Jack Straw Foundation
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
What it says it does
Jack Straw Cultural Center exists to foster the creation and communication of arts, ideas, and information to diverse audiences through audio media. We keep art, culture, and heritage vital through sound.
- Income
- $485,041
- Spending
- $664,092
- Spent on programs
- 86%
- Reserves
- 4.8 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- government grants, 40%
- Employees
- 9
- Volunteers
- 13
- Highest pay
- $100,778, executive dir.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
Fair: 55 out of 100. Higher than 23% of charities in its peer group (arts and culture, $250k to $1m).
Reserves
20 of 35Spendable reserves would cover 4.8 months of spending.
Debt
20 of 20It owes 14% of what it owns.
Living within its means
0 of 15Spending exceeded income by 37% of income.
Income trend
0 of 15Income fell 39% on the year before.
Spending floor
15 of 1586% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 1 cents.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
Good: 79 out of 100. Higher than 61% of charities in its peer group (arts and culture, $250k to $1m).
Independent board
25 of 258 of 8 voting board members are independent.
Conflict of interest policy
15 of 15Has a written conflict of interest policy.
Whistleblower policy
0 of 8Reports no written whistleblower policy.
Record keeping policy
7 of 7Has a written policy on keeping and destroying records.
Board minutes
5 of 5Keeps minutes of board meetings.
Board sees the tax return
0 of 10Did not give the board a copy of this return before filing it.
Pay set independently
5 of 5Sets its chief executive's pay through independent review and comparison.
Independent check of accounts
12 of 15Its accounts were reviewed or compiled by an independent accountant, but not audited.
No reported misuse
10 of 10Reports no diversion of assets, excess benefits or loans to insiders.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Impact evidence
Describes programs. Its tax return describes what it does but we have found no measurable results in it.
Programs described in its return (3)
- $233,958 spent. ARTS: We successfully completed the 32nd year of the Jack Straw Artist Support Program, 29th year of the Jack Straw Writers Program, and the 26th year of the Jack Straw New Media Gallery and Gallery Residency Program. Over 180 artists created 32 new artworks, participated in 32 in person and streaming events, 4 exhibits, 1 anthology, and 39 radio programs or podcasts reaching over 6,000 audience members. We continue to develop new relationships and maintain longtime partnerships to keep our programming vital. We presented events with Seattle Public Library and Nepantla Cultural Arts Gallery; recorded a live audiobook with Wave Books; presented a series of talks with Jack Straw Writers Program as part of the Humanities Washington Speakers Bureau program; produced the audio component of a Public Art Storytelling project with 4Culture; presented an intensive audio description workshop with Seattle Cultural Accessibility Consortium and an oral history workshop with Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust; and produced podcasts with partners such as StoryBoards NW and Seattle Arts and Lectures. We also provided a variety of arts, heritage, and education organizations with production support.
- $193,067 spent. EDUCATION: We served over 650 elementary, middle school, and high school students in hands-on creative and curriculum-based projects including creative writing, oral history, radio theater, family celebration stories, music, and audio production. We continued to expand and adapt our programs for online, in-person, and hybrid settings in collaboration with our partners Seattle School District, Kandelia, WA Department of Services for the Blind, Arts & Visually Impaired Audiences, and the WA State School for the Blind. We completed the 29th year of our Blind Youth Audio Program, serving 26 blind and visually impaired high school students from throughout Washington State. We presented three accessible art-making workshops for blind and visually impaired students, families, and sighted friends with our New Media Gallery artists. We continued our ongoing programs such as our guitar lessons with new refugees at the Seattle World School; poetry with elementary students at Genesee Hill Elementary, poetry and song with Concord, Lowell, Adams, and Hazelwood Elementary Schools; interview podcasts with John Muir Elementary; and Spanish-language poetry with sixth through eighth grade dual-language students at Denny International Middle School. We also provided professional training for artists, teachers, and other community members.
- $146,213 spent. STUDIO SERVICES: Our studio services, which we provide for a wide range of individuals and organizations, include music and spoken recording and production, remote recording, audio and video audition recording, podcast/radio production, audio book production, media digitization and preservation, audio mastering, sound design for film and performance, interpretive material production, oral history production, student and professional music recitals and performances, and radio theater. Music projects ranged from audition recordings for music students and professionals to album recordings for individuals and groups of all genres. We recorded and produced podcasts, radio theater, audio books, and other audio media for a variety of individuals and organizations, such as Imagination Theater, American Radio Theater, Shambhala Publications, Parley Productions, Opal Food & Body Wisdom, MacMillan Publishers, and EK Real Estate Group.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Legitimacy checks
Is it registered with the IRS? Passed.
Listed in the IRS master file of tax-exempt organizations as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.
Has the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status? Passed.
Not on the IRS automatic revocation list.
Source: Automatic revocation of exemption list, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 30, 2026.
Are donations tax-deductible? Passed.
On the IRS list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.
Source: Publication 78 data: organizations eligible for tax-deductible contributions, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 10, 2026.
Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.
Most recent return on file covers the year ending June 2025.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.
How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.
Recognized by the IRS since June 1965.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.
Is it in good standing with state regulators? Passed.
Not on California's list of charities barred from soliciting. Other states are not yet checked.
Source: May Not Operate or Solicit for Charitable Purposes list, California Attorney General, Registry of Charities and Fundraisers, file dated October 7, 2026.
Ratings and checks are our reading of public records, using the published method. They are not a statement about anyone's honesty. If you work for this organization, you can send corrections or results, confirm you want gifts through Veridonate, or ask to be removed from giving.