Karen's Family Foundation

Private foundation · Grantmaker Seattle, WA EIN: 20-0515144

Karen's Family Foundation is a Form 990-PF private foundation based in Seattle, Washington. In filing year 2025, it reported 11 grants totaling $120,110, including support for organizations in Washington, New York, and California.

Karen's Family Foundation at a glance

In short: Karen's Family Foundation gave $120K across 11 grants in 2025 (avg $11K), mostly in Washington. 36% of 2025 grantees were new. Source: 2025 IRS Form 990-PF.

Annual giving (2025)
$120,110
+49.1% vs 2024
Grants made (2025)
11
+83.3% vs 2024
Average grant
$10,919
-18.7% vs 2024
Median grant
$5,000
Total assets
$2,310,847
+14.2% vs 2024
New grantees (estimate)
36% first-time grantees (4 of 11, 2025; small sample)
Primary geography
Washington (93% of itemized 2025 grant dollars)
Latest 990 filing
Form 990-PF, 2025 View filing

Data from IRS Form 990-PF, 2025; updated October 2026. New grantees are estimated by matching recipient names across years (methodology).

How to apply to Karen's Family Foundation

How to Apply

The foundation’s filing states that it does not restrict giving to preselected organizations. Applicants should provide information on the organization and its need. The filing lists no restrictions on awards.

Contact

Application contact: Karen Gamoran
Mailing address: 270 South Hanford St 100, Seattle, WA 98134
Phone: (206) 920-8100

Application details from Grantable's research on the foundation's public materials; confirm on its website before applying.

Who Karen's Family Foundation funds

How this funder distributes its grants

Top Recipients

Top 10 recipients in 2025

Temple De Hirsch Sinai: $50KTemple De Hirsch Sinai$50KJewish Family Service: $30KJewish Family Service$30KHillel U of Uw: $15KHillel U of Uw$15KJewish Federation of Greater Seattl: $5KJewish Federation of GreaterSeattl$5KStroum Jewish Community Center: $5KStroum Jewish Community Center$5KTreehouse: $5KTreehouse$5KCrohn's & Colitis Foundation: $4KCrohn's & Colitis Foundation$4KJCC Association of North America: $3KJCC Association of NorthAmerica$3KPalm Desert Community Center: $1KPalm Desert Community Center$1KFairmount Park PTA: $1KFairmount Park PTA$1K

The largest 2025 recipient was Temple De Hirsch Sinai ($50K). Together the top 10 received $119K.

Grant Size Distribution

61 grants across all recorded years

60<$50K1$50–100K$100–250K$250–500K$500K–1M$1–5M$5M+

The most common grant size was under $50K: 60 grants of 61 (98%).

Geographic Focus

Where this funder awards grants

The 2025 grant dollars were reported as 93% to recipients in Washington, 6% in New York, and 2% in California.

Grant Distribution by State

7states

Share of 2025 grant dollars across all 11 itemized grants.

Cities

SeattleNew YorkMercer IslandPalm DesertTulsaPort TownsendBellevueEdmondsMiamiSan AntonioWashington

Is Karen's Family Foundation open to new grantees?

36%

first-time grantees, 2025

In 2025, 4 of 11 grantees (36%) were first-time recipients. With only 11 grantees, that is a small sample: one grantee more or less moves the share by about 9 points. First grants averaged $3K; repeat grants $16K. How we count

Medians: $2K first-time, $5K repeat.

  • 27% of 2025 grantees were also funded in 2024. Method
  • Giving grew 53% from 2022 to 2025. Method
  • In 2025 it paid out 121% of its IRS minimum distribution (the 5% rule). Method

Estimate from itemized grant lists in IRS Form 990-PF filings (2020–2025). Recipient names are matched across years, so a renamed or misspelled grantee can look new; grants to individuals are left out. Methodology.

Giving History

Giving Over Time

Total grant dollars and number of grants per year

$0$50K$100K$150K7 grants2020 21 grants2021 11 grants2022 12 grants2023 6 grants2024 11 grants2025

From 2020 to 2025, annual grant giving ranged from $59K (2020) to $120K (2025). In 2025 it made 11 grants totaling $120K.

Grants by year

Grant recipients and amounts by year

RecipientPurposeAmount
Temple De Hirsch Sinai Seattle, WAGeneral Operating Support$50,360
Jewish Family Service Seattle, WAGeneral Operating Support$30,000
Hillel U of Uw Seattle, WAGeneral Operating Support$15,000
Jewish Federation of Greater Seattl Seattle, WAGeneral Operating Support$5,000
Stroum Jewish Community Center Mercer Island, WAGeneral Operating Support$5,000
Treehouse Seattle, WAGeneral Operating Support$5,000
Crohn's & Colitis Foundation New York, NYGeneral Operating Support$3,500
JCC Association of North America New York, NYGeneral Operating Support$3,250
Palm Desert Community Center Palm Desert, CAGeneral Operating Support$1,000
Fairmount Park PTA Seattle, WAGeneral Operating Support$1,000
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Financial History

Multi-year comparison from IRS filings

Figures from IRS filings, by filing year
Filing yearTotal AssetsRevenueExpensesGrants paidGrantsQualifying DistributionsNet Investment IncomeDistributable Amount
2025$2,310,847$451,129$164,469$120,11011$128,406$393,933$105,811
2024$2,024,187$98,311$124,915$80,5406$85,512$46,757$106,940
2023$2,050,791$122,318$151,393$101,46012$110,911$72,969$100,909
2022$2,079,866$-45,950$129,446$78,60011$81,937$27,605$96,705
2021$2,255,262$237,033$158,699$103,04021$113,120$186,057$114,100
2020$2,176,928$45,107$93,043$59,0507—$9,317$108,030

Under IRS private-foundation payout rules, Karen's Family Foundation reported a distributable amount of $106K for 2025 — the minimum it must pay out in qualifying distributions.

Research compiled by Grantable AI from public sources. Last updated October 2026.

Mission & Focus Areas

No mission statement for the foundation is provided. Its 2025 grantees included organizations with varied missions. Jewish Family Service described its work as supporting Jewish individuals and families, refugees and immigrants, and the broader community through services related to well-being, health, and stability. Treehouse described its mission as helping children who have experienced foster care access the support and opportunities to pursue their dreams and transition to adulthood. The Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation described its mission as finding cures for Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis and improving the quality of life of people affected by those diseases.

Grantmaking

In filing year 2025, the foundation gave 11 grants totaling $120,110. Grant amounts ranged from $1,000 to $50,360, with a median grant of $5,000. The largest grants were $50,360 to Temple De Hirsch Sinai, $30,000 to Jewish Family Service, and $15,000 to Hillel U of UW, all in Seattle. Other grants included $5,000 each to the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle, Stroum Jewish Community Center, and Treehouse.

Leadership & Key People

Leadership team and compensation from IRS filings

The 2025 filing lists Karen Mayers Gamoran as president, Joel B Gamoran as secretary, and Erin Haber as vice president.

Karen's Family Foundation is led by Karen Mayers Gamoran, President on every filing since 2020; none of the 3 officers listed in 2025 report compensation.

Officers on the 2025 filing

  • Karen Mayers Gamoran

    President

    On filings since 2020

    5 hrs/week

    No compensation reported

  • Erin Haber

    Vice President

    On filings since 2020

    1 hr/week

    No compensation reported

  • Joel B. Gamoran

    Secretary

    On filings since 2020

    1 hr/week

    No compensation reported

Data from IRS Form 990 filings, 2020–2025. "On filings since" is the earliest filing we hold that lists the person; hours are average hours per week as reported.

Frequently asked questions about Karen's Family Foundation

How much does Karen's Family Foundation give each year?

Karen's Family Foundation gave $120K across 11 grants in 2025, according to its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. In 2024 it gave $81K across 6 grants.

What is Karen's Family Foundation's typical grant size?

Karen's Family Foundation's median grant in 2025 was $5,000, and its average grant was $10,919, across 11 grants on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. Organizations receiving their first grant from Karen's Family Foundation that year got $3K on average.

Where does Karen's Family Foundation give grants?

Karen's Family Foundation gives mostly in Washington: 93% of the grant dollars itemized on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF went to recipients there. The next largest state was New York (6%). The most frequent recipient cities were Seattle, WA (6 grants), New York, NY (2 grants) and Palm Desert, CA (2 grants).

Does Karen's Family Foundation give general operating support?

Yes: 100% of Karen's Family Foundation's 2025 grants with a stated purpose (11 of 11) were for general or operating support, per its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF.

Who are Karen's Family Foundation's largest grantees?

Karen's Family Foundation's largest 2025 grantees include Temple De Hirsch Sinai ($50,360), Jewish Family Service ($30,000) and Hillel U of Uw ($15,000), according to its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. Together they received 79% of its itemized 2025 grant dollars.

How large is Karen's Family Foundation?

Karen's Family Foundation reported $2.3M in total assets on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. It paid out $128K in qualifying distributions that year, against a required minimum of $106K (roughly 5% of its investment assets).

What does Karen's Family Foundation fund?

No mission statement for the foundation is provided. Its 2025 grantees included organizations with varied missions. See mission & focus areas ↑

How do I apply for a grant from Karen's Family Foundation?

The foundation’s filing states that it does not restrict giving to preselected organizations. Eligibility and process details are in the grantmaking section of this profile. See how to apply ↑

What is Karen's Family Foundation's EIN?

Karen's Family Foundation's EIN (Employer Identification Number) is 20-0515144. IRS Form 990 filing data is available on this page for 2020–2025.

Data last updated October 2026. Sourced from IRS Form 990-PF filings. Research dossier generated October 2026.

Data update history

(2)

When this profile's IRS filing data changed on Grantable

  1. Added Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2025 (received by the IRS May 14, 2026)
  2. IRS filings on file for fiscal years 2020–2024

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Cite this profile

Grantable. (2026). Karen's Family Foundation funder profile. GrantGraph. Retrieved October 24, 2026, from https://grantable.co/funders/karen-s-family-foundation-morg_a2617cfad817427d9abdaff63ff2bec8

BibTeX
@misc{grantable_200515144_2026,
  author       = {{Grantable}},
  title        = {{Karen's Family Foundation funder profile}},
  howpublished = {GrantGraph},
  year         = {2026},
  url          = {https://grantable.co/funders/karen-s-family-foundation-morg_a2617cfad817427d9abdaff63ff2bec8},
  note         = {Accessed 2026-10-24. Data licensed CC BY 4.0}
}

The figures on this page are open data under CC BY 4.0: reuse them with credit to Grantable and a link. Download the data.

Figures come from Karen's Family Foundation's IRS filings (methodology). AI-written summaries, news items and logos are not covered by the open licence. Spot an error? Email hello@grantable.co.

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