Philanthropy Super Bowl

Philanthropy Super Bowl

Seattle and New England face off in the Super Bowl this weekend, so I lined them up in philanthropy too.

Using Impala data across 58,600 nonprofits and 27,400 foundations, here’s how the two ecosystems actually compare.

1. On paper, Boston wins on sheer yardage.

In 2023, nonprofits across Greater Boston received $3.4B in grant funding.
Seattle came in at $934M.

2. But Seattle has home-field advantage, and it shows. 

About 71% of Seattle’s grant dollars come from Washington-based funders.
In Boston, only about 34% come from Massachusetts.
Boston pulls from everywhere. Seattle keeps the ball close.

That difference changes who controls the game.

3. One ecosystem runs on a few dominant players, while the other runs on depth.

In Seattle, the top ten funders account for nearly half of all grant dollars.
In Boston, they control closer to a fifth.

4. Both cities love repeat plays. 

Once a funder and a nonprofit find each other, they tend to keep running it back.
Repeat relationships drive almost all grant dollars in both places.

5. They share the same MVP

The Gates Foundation is big in both ecosystems. In Seattle, it accounts for about 11% of all grant funding. In Boston, it’s closer to 4%.

Full report linked in the comments.

I’ll let the game settle the rest! Who are you rooting for on Sunday?