United Way of Thurston County logo

United Way of Thurston County

Public charity · Grantmaker Olympia, WA EIN: 91-0713462 Website

United Way of Thurston County mobilizes the caring power of our community to fight for the health, education and financial stability of every person in Thurston county.

United Way of Thurston County at a glance

In short: United Way of Thurston County reported $72K in grants paid in 2026 (a total; its filing lists no individual grants). Source: 2026 IRS Form 990.

Grants paid (2026)
$72,125 — reported as a total on the IRS filing, without an itemized list
-33.5% vs 2025
Revenue (2026)
$344,176
-51.7% vs 2025
Net investment income (2026)
$6,082
-66.4% vs 2025
Expenses (2026)
$702,682
-35.4% vs 2025
Latest 990 filing
Form 990, 2026 View filing

Data from IRS Form 990, 2026; updated September 2026.

Who United Way of Thurston County funds

How this funder distributes its grants

Grant Size Distribution

39 grants across all recorded years

28<$50K5$50–100K5$100–250K1$250–500K$500K–1M$1–5M$5M+

The most common grant size was under $50K: 28 grants of 39 (72%).

Geographic Focus

Where this funder awards grants

Grant Distribution by State

2states

Cities

OlympiaTumwaterLaceySeattleRochesterTacomaAlexandriaRentonTeninoYelm

How United Way of Thurston County gives

  • Giving fell 91% from 2022 to 2025. Method

From the foundation's IRS Form 990 filings. Methodology.

Giving History

Giving Over Time

Total grant dollars and number of grants per year

$0$1M$2M$3M10 grants2019 39 grants2020 35 grants2021 17 grants2022 17 grants2023 2 grants2024 3 grants2025 Total only2026

From 2019 to 2026, annual grant giving ranged from $72K (2026) to $2.7M (2021). In 2026 it reported $72K in grants paid, as a total without an itemized list.

Hatched bars: grants paid as reported on the IRS filing, which lists no individual grants for that year.

Grants by year

Grant recipients and amounts by year

RecipientPurposeAmount
South Puget Sound Community College Found Olympia, WABoard Designated Grants$73,420
United Way Worldwide Alexandria, VABoard Designated Grants$30,000
United Ways of the Pacific Northwest Olympia, WABoard Designated Grants$5,000
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Financial History

Multi-year comparison from IRS filings

Figures from IRS filings, by filing year
Filing yearTotal AssetsRevenueExpensesGrants paidGrantsNet Investment Income
2026—$344,176$702,682$72,125Total only$6,082
2025$720,191$712,981$1,088,182$108,4203$18,090
2024$1,216,168$591,304$816,810$74,7232$37,736
2023$1,438,772$1,438,179$1,538,325$760,04817$10,551
2022$1,330,732$2,296,274$2,367,184$1,150,71317$7,846
2021$1,540,765$3,915,686$3,746,695$2,733,07735$4,395
2020$1,372,568$1,864,582$1,851,362$864,79139$6,899
2019$1,222,569$1,340,178$1,238,044$276,95310$8,057

"Total only": grants paid as reported on the IRS filing, which lists no individual grants for that year.

About United Way of Thurston County

Based on IRS filings

United Way of Thurston County is a public charity, based in Olympia, WA. IRS filing data is available from 2019 through 2026. In 2026, it reported $72K in grants paid as a total on its IRS filing, without an itemized list. Net investment income was $6K.

Leadership & Key People

Officers and directors from IRS filings

United Way of Thurston County is led by Christian Wells Tharp, Executive Director on every filing since 2019; 2 of 17 officers listed in 2026 are compensated.

Officers on the 2026 filing

  • Christian Wells Tharp

    Executive Director

    On filings since 2019

    40 hrs/week

    $99K (2019) → $55K (2026)

  • Meghan Vu

    President

    Director → President, 2025

    On filings since 2019

    0.1 hrs/week

    No compensation reported

  • Michael Matlock

    Director

    On filings since 2020

    0.1 hrs/week

    No compensation reported

  • Anne Wilson

    Director

    On filings since 2025

    0.3 hrs/week

    No compensation reported

  • Bill Kriegsman

    Director

    On filings since 2025

    0.1 hrs/week

    No compensation reported

  • Debbi Boyd

    Director

    On filings since 2025

    0.1 hrs/week

    No compensation reported

  • Jennica Machado

    Director

    On filings since 2025

    0.1 hrs/week

    No compensation reported

  • Melissa Grant

    Director

    On filings since 2025

    0.1 hrs/week

    No compensation reported

  • Mike Reid

    Director

    On filings since 2025

    0.1 hrs/week

    No compensation reported

  • Phyllis Martin

    Director

    On filings since 2025

    0.1 hrs/week

    No compensation reported

  • Tanya Smith Brice

    Director

    On filings since 2025

    0.1 hrs/week

    No compensation reported

  • Troy Oliver

    Director

    On filings since 2025

    0.1 hrs/week

    No compensation reported

  • Jp Anderson

    Director

    New on the 2026 filing

    0.1 hrs/week

    No compensation reported

  • Travis Fox

    Director

    New on the 2026 filing

    0.1 hrs/week

    No compensation reported

  • Richele Center

    Deputy Director

    Finance Officer → Deputy Director, 2023

    On filings since 2019

    40 hrs/week

    $58K (2019) → $38K (2026)

  • Luke Minor

    Treasurer

    On filings since 2023

    0.7 hrs/week

    No compensation reported

  • Timothy Stokes

    Vice President

    On filings since 2025

    0.3 hrs/week

    No compensation reported

Former officers (23)
  • Former: Omey Nandyal (2019–2025) — At Large
  • Former: Ryan Betz (2019–2025) — Past President
  • Former: Dustan Demarest (2025) — Secretary
  • Former: Parfait Bassale (2025) — Director
  • Former: Todd Cutts (2025) — Director
  • Former: Charles Shelan (2019–2024) — Director
  • Former: David Schaffert (2019–2024) — Director
  • Former: Debra J. Clemens (2019–2024) — Director
  • Former: Dusti Demarest (2019–2024) — Director
  • Former: Jim Leonard (2019–2024) — Director
  • Former: Maria Robinson (2019–2024) — Director
  • Former: Nancy Lapointe (2019–2024) — Director
  • Former: Ron Bruchet (2019–2024) — Director
  • Former: Deb Albright (2020–2024) — Director
  • Former: Liz Davis-Selsor (2023–2024) — Secretary
  • Former: Ben Morales (2019–2022) — Director
  • Former: Jon Tunheim (2019–2022) — Past President
  • Former: Liz Davis (2019–2022) — Director
  • Former: Sandra Hulteen (2019–2022) — Treasurer
  • Former: Victoria Wortberg (2021–2022) — Deputy Director
  • Former: Bud Blake (2019–2020) — Director
  • Former: Faith Trimble (2019) — Director
  • Former: Robert Campbell (2019) — Director

Data from IRS Form 990 filings, 2019–2026. "On filings since" is the earliest filing we hold that lists the person; hours are average hours per week as reported.

Compensation Overview

From 2026 IRS filing

Christian Wells Tharp — Executive Director: $55KChristian Wells TharpExecutive Director$55KRichele Center — Deputy Director: $38KRichele CenterDeputy Director$38K

The highest reported compensation on the 2026 filing was $55K, to Christian Wells Tharp (Executive Director). 2 officers or directors reported compensation on that filing.

Frequently asked questions about United Way of Thurston County

How much does United Way of Thurston County give each year?

United Way of Thurston County reported $72K in grants paid in 2026 on its 2026 IRS Form 990, as a total without an itemized list of grants. In 2025 it gave $108K across 3 grants.

Where does United Way of Thurston County operate?

United Way of Thurston County has awarded grants in Virginia, Washington.

What is United Way of Thurston County's EIN?

United Way of Thurston County's EIN (Employer Identification Number) is 91-0713462. IRS Form 990 filing data is available on this page for 2019–2026.

Data last updated September 2026. Sourced from IRS Form 990 filings.

Data update history

(9)

When this profile's IRS filing data changed on Grantable

  1. Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2019 (received by the IRS May 12, 2020)
  2. Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2020 (received by the IRS May 16, 2021)
  3. Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2021 (received by the IRS May 13, 2022)
  4. Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2022 (received by the IRS May 10, 2023)
  5. Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2023 (received by the IRS April 30, 2024)
  6. Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2024 (received by the IRS May 13, 2025)
  7. Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2025 (received by the IRS March 3, 2026)
  8. Added Form 990 for fiscal year 2026 (received by the IRS July 21, 2026)
  9. IRS filings on file for fiscal years 2019–2025

Explore Open Grants

Browse active grant opportunities in United Way of Thurston County's focus areas in our free grants database

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The filing figures on this page are open data under CC BY 4.0. About GrantGraph Open

Figures come from United Way of Thurston County'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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