Brides for a Cause
Portland, OR · EIN 81-1902616. Reported 177 grants totalling $2,800,715 to 63 organizations across tax years 2021-2024, on Form 990 Schedule I.
Does this grantmaker accept applications?
Its tax return does not say, and we will not guess. Private foundations file Form 990-PF, which asks outright whether they fund only organizations they select themselves -- 78% say yes, and that one answer is what lets the rest of this site tell you which foundations are worth approaching. Grantmaking charities like this one file a regular Form 990 instead, and the IRS never puts the question to them. Anyone claiming to know the answer from the filing is inventing it.
Three things in the filing do bear on it:
- What kind of organization it is. For Brides for a Cause, by its IRS classification it provides support services within human services (NTEE P19).
- How spread out its giving is. 63 distinct organizations, with 11% of the dollars going to the largest single recipient. That is genuinely spread out -- the mark of a funder making many independent decisions rather than underwriting one institution.
- How much its list changes. 92% of one year's grantees are funded again the next, across 3 year-to-year transitions. That is well above the 57% median for grantmaking charities, and above the 67% private foundations manage. This list is close to settled, so a newcomer has to displace someone rather than fill a gap.
How big are its grants?
The median reported grant is $10,000. Half of what it reported fell between $10,000 and $10,000; the smallest was $6,205 and the largest $130,260. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong organization.
26 of those grants were non-cash -- goods, property or services worth $1,080,715 in total. In-kind giving is real support but it is not a cheque.
Every organization it funded
This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Recipients are grouped by the EIN the filer reported, not by name, so an organization that was typed differently in two years appears once rather than twice.
| Organization | Location | Total received | Grants | Years funded | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goodwill of the Olympics and Rainier Region | Tacoma, WA | $298,789 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Goodwill Industries of the Columbia Willamette | Portland, OR | $275,160 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Evergreen Goodwill of Northwest Washington | Seattle, WA | $254,513 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Brides Across America | Andover, MA | $183,492 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| The Princess Project | San Diego, CA | $120,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Goodwill Industries of Sacramento Valley & Northern Nevada Inc | Sacramento, CA | $83,018 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Abbys Closet Inc | West Linn, OR | $47,838 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| American Association of University Women Inc | Washington, DC | $40,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| American Heart Association Inc | Dallas, TX | $40,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Baby Quest Foundation Inc | Los Angeles, CA | $40,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Bradley Angle | Portland, OR | $40,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Charitable Partnership Fund | Portland, OR | $40,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Cocoon House | Everett, WA | $40,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Dress for Success of Oregon Inc | Portland, OR | $40,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Dress for Success Seattle | Seattle, WA | $40,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Every Mother Counts | New York, NY | $40,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Fighting Pretty Inc | Portland, OR | $40,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Girls Inc of the Pacific Northwest | Portland, OR | $40,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Girls Who Code Inc | New York, NY | $40,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Joyful Heart Foundation | Brooklyn, NY | $40,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Loveland Foundation Inc | Brooklyn, NY | $40,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Marys Place Seattle | Seattle, WA | $40,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| National Coalition for Women With Heart Disease Inc | Washington, DC | $40,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Shes the First Inc | New York, NY | $40,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Wellspring Womens Center | Sacramento, CA | $40,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Ruby Room | Issaquah, WA | $32,680 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| 9 to 5 National Association of Working Women | Milwaukee, WI | $30,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| American Cancer Society Inc | Atlanta, GA | $30,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| American Lung Association | Chicago, IL | $30,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Astraea Foundation Inc | New York, NY | $30,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Center for Reproductive Rights Inc | New York, NY | $30,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Dressember Foundation | Ashland, OR | $30,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Equality Now Inc | New York, NY | $30,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Girls on the Run International | Raleigh, NC | $30,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Global Fund for Women Inc | San Francisco, CA | $30,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Ladies Who Launch Inc | San Diego, CA | $30,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| National Womens Health Network Inc | Washington, DC | $30,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Ovarian Cancer Research Fund Inc | New York, NY | $30,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Pink Lemonade Project | Vancouver, WA | $30,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Running Start | Washington, DC | $30,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| She Should Run | New York, NY | $30,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Vow for Girls Inc | New York, NY | $30,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Weave Inc | Sacramento, CA | $30,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Woman of Wonder | Vancouver, WA | $30,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Young Women Empowered | Seattle, WA | $30,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Bright Pink | Chicago, IL | $20,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Peoria Home | Everett, WA | $20,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Rose Haven Cic | Portland, OR | $20,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Women Deliver Inc | New York, NY | $20,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Big Sister League of San Diego | San Diego, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Catherine Place | Puyallup, WA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Days for Girls International | Mount Vernon, WA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Freedom Network USA Inc | Washington, DC | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Generatehope Inc | San Diego, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Human Solutions Inc | Portland, OR | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| International Justice Mission | Arlington, VA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Jubilee Womens Center | Seattle, WA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Lodi House | Lodi, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Period Inc | Portland, OR | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Too Young to Wed | Peekskill, NY | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Wish Upon a Wedding | Chicago, IL | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Lifelong Health for All | Seattle, WA | $8,050 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Compassion Connect | Gresham, OR | $7,175 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
49 of 63 (78%) received money in more than one year over the 4 years we hold. Remember the $5,000 floor: an organization funded every year at $3,000 shows up here as never funded at all.
What the money was for
Taken verbatim from the purpose column of its filings, largest first. This is the closest thing to a statement of what it funds, in its own words.
- Brides Across America
GENERAL SUPPORT/ATTIRE FOR RESALE - Abbys Closet Inc
GENERAL SUPPORT/ATTIRE FOR SALE
What kind of organizations it funds
By each recipient's own IRS classification, for the 55 of 63 recipients we could match to a registered organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses -- Schedule I reports the recipient's EIN, so this is a lookup rather than a name match.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants reported | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 26 | $645,950 | $10,000 |
| 2022 | 45 | $704,995 | $10,000 |
| 2023 | 50 | $746,013 | $10,000 |
| 2024 | 56 | $703,757 | $10,000 |
Tax years, not calendar years, and the most recent year is usually incomplete -- Form 990 arrives about a year after the year it covers, so a low final year means late paperwork rather than a grantmaker winding down.
Where its money goes
30% of its giving went to organizations in Washington. Community foundations and federated funds are usually the most geographically bounded funders there are -- being outside the footprint is normally disqualifying in a way that a weak programme fit is not.
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Funders that support the same organizations
These grantmakers and private foundations gave to organizations this one also funded. Shared grantees are the strongest signal available 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.
How to approach this grantmaker
- Look for a published programme first. Unlike most private foundations, organizations of this kind often do run open, deadlined grant cycles with written guidelines. Its own website is the authority on that; this page is the authority on who it has actually paid.
- Check you are its size. The median reported grant is $10,000 -- and because grants under $5,000 need not be reported, it very likely writes smaller cheques than this page can see.
- Check you are in its geography. Its giving concentrates in Washington.
- Read the recipient list for organizations like yours. If nothing on it resembles your work, that is a real answer and a cheap one to get.
Related guides
Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from Brides for a Cause's own Form 990 Schedule I filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2021-2024). Nothing here is scraped, inferred or estimated.
On its most recent return it told the IRS it made grants to 56 section 501(c)(3) organizations and 0 other organizations. That is the filer's own count for one year; the totals above cover every year we hold.
Address of record on the latest return: 2505 Se 11TH Avenue 120, Portland, OR, 97202.
EIN 81-1902616 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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