The Seattle Police Foundation’s biggest and most consistent donor isn’t Amazon or even Starbucks—It’s @SeattleFdn

A massive non-profit with nearly $1bn in assets, the Seattle Foundation forms the backbone of SPF’s fundraising. (1/14)

(THREAD)

While much of the conversation about divestment has centered on big brands, corporations only provide around one-third of SPF’s contributions. The vast majority comes from individuals and non-profits, like the @SeattleFdn . (2/14)

The Seattle Foundation was one of SPF’s first donors when it was founded in 2002. Since then, it has given at least $780k, according to tax returns & more recent (though incomplete) records from the Foundation Directory Online.

(3/14)

Its grants to SPF have grown steadily over the years. In the early 2000s, its contributions were below $10k, but it has been donating six-figure sums since 2017.

In 2018, it accounted for nearly one-fifth of SPF’s outside support. (4/14)

Though some contributions are earmarked for specific purposes, the vast majority of the Seattle Foundation’s grants are designated “general support.”

(5/14)

About half of SPF’s annual haul goes straight to the SPD. Most of that is spent on grants for “police service enhancements,” which includes equipment and training.

(6/14)

@SeattleFdn’s contributions pay for bike training, where officers learn the type of violent “crowd control” techniques deployed against protesters these past months.

(7/14)

They also buy dogs, like the one that mauled a 16-year-old boy as he was surrendering in 2019

(8/14)

And they provide armor to keep SPD SWAT safe from harm as they do harm to others.

Here’s a SWAT officer firing rubber bullets at a crowd near Cal Anderson sporting a helmet purchased in 2017 with @SeattleFdn's $90k general support grants.

(9/14)

Many of @SeattleFdn’s other grants to the SPF have little to no social value. For example, It spent $150k to keep the mounted patrol alive.

The patrol hasn’t served an law enforcement purpose for more than half a decade & exists purely as a PR prop for SPD.

(10/14)

The If Project, which started as a slick documentary by SPD Det. Kim Bogucki, helps women inmates transition after release.

It was launched under the umbrella of the SPF but spun off into a standalone org in 2017.

(11/14)

Interestingly, though the If Project has its own separate tax identification number now, grants still seem to be routed through the SPF.

In 2017, it reported only $13k in grants, but the Seattle Foundation alone gave $40k. (12/14)

Lastly, the Seattle Foundation gave a grand total of $1500 to Beds for Kids, one of SPF’s few bonafide charitable projects. The program accounts for less than 2% of SPF’s expenditures, per the most recent available data.

(13/14)

Tomorrow, we’ll follow up with a thread comparing Seattle Foundation’s grants to the SPF with its contributions to public services and nonprofits that serve BIPOC communities.

Stay tuned.

(14/14)