Rick & Bonnie Rule Foundation
The Rick & Bonnie Rule Foundation is a private foundation based in Seattle, Washington. It supports charitable organizations through grants and reports direct charitable activity involving lending to micro, small, and medium enterprises, predominantly in the Middle East and Romania.
Rick & Bonnie Rule Foundation at a glance
In short: Rick & Bonnie Rule Foundation gave $169K across 11 grants in 2025 (avg $15K), mostly in Virginia. 70% of 2025 grantees were new. Source: 2025 IRS Form 990-PF.
- Annual giving (2025)
- $169,000
- +49.6% vs 2024
- Grants made (2025)
- 11
- +83.3% vs 2024
- Average grant
- $15,364
- -18.4% vs 2024
- Median grant
- $10,000
- Total assets
- $6,427,356
- +51.8% vs 2024
- New grantees (estimate)
- 70% first-time grantees (7 of 10, 2025; small sample)
- Primary geography
- Virginia (59% 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 Rick & Bonnie Rule Foundation
- Accepts unsolicited proposals
- No
- How to Apply
-
The foundation makes contributions only to preselected charitable organizations and does not accept unsolicited requests for funds.
- Contact
Mailing address: 520 Pike Street 1415, Seattle, WA 98101
Phone: (775) 686-5400
Application details from Grantable's research on the foundation's public materials; confirm on its website before applying.
Who Rick & Bonnie Rule Foundation funds
How this funder distributes its grants
Top Recipients
Top 10 recipients in 2025
The largest 2025 recipient was Students for Liberty ($100K). Together the top 10 received $169K.
Grant Size Distribution
36 grants across all recorded years
The most common grant size was under $50K: 31 grants of 36 (86%).
Geographic Focus
Where this funder awards grants
The 2025 grant dollars were distributed among recipients in Virginia (59%), Washington (28%), Maryland (6%), and New York (4%); 3% was assigned to an unspecified state. The foundation’s reported direct charitable activity involved lending predominantly in the Middle East and Romania.
Grant Distribution by State
Share of 2025 grant dollars across all 11 itemized grants.
Cities
Is Rick & Bonnie Rule Foundation open to new grantees?
70%
first-time grantees, 2025
In 2025, 7 of 10 grantees (70%) were first-time recipients. With only 10 grantees, that is a small sample: one grantee more or less moves the share by about 10 points. First grants averaged $8K; repeat grants $38K. How we count
Medians: $7K first-time, $10K repeat.
- 20% of 2025 grantees were also funded in 2024. Method
- Giving grew 113% from 2022 to 2025. Method
- In 2025 it paid out 654% of its IRS minimum distribution (the 5% rule). Method
Estimate from itemized grant lists in IRS Form 990-PF filings (2019–2025). 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
From 2019 to 2025, annual grant giving ranged from $64K (2023) to $169K (2025). In 2025 it made 11 grants totaling $169K.
Grants by year
Grant recipients and amounts by year
| Recipient | Purpose | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Students for Liberty McLean, VA | General Operating Support | $100,000 |
| Cascade PBS Seattle, WA | General Operating Support | $10,000 |
| Cascade PBS Seattle, WA | General Operating Support | $10,000 |
| Island Health Foundation Anacortes, WA | General Operating Support for the Island Hospital | $10,000 |
| Roberto Clemente - Santa Ana Health Clinic Inc Baltimore, MD | General Operating Support | $10,000 |
| Skagit Land Trust Mount Vernon, WA | Protecting lands from the salish sea to the cascade mountains | $10,000 |
| Panthera New York City, NY | General Operating Support | $7,000 |
| American Friends of UHN Inc | General Operating Support | $5,000 |
| San Juan Preservation Trust Friday Harbor, WA | General Operating Support | $5,000 |
| Anacortes Family Center Anacortes, WA | General Operating Support | $1,000 |
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Financial History
Multi-year comparison from IRS filings
| Filing year | Total Assets | Revenue | Expenses | Grants paid | Grants | Qualifying Distributions | Net Investment Income | Distributable Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $6,427,356 | $2,154,963 | $245,209 | $169,000 | 11 | $704,273 | $152,388 | $107,715 |
| 2024 | $4,235,371 | $265,919 | $161,887 | $113,000 | 6 | $1,646,994 | $254,622 | $100,244 |
| 2023 | $4,039,701 | $615,354 | $117,271 | $64,095 | 8 | $103,001 | $132,947 | $187,102 |
| 2022 | $3,421,042 | $1,539,057 | $72,364 | $79,200 | 5 | $114,880 | $32,163 | $98,776 |
| 2021 | $2,134,770 | $22,047 | $107,155 | $73,489 | 6 | $98,401 | $13,743 | $104,111 |
| 2020 | $1,970,288 | $26,063 | $205,142 | $78,654 | 6 | — | $19,480 | $93,239 |
| 2019 | $2,047,857 | $54,589 | $110,347 | $75,437 | 8 | — | $40,865 | $100,088 |
Under IRS private-foundation payout rules, Rick & Bonnie Rule Foundation reported a distributable amount of $108K for 2025 — the minimum it must pay out in qualifying distributions.
Research compiled by Grantable AI from public sources. Last updated September 2026.
Mission & Focus Areas
No mission statement for the foundation is provided. Its 2025 grants included support for organizations whose missions encompass liberty education, land conservation, wild-cat conservation, university fundraising, and services for homeless women, children, and families. For example, Skagit Land Trust describes its work as conserving habitat, wetlands, agricultural and forest lands, scenic open space, and shoreline in Skagit County. Panthera describes its mission as conserving the world’s wild cat species.
The foundation also reported direct charitable activity through CHF Development Finance International (Vitas Group): lending through its network of affiliates and subsidiaries to micro, small, and medium enterprises, predominantly in the Middle East and Romania, to foster long-term development for individuals, businesses, families, and communities.
Grantmaking
In 2025, the foundation gave $169,000 through 11 grants. Grants ranged from $1,000 to $100,000, with a median grant of $10,000. The largest grant was $100,000 to Students for Liberty, which describes its mission as educating, developing, and empowering the next generation of leaders of liberty. Other notable awards included $10,000 to Skagit Land Trust, $7,000 to Panthera, and $1,000 each to the University of Washington Foundation and Anacortes Family Center.
Leadership & Key People
Leadership team and compensation from IRS filings
The 2025 filing lists Arthur Richards Rule IV as president, Bonnie McGaugh Rule as vice president, and Jesse Ostroff as secretary.
Rick & Bonnie Rule Foundation is led by Arthur Richards Rule IV, President on every filing since 2019; none of the 3 officers listed in 2025 report compensation.
Officers on the 2025 filing
Arthur Richards Rule IV
President
On filings since 2019
2 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Bonnie McGaugh Rule
Vice President
On filings since 2019
2 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Jesse Ostroff
Secretary
New on the 2025 filing
2 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Former officers (2)
- Former: Ashley Fontanetta (2023–2024) — Secretary
- Former: Paul Cantor (2019–2022) — Secretary
Data from IRS Form 990 filings, 2019–2025. "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 Rick & Bonnie Rule Foundation
How much does Rick & Bonnie Rule Foundation give each year?
Rick & Bonnie Rule Foundation gave $169K across 11 grants in 2025, according to its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. In 2024 it gave $113K across 6 grants.
What is Rick & Bonnie Rule Foundation's typical grant size?
Rick & Bonnie Rule Foundation's median grant in 2025 was $10,000, and its average grant was $15,364, across 11 grants on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. Organizations receiving their first grant from Rick & Bonnie Rule Foundation that year got $8K on average.
Where does Rick & Bonnie Rule Foundation give grants?
Rick & Bonnie Rule Foundation gives mostly in Virginia: 59% of the grant dollars itemized on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF went to recipients there. The next largest states were Washington (28%) and Maryland (6%). The most frequent recipient cities were Seattle, WA (3 grants) and Anacortes, WA (2 grants).
Does Rick & Bonnie Rule Foundation give general operating support?
Yes: 82% of Rick & Bonnie Rule Foundation's 2025 grants with a stated purpose (9 of 11) were for general or operating support, per its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF.
Who are Rick & Bonnie Rule Foundation's largest grantees?
Rick & Bonnie Rule Foundation's largest 2025 grantees include Students for Liberty ($100,000), Cascade PBS ($20,000 across 2 grants) and Island Health Foundation ($10,000), according to its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. Together they received 77% of its itemized 2025 grant dollars.
How large is Rick & Bonnie Rule Foundation?
Rick & Bonnie Rule Foundation reported $6.4M in total assets on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. It paid out $704K in qualifying distributions that year, against a required minimum of $108K (roughly 5% of its investment assets).
What does Rick & Bonnie Rule Foundation fund?
No mission statement for the foundation is provided. Its 2025 grants included support for organizations whose missions encompass liberty education, land conservation, wild-cat conservation, university fundraising, and services for homeless women, children, and families. See mission & focus areas ↑
How do I apply for a grant from Rick & Bonnie Rule Foundation?
The foundation makes contributions only to preselected charitable organizations and does not accept unsolicited requests for funds. Eligibility and process details are in the grantmaking section of this profile. See how to apply ↑
What is Rick & Bonnie Rule Foundation's EIN?
Rick & Bonnie Rule Foundation's EIN (Employer Identification Number) is 82-3316341. IRS Form 990 filing data is available on this page for 2019–2025.
Does Rick & Bonnie Rule Foundation accept unsolicited proposals?
No, according to Grantable's research on the foundation's published guidelines. See how to apply ↑
Data last updated October 2026. Sourced from IRS Form 990-PF filings. Research dossier generated September 2026.
Data update history
(7)
When this profile's IRS filing data changed on Grantable
- Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2024 (received by the IRS October 1, 2025)
- Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2025 (received by the IRS May 12, 2026)
- Added Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2019 (received by the IRS July 1, 2020)
- Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2020 (received by the IRS August 12, 2021)
- Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2021 (received by the IRS November 12, 2022)
- Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2022 (received by the IRS November 10, 2023)
- Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2023 (received by the IRS October 17, 2024)
Live grants for the work Rick & Bonnie Rule Foundation funds
Philanthropy, Voluntarism & Grantmaking Open opportunities, soonest deadline first.
Explore Open Grants
Browse active grant opportunities in Rick & Bonnie Rule Foundation's focus areas in our free grants database
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Cite this profile
Grantable. (2026). Rick & Bonnie Rule Foundation funder profile. GrantGraph. Retrieved October 22, 2026, from https://grantable.co/funders/rick-and-bonnie-rule-foundation-morg_cac179ed571d4112b0b23f359be8d6f4
BibTeX
@misc{grantable_823316341_2026,
author = {{Grantable}},
title = {{Rick \& Bonnie Rule Foundation funder profile}},
howpublished = {GrantGraph},
year = {2026},
url = {https://grantable.co/funders/rick-and-bonnie-rule-foundation-morg_cac179ed571d4112b0b23f359be8d6f4},
note = {Accessed 2026-10-22. 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 Rick & Bonnie Rule 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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