Funding search · EIN 943082532 · Seattle, WA
The Paul G Allen Family Foundation
A private foundation (files IRS Form 990-PF). Most private foundations do not take unsolicited applications; the route in is usually a program officer.
- 339
- grants reported
- $150.3M
- total given
- 2022–2024
- filing years
- $295,000
- median grant
Based on grants this organization reported to the IRS for tax years 2022–2024. This is what they filed, not a complete record of their giving, and recent years may be incomplete because filings lag.
What they fund
Funder website ↗Full IRS filings ↗How this is builtReport an error
Funding pattern
What this funder pays for, at what size, and how to position adjacent work. Read from their filings, with every number checked against the record.
Where the money goes
- Frontier cell biology tools: membranes, extracellular vesicles, protein lifespan
- Allen Discovery Centers in neuroscience, immunology, cell lineage
- Conservation technology: eDNA, genomics, acoustic and satellite monitoring
- Seattle arts organizations, venues, and cultural programming
- Ocean and wildlife protection: sharks, lions, illegal wildlife trade
- Pacific Northwest climate resilience with tribal and community partners
Typical grant
Median grant is $295,000, with the middle half running roughly $18,000 to $500,000. The $2.5 million checks go almost exclusively to named Allen Discovery Centers at major research institutions, while $400,000 to $500,000 is the standard size for an individual investigator-scale bioscience or conservation tools project. Multi-year renewals are common (Earthshot Prize, Oceans 5, Global Finprint 2, ArtsFund's second year), and several recipients like Mote Marine Laboratory receive multiple payments within a single year.
Their words
Phrases from their own grant descriptions, worth speaking back to them.
- “TO SUPPORT”
- “tools”
- “conservation”
- “renewal”
- “climate resilient”
Positioning adjacent work
- Frame method-development work as a new measurement tool, not a hypothesis test; that is what the $500,000 tier funds.
- Ask $400,000 to $500,000 for a single-lab project; reserve multi-million framing for a named center with institutional backing.
- Connect to an active theme: membrane contact sites, extracellular vesicles, protein lifespan, or conservation genomics and eDNA.
- For conservation, emphasize scalability and measurable outcomes; they fund monitoring infrastructure across geographies, not single sites.
Worth knowing: Washington state takes 141 of 339 grants, and the local money is almost entirely arts, youth, and community, separate from the science portfolio which reaches nationally and into Europe, Australia, and Africa. Science awards cluster tightly around a few thematic cohorts funded in the same year at similar amounts, suggesting invited or curated rounds rather than open review, and repeat grantees like Mote Marine, Florida International, and the University of Washington absorb a large share.
0 grants matching “infectious disease”
No grants to show here.
Top recipients
Repeat recipients are the strongest signal of whether a funder has an open door or quietly re-funds the same organizations.
- Artsfund5 grants · $21.2M
- University of Washington Foundation12 grants · $11.7M
- Childrens Hospital Corporation3 grants · $7.5M
- Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors8 grants · $5.8M
- Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai2 grants · $5.0M
- Regents of the University of California at San Diego5 grants · $4.5M
- National Geographic Society3 grants · $4.2M
- Florida International University Foundation4 grants · $4.2M
- American Heart Association3 grants · $3.8M
- American Friends of the Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess4 grants · $3.7M
Giving over time
Grant history
The 100 largest of 339 grants.
- $10.4M
Artsfund · Seattle, WA · 2024
To support the community accelerator grant renewal for the second year of program administration.
- $10.0M
Artsfund · Seattle, WA · 2022
To support the community accelerator grant: learning pilot
- $2.5M
Childrens Hospital Corporation · Boston, MA · 2024
To support the allen discovery center for human brain evolution at boston children's hospital and harvard medical school
- $2.5M
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai · New York, NY · 2024
To support the allen discovery center for neuroimmune interactions
- $2.5M
Regents of the University of California at San Diego · La Jolla, CA · 2024
To support the allen discovery center for neurobiology in changing environments
- $2.5M
University of Washington Foundation · Seattle, WA · 2024
To support allen discovery center for cell lineage tracing phase 2
- $2.5M
Childrens Hospital Corporation · Boston, MA · 2023
To support the allen discovery center for human brain evolution at boston children's hospital and harvard medical school
- $2.5M
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai · New York, NY · 2023
To support the allen discovery center for neuroimmune interactions
- $2.5M
University of Washington Foundation · Seattle, WA · 2023
To support allen discovery center for cell lineage tracing phase 2
- $2.5M
Childrens Hospital Corporation · Boston, MA · 2022
To support the allen discovery center for human brain evolution at boston children's hospital and harvard medical school
- $2.5M
University of Washington Foundation · Seattle, WA · 2022
To support allen discovery center for cell lineage tracing phase 2
- $2.0M
Undp Multi-Partner Trust Fund Office · New York, NY · 2022
To support the global fund for coral reefs
- $1.8M
National Geographic Society · Washington, DC · 2024
To support the slingshot challenge
- $1.6M
National Geographic Society · Washington, DC · 2023
To support the slingshot challenge
- $1.5M
Friends of Seattle Waterfront · Seattle, WA · 2024
To support cultural programming at waterfront park
- $1.4M
Florida International University Foundation · Miami, FL · 2024
To support a project titled "operation pangolin"
- $1.4M
Sustainable Markets Foundation · New York, NY · 2023
To support decoding mycorrhizal networks at global scale
- $1.4M
American Friends of the Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess · Cambridge, MA · 2022
To support the earthshot prize program
- $1.3M
Southeast Effective Development · Seattle, WA · 2023
To support the constituency: a cultural space advisory program
- $1.3M
Florida International University Foundation · Miami, FL · 2023
To support a project titled "operation pangolin"
- $1.3M
Florida International University Foundation · Miami, FL · 2022
To support a project titled "operation pangolin"
- $1.3M
The Earthshot Prize · 2024
To support the renewal for the earthshot prize founding partnership
- $1.3M
The Earthshot Prize · 2023
To support the renewal for the earthshot prize founding partnership
- $1.3M
American Heart Association · Seattle, WA · 2024
To support bioscience research in relation to advancing our understanding of brain health and cognitive impairment
- $1.3M
American Heart Association · Seattle, WA · 2023
To support bioscience research in relation to advancing our understanding of brain health and cognitive impairment
- $1.3M
American Heart Association · Seattle, WA · 2022
To support bioscience research in relation to advancing our understanding of brain health and cognitive impairment
- $1.2M
Fresnos Chaffee Zoo Corporation · Fresno, CA · 2023
To support quantifying selection landscapes while head-starting endangered blunt-nosed leopard lizards (gambelia sila)
- $1.1M
American Friends of the Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess · Cambridge, MA · 2022
To support the earthshot prize program
- $1.0M
Sustainable Markets Foundation · New York, NY · 2024
To support decoding mycorrhizal networks at global scale
- $1.0M
Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors · New York, NY · 2024
To support oceans 5 renewal
- $1.0M
Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors · New York, NY · 2023
To support oceans 5 renewal
- $1.0M
Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors · New York, NY · 2022
To support the shark conservation fund
- $940,000
Pride Foundation · Seattle, WA · 2023
To support the leadership development and support for youth-serving organizations pilot
- $938,105
University of Washington Foundation · Seattle, WA · 2022
To support the salish sea coupled modeling framework
- $883,334
National Geographic Society · Washington, DC · 2022
To support the slingshot challenge
- $858,064
University of Washington Foundation · Seattle, WA · 2023
To support the salish sea coupled modeling framework.
- $800,000
Chancellor Masters & Scholars of the University of Oxford · 2024
To support lion lifeline: transforming conservation at scale by linking investment to measurable success in conserving lions and wider biodiversity
- $800,000
Chancellor Masters & Scholars of the University of Oxford · 2023
To support lion lifeline: transforming conservation at scale by linking investment to measurable success in conserving lions and wider biodiversity
- $791,902
Smithsonian Institute · Washington, DC · 2023
To support restoring black-footed ferrets to their historic range in northcentral montana
- $791,901
Smithsonian Institute · Washington, DC · 2022
To support restoring black-footed ferrets to their historic range in northcentral montana
- $763,083
Earth Genome · Los Altos, CA · 2024
To support a blueprint for scalable seagrass ecosystem mapping
- $750,000
American Friends of the Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess · Cambridge, MA · 2024
To support united for wildlife in combating illegal wildlife trade
- $750,000
Housing Lopez · Lopez Island, WA · 2024
To support rooted and rising campaign: lopez island
- $750,000
Seattle Symphony Orchestra · Seattle, WA · 2024
To support the amplify campaign
- $750,000
Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors · New York, NY · 2023
To support the shark conservation fund
- $750,000
Pride Foundation · Seattle, WA · 2022
To support the leadership development and support for youth-serving organizations pilot
- $750,000
World Wildlife Fund · Washington, DC · 2022
To support the kaza-tfca aerial wildlife survey
- $748,066
Bishop Museum · Honolulu, HI · 2023
To support addressing knowledge and capacity shortfalls to advance conservation science and action for endangered hawaiian land snails
- $729,869
University of Washington Foundation · Seattle, WA · 2024
To support the salish sea coupled modeling framework.
- $600,000
The Earth Species Project · Berkeley, CA · 2024
To support the development of a foundation model for encoding animal vocalizations
- $599,998
The Earth Species Project · Berkeley, CA · 2023
To support the development of a foundation model for encoding animal vocalizations
- $585,000
Mukuru Clean Stoves Foundation · 2024
To support combatting air pollution & malaria
- $573,258
Wildlife Crime Prevention Project · 2023
To support the regional intermediary and intelligence analysis center of excellence
- $573,258
Wildlife Crime Prevention Project · 2022
To support the regional intermediary and intelligence analysis center of excellence
- $562,486
University of Konstanz · 2022
To support global search for genetic regulators of coral resilience to thermal stress
- $562,100
University of British Columbia · 2023
To support a fate-mapped human pluripotent stem cell library for designer organoids
- $553,100
University of British Columbia · 2022
To support a fate-mapped human pluripotent stem cell library for designer organoids
- $551,247
Zoological Society of San Diego · Escondido, CA · 2023
To support burrows as buffers: do microhabitat selection and behavior mediate desert tortoise resilience to climate change?
- $534,169
Puget Sound Restoration Fund · Bainbridge Island, WA · 2022
To support puget sound kelp monitoring: ecological index sites
- $529,270
University of Washington Foundation · Seattle, WA · 2024
To support acoustic monitoring of marine mammals with distributed acoustic sensing (das): applications to southern resident killer and humpback whales
- $525,000
Leukemia & Lymphoma Society · Rye Brook, NY · 2022
To support pre-translational research that can lead to future translational work to enable treatment and cures for blood cancer
- $519,187
The Francis Crick Institute Limited · 2022
To support identifying the circuit mechanisms of jumping in scaptodrosophila larvae
- $500,496
Mote Marine Laboratory · Sarasota, FL · 2023
To support global finprint 2: tracking global finprint of sharks in marine protected areas
- $500,000
Asia Pacific Cultural Center · Tacoma, WA · 2024
To support one heart, one home campaign: new building project
- $500,000
Columbia University in the City of New York · New York, NY · 2024
To support sex hormone morphogenesis: a new frontier in studying organ development
- $500,000
Johns Hopkins University · Baltimore, MD · 2024
To support composition and functionality of the ev corona: learning from lipoproteins
- $500,000
Murdoch Children'S Research Institute · 2024
To support understanding the effects of gender affirming hormone therapy (gaht) on immune function using a systems immunology approach
- $500,000
Regents of the University of California at San Diego · La Jolla, CA · 2024
To support measuring lipid fluxes at membrane contact sites using new chemogenetic proximity sensors
- $500,000
Regents Univ of California · Los Angeles, CA · 2024
To support mechanobiology tools for dissecting drivers of membrane mechanics, form, and function
- $500,000
Research Corporation · Tucson, AZ · 2024
To support the scialog: neurobiology in a changing environment (nce) program
- $500,000
Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors · New York, NY · 2024
To support the shark conservation fund
- $500,000
The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois · Chicago, IL · 2024
To support real-time label-free dynamic imaging of extracellular vesicles in live tissues
- $500,000
Trustees of Princeton University · Princeton, NJ · 2024
To support intra- and inter-cellular communication driven by membrane contact sites within a virus microenvironment
- $500,000
Trustees of Princeton University · Princeton, NJ · 2024
To support optical tools for visualizing sex hormones as drivers of dynamic internal states
- $500,000
Tubman Center for Health & Freedom · Seattle, WA · 2024
To support fortifying futures for our youth
- $500,000
University of Alabama at Birmingham · Birmingham, AL · 2024
To support blood-brain communication via extracellular vesicles underlying brain function and behavior
- $500,000
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill · Chapel Hill, NC · 2024
To support data-driven modeling of inter-organelle dynamic interactions throughout differentiation with multispectral and label free live imaging
- $500,000
American Friends of the Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess · Cambridge, MA · 2023
To support united for wildlife in combating illegal wildlife trade
- $500,000
Asia Pacific Cultural Center · Tacoma, WA · 2023
To support one heart, one home campaign: new building project
- $500,000
Columbia University in the City of New York · New York, NY · 2023
To support sex hormone morphogenesis: a new frontier in studying organ development
- $500,000
Johns Hopkins University · Baltimore, MD · 2023
To support composition and functionality of the ev corona: learning from lipoproteins
- $500,000
Murdoch Children'S Research Institute · 2023
To support understanding the effects of gender affirming hormone therapy (gaht) on immune function using a systems immunology approach
- $500,000
Research Corporation · Tucson, AZ · 2023
To support a program to catalyze new research collaborations for investigating how the microbiome contributes to human health and disease with a particular focus on the "gut-brain axis".
- $500,000
Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors · New York, NY · 2023
To support oceans 5
- $500,000
Rockefeller University · New York, NY · 2023
To support the origin, evolution, and dynamics of micropeptides in the immune system
- $500,000
San Francisco State University · San Francisco, CA · 2023
To support building a model of a complex brain unconstrained by shared evolutionary history; sensori-motor integration and plasticity in cephalopod molluscs
- $500,000
The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University · Stanford, CA · 2023
To support mining the human gut microbial microproteome for modulators of inflammation
- $500,000
The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois · Chicago, IL · 2023
To support real-time label-free dynamic imaging of extracellular vesicles in live tissues
- $500,000
Trustees of Boston University · Boston, MA · 2023
To support engineering branching networks through synthetic turing morphogen circuits
- $500,000
Trustees of Princeton University · Princeton, NJ · 2023
To support optical tools for visualizing sex hormones as drivers of dynamic internal states
- $500,000
Tubman Center for Health & Freedom · Seattle, WA · 2023
To support fortifying futures for our youth
- $500,000
University of Alabama at Birmingham · Birmingham, AL · 2023
To support blood-brain communication via extracellular vesicles underlying brain function and behavior
- $500,000
University of Florida · Gainesville, FL · 2023
To support reconstructing the development and functional architecture of the motor neural circuits of the last common animal ancestor
- $500,000
Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research · Cambridge, MA · 2023
To support engineering the stromal secretome to program organ development and maturation
- $500,000
Yale University · New Haven, CT · 2023
To support discovery of micropeptides in human immune cells and systemic lupus erythematosus
- $500,000
Northeastern University · Boston, MA · 2022
To support tracking proteome dynamics in single cells
- $500,000
Regents of the University of California · Davis, CA · 2022
To support in vivo analysis of nuclear mechanics and mechanotransduction
- $500,000
Regents of the University of California at Irvine · Irvine, CA · 2022
To support bioluminescent tools for noninvasive, real-time imaging of immunometabolism
- $500,000
Regents of the University of California at San Diego · La Jolla, CA · 2022
To support early manifestations of subcelluar defects in neurodegenerative diseases
- $500,000
Research Corporation · Tucson, AZ · 2022
To support a program to catalyze new research collaborations for investigating how the microbiome contributes to human health and disease with a particular focus on the "gut-brain axis"
Who else funds this kind of work
Same state
- Pivotal Philanthropies Foundation202 grants · $534.9M
- Seattle Foundation14,012 grants · $457.3M
Similar purposes
- West Bend Community Foundation279 grants · $13.5M
- The Freedom Forum296 grants · $2.3M
- Gadomski Family Foundation93 grants · $3.6M
Similar grant size
- Corporation for Public Broadcasting3,863 grants · $2.33B
- Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation13,441 grants · $18.24B
- The William & Flora Hewlett Foundation5,652 grants · $1.75B
Grants already paid are the record; PaperOrbit reads your paper and finds the funders whose record matches it — then explains why.
Search funders like this oneSource: IRS Form 990-PF, Part XV, as filed by the foundation. These are grants already paid — a record of what this funder backs, not an open call.

