five fully reported years — while grants paid ran somewhat lower each year ($599,500; $633,300; $644,000; $562,055; $612,144 respectively), with the gap reflecting administrative and investment costs rather than program spending. Total assets have been essentially flat for over a decade: $8.12M (2012) to $9.84M (2021) to $9.72M (2024). Contributions received are $0 in every reported year — this is a closed endowment coasting on investment returns (net investment income alone ranged from $453,698 to $1,488,051 across the years reviewed), not a foundation actively raising new funds or aggressively growing its giving. Geographically, the top-50 grantee list is dominated by the Seattle/Shoreline, WA area: Summer Search ($280,000 combined across two listed entities), Seattle Repertory Theatre (~$275,000 combined across name variants), Treehouse ($160,000), Vision House ($115,000), FareStart (~$97,000 combined), and Dale Turner Family YMCA (~$55,000 combined). A secondary East Coast cluster tied to Wainscott, NY totals roughly $230,000 (Whalebone Foundation and Whalebone Village Housing Development entries), alongside higher-education gifts to University of Puget Sound ($200,000), University of Redlands ($125,000), and Mt Holyoke College ($52,000). By program area, youth development/education and human/social services dominate — Evans Scholars (~$157,500 combined), Planned Parenthood of the Greater NW (~$120,000 combined), and Family La Casa/CASA (~$125,000 combined) all recur — with a smaller allocation to arts and community groups (Seattle Repertory Theatre, Symphonic Jazz Orchestra $30,000). Note that the foundation's own geographic-focus field in this database is tagged "CA" with a by_state breakdown reading 109 grants to California, which conflicts with the grantee names themselves (overwhelmingly Washington-based) — likely a data artifact tied to a recipient's registered address rather than actual program geography, so that field should be treated with caution.

No specific peer foundations were included in the underlying data bundle, so the comparison below pairs Knossos's actual figures against published aggregate benchmarks for similarly sized, similarly structured funders (Candid/Foundation Center small-family-foundation data) rather than fabricated named peers.

Knossos's implied payout rate — roughly 7% of assets in giving — sits right at the IRS minimum-distribution requirement and matches the small-family-foundation norm rather than an aggressive or expanding giving posture. Its median grant size ($12,500) falls at the low end of typical ranges, reflecting a strategy of many small, loyal gifts rather than a few large transformational ones. And unlike community foundations that increasingly run structured, open LOI cycles, Knossos shows no evidence of a formal review process, placing it much closer to the "no unsolicited proposals" majority of small U.S. family foundations.

No news articles, press releases, leadership changes, or new program announcements for Knossos Foundation Inc. were found across nine independent foundation-directory and nonprofit-research sources (Instrumentl, ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer, Candid/Foundation Directory Online, GrantStation, Charity Navigator, CauseIQ, Grantable, Grantmakers.io, and Impala) covering 2025-2026. The foundation maintains no independent website, blog, or social-media presence, and its listed web domain in enrichment data (home.webknossos.org) was confirmed during this research to belong to an unrelated German bioimaging software company (WEBKNOSSOS, built by scalable minds) — not this grantmaker. The most concrete recent activity on record is procedural: the foundation's FY2024 Form 990-PF was filed with the IRS on November 17, 2025, reporting $9,717,928 in total assets and $705,865 in total revenue, consistent with a decade-long pattern of flat, investment-income-driven finances. Leadership has remained unchanged in every filing reviewed — David Wilson as President and Linda Wilson as Secretary/Treasurer — with zero officer compensation reported throughout, indicating continuity rather than transition. Absent any public communications channel, grant seekers should not expect the foundation to publicize funding opportunities, respond to press inquiries, or maintain an active online footprint; the most reliable source of current information remains its annual IRS Form 990-PF filing and the accounting firm (CBIZ-SLD, Bellevue, WA) that administers its affairs.

Because Knossos Foundation Inc. has no dedicated program staff, no online application portal, and no application_form_url on file with the IRS or any foundation directory, the conventional grant-application playbook does not apply cleanly here. First, verify contact information before reaching out — records show a registered phone of (650) 579-7200 addressed to "% Shea Labagh Dobberstein" at 3015 112th Ave NE, Suite 210, Bellevue, WA 98004, while one third-party directory (Impala) lists a different number, (425) 827-8100; confirm the current correct line by phone before sending materials. Second, don't over-invest in a formal proposal packet: the 990 filings list only generic purpose codes ("GENERAL CHARITABLE," "GENERAL CONTRIBUTION") with no restricted program categories or published funding priorities, and application_instructions on file is blank — a one-to-two-page letter of inquiry is a more appropriate first move than a full grant application. Third, lead with fit, not need: the grantee history shows this is a foundation that gives repeatedly to organizations already known to the Wilson family (Summer Search, Vision House, Treehouse, University of Puget Sound), so an LOI that opens with a specific, credible connection — shared geography (Shoreline/Seattle, WA), an alumni tie to University of Puget Sound, Mt Holyoke College, or University of Redlands, or a connection to the Wainscott, NY community — is far more likely to be read than a generic cold pitch. Fourth, size the ask appropriately: request in the $1,500-$25,000 range to match the median/average of recent grants ($12,500 median, $21,467 average); asking for the maximum observed ($100,000) without an existing relationship is unrealistic. Fifth, treat the "December 31 for following year" deadline on file as standard 990 boilerplate rather than a confirmed active review date — a phone call to confirm current-year timing before submitting anything is worthwhile. The most common mistake to avoid: submitting a full multi-page proposal, budget, and attachments to an unstaffed family foundation with no stated program area — this style of ask is built for institutional funders and is unlikely to be reviewed the same way here. A relationship-first, low-friction, geographically or personally relevant inquiry is the realistic path to consideration.