Eight community-led nonprofits are starting year two of GrowFundMe.
Here’s who they are, and how you can be part of their journey.
Last June, more than 150 people filled Washington Hall to hear seven nonprofit leaders share their stories. By the end of the summer, our community had raised $140,000, providing each organization with $20,000 in unrestricted funding.
Now it’s time to do it again.
We’re excited to introduce the eight organizations joining GrowFundMe in 2027.
From January through June, these nonprofit leaders will work alongside SVP Partners and skilled volunteers to strengthen their fundraising stories, build relationships, and prepare for our June Showcase. Every dollar raised through the Showcase fund will be shared equally across the cohort.
They were chosen from 17 applications by SVP staff and a volunteer task force, and reading those applications was a reminder of just how much is happening in our community.
We chose a cohort where established and emerging organizations can learn side by side, because that’s where some of the best learning happened last year. It’s amazing to see the diversity in founders and groups, some serving a hyper-local community in King County, while others are responding to systemic issues
BIPOC-led nonprofits bring knowledge, relationships, and experience that philanthropy too often overlooks. Many operate with small teams and limited access to the fundraising staff and donor networks that larger organizations rely on.
In fact, recent research revealed that communities of color make up 44.3% of the U.S. population, but nonprofits led by and serving them receive just 2.9% of philanthropic funding.
Those numbers describe a lot of the organizations we know and love: small teams doing big work, often without the networks or fundraising staff that larger nonprofits take for granted.
GrowFundMe is one way we’re changing that here in King County.
GrowFundMe connects these leaders with people ready to invest their time, skills, and resources. Nonprofit leaders gain fundraising support and new relationships. SVP Partners and volunteers learn directly from the people closest to the work, deepening their understanding of our communities and how they can give more effectively.
Small community-led organizations are doing essential work, often with limited staff and fundraising support. GrowFundMe brings more people into supporting that work. These eight organizations are already doing remarkable things, and our job is to make sure more people know it, see it, and invest in it.
Meet the cohort
Each of these organizations grew out of its own community, started by people who saw a need close to home and decided to meet it. They serve different neighborhoods, cultures, and generations.
- African Youth Sports Academy is rooted in East African communities and uses sport to bring young people together and connect them with mentors and academic support.
- Community Network Council is a trusted network in Kent and South King County, connecting youth of color and their families with resources and with each other.
- Duwamish Valley Sustainability Association brings neighbors and young people together to care for their environment and build a healthier Duwamish Valley.
- Kids Engine was founded by immigrants and teaches STEAM in families’ own languages, so kids in immigrant communities can learn and create in ways that feel like home.
- Pacific Northwest Black Pride is approaching its 10th anniversary as a place for Black LGBTQ+ people across the region to gather, lead, and belong.
- Pongo Poetry Project has spent three decades creating space for young people in juvenile detention and other hard places to write, heal, and be heard.
- Serve Ethiopians Washington offers holistic support by and for the Ethiopian community, so families, from kids to elders, can thrive.
- Venture Black is built by and for Black founders, opening doors to the capital and networks that build community wealth.
Here’re what a few of the nonprofit are hoping to accomplish together this year.
We applied because Black LGBTQIA2S+ communities deserve the resources to turn vision into lasting impact. As PNW Black Pride approaches its 10th anniversary, GrowFundMe can help us strengthen fundraising, deepen partnerships, and expand year-round work that advances health, belonging, and opportunity.
Our families have so much to offer. With a little more support, our kids can grow into leaders, our elders won’t feel alone, and our neighbors can keep caring for the parks we all share. Telling our story in June means our community gets to speak for itself, and that means a lot to us.
Pongo has a three-decade track record of inspiring healing among young people through creative expression. Participating in the GrowFundMe program will allow us to better communicate that demonstrated healing impact on youth, with audiences we know are eager to show up for vulnerable youth who deserve our support.
What we learned from year one
Our first cohort showed us what’s possible when a community decides to show up together. The money mattered. But so did the relationships, many of which are still going strong, between nonprofit leaders, volunteers, and Partners who didn’t know each other a year ago.
Each organization serves a unique community with unique challenges. It has been incredibly fulfilling to better understand those communities and discover where I, and others, can help.
How you can be part of it
The 2027 Showcase is coming in June 2027 and we’d love for you to be in the room. In the meantime, here are a few ways to support this year’s cohort:
- Give to the shared GrowFundMe fund through SVP Seattle’s GrowFundMe giving page.
- Sponsor the Showcase and help underwrite participation stipends. Download the packet.
- Volunteer your fundraising, finance, or communications skills on our website.
- Watch for Showcase details this spring.