Levy Portland Children's

What Levy Portland Children's does

Portland Children's Levy (PCL) is a City of Portland government initiative, established in 2002 through a voter-approved property tax measure and renewed four times (most recently May 2023, extending funding through June 30, 2029). PCL generates approximately $20-23 million annually from property tax revenue, with funds legally restricted to grants supporting children and families and a hard 5% cap on administrative overhead. The organization operates with a small staff of 1-10 employees led by a five-member Allocation Committee and advised by a 13-member Community Council.

PCL's core products are three grant programs: Large Grants (multi-year funding of up to three years across 94 programs and 64 organizations in the 2024-25 cycle, totaling approximately $71M), Small Grants Fund (three-year grants up to $240,000 targeted at smaller first-time applicant nonprofits, with $2.6M awarded in 12 new grants), and Event Sponsorships ($500 sponsorships awarded twice yearly). A specialized Community Childcare Initiative subsidizes childcare costs for working families with low incomes. Funded program areas span after school, child abuse prevention and intervention, early childhood, foster care, hunger relief, and mentoring.

The go-to-market is community-led: PCL conducts extensive community engagement involving more than 750 community members and service providers in 25+ languages to shape funding priorities, then channels applications through the WebGrants portal for review by trained volunteers and allocation committee scoring. PCL does not sell to end consumers; rather, it serves as a public funding intermediary between Portland taxpayers and approximately 64 grantee nonprofit organizations, reaching more than 9,900 children in FY 2024-25 across program areas.

Name

Levy Portland Children's

Legal name

Portland Children's Levy

Website

https://portlandchildrenslevy.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2002

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Portland Children's Levy is a City of Portland government initiative that channels approximately $20-23 million in voter-approved property tax revenue annually into multi-year grants to 64 community-based nonprofits serving children and families across six program areas in Portland.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Public Grantmaking and Community Funding

NAICS

Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321), Other Individual and Family Services (624190)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Child Day Care Services (8351), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Family & Parenting Support Services (BPAGAEAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Child Welfare, Foster Care & Adoption Services (BPAGAEAE), Early Childhood Education & Childcare Nonprofits (BPAGADAA)

Keywords

• Public grantmaking services
• Community grant programs
• Children and family services
• Nonprofit funding administration
• Voter-approved levy funding

Headquarters

HQ city

Portland

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Property Tax Revenue: Voter-approved property tax measure generating approximately $20-23 million annually. Revenue is legally required to be spent on grants supporting children and families and cannot be used for other purposes.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Portland Children's Levy is a City of Portland initiative that distributes voter-approved property-tax revenue (approximately $20-23 million annually) as competitive grants to community-based nonprofit organizations running programs for children and families in six areas: after school, child abuse prevention and intervention, early childhood, foster care, hunger relief, and mentoring. It funds large multi-year grants (94 programs totaling $71 million), small equity-focused grants (12 awards totaling $2.55 million), event sponsorships ($500 each), and a Community Childcare Initiative subsidizing care for more than 200 children annually from low-income working families.

Product overview

Portland Children's Levy is a voter-approved government initiative (created in 2002) that provides grant funding to community-based organizations supporting children and families in Portland. The organization manages three main grant programs: Large Grants (multi-year funding for established programs in six areas), Small Grants Fund (equity-focused grants for smaller organizations), and Event Sponsorships. Special initiatives include the Community Childcare Initiative. The grant programs fund partner organizations delivering services including after school programs, early childhood development, foster care support, hunger relief, mentoring, and child abuse prevention. PCL generates approximately $20-23 million annually through property tax and is governed by an Allocation Committee with community advisory input through the Community Council.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Large Grants Program Three-year grant funding supporting community-based organizations in six program areas: after school, child abuse prevention and intervention, early childhood, foster care, hunger relief, and mentoring. The 2024-25 funding round awarded 94 large grants totaling $71 million to 64 organizations.
• Small Grants Fund Three-year grants of up to $240,000 designed to improve equity of access for smaller nonprofit organizations (annual revenue $90,000-$750,000), particularly those serving Black, Indigenous and communities of color and those that have not previously received PCL funding.
• Event Sponsorships $500 sponsorship awards granted twice yearly (10 sponsorships per cycle) to nonprofit organizations holding events related to PCL program areas that serve children and families within City of Portland boundaries.
• Community Childcare Initiative (CCI) Direct subsidy payments from PCL to licensed childcare providers that close the gap between the cost of care and the state Employment Related Day Care (ERDC) subsidy, enabling more than 200 children annually (ages 6 weeks to 12 years) from working low-income families to access high-quality care at no cost to their families.
• After School Program Grants Grant funding category within the Levy portfolio supporting after-school academic support, mentorship, and enrichment activities for K-8 youth in Portland, including programs serving immigrant, refugee, and culturally specific communities.
• Hunger Relief Program Grants Grant funding category supporting hunger relief initiatives, including mobile food delivery programs that distribute customized food boxes to low-income housing communities and serve more than 13,000 children annually with more than 3 million pounds of food distributed.
• Foster Care Program Grants Grant funding category supporting therapeutic services, mentorship, and family stabilization for children and youth involved in the foster care system, including long-term professional mentoring programs.

Quantifiable outcome

• More than 9,900 children served in 2024-25 fiscal year
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered major and core.

• Neighborhood HousemajorOthersGrantee partner operating the Free Food Market mobile food delivery program serving more than 450 children annually and distributing more than 275,000 pounds of food to eight low-income housing communities in Southwest and Northwest Portland.
• Morrison Child & Family ServicesmajorOthersGrantee partner providing early childhood mental health consultation services to support children birth through 5 years old with coaching, trainings, observations, screenings, and referrals at childcare sites, preschools, and home visiting programs.
• Friends of the Children – PortlandmajorOthersGrantee partner providing long-term mentoring to more than 80 children in foster care and nearly 400 youth overall, focusing on social-emotional development, educational success, and collaborative goal setting with culturally responsive professional mentoring.
• NAYA (Native American Youth and Family Center)majorOthersGrantee partner providing college and career services mentoring to 125 youths annually in 8th through 12th grades, with GED programming and Two-Spirit programming creating affirming spaces for LGBTQ+ youth.
• The Pathfinder NetworkmajorOthersGrantee partner supporting more than 150 parents involved with the criminal justice system or returning home after incarceration at their Center for Family Success with parenting skills, trauma coping, case management, and peer mentoring.
• IRCO (Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization)majorOthersGrantee partner offering INSPIRE program with after school academic support and case management to more than 150 youth from 10 communities including Burmese, Karen, Rohingya, Vietnamese, Russian, Ukrainian, Pacific Islander, Somali, Syrian and Middle Eastern.
• ELSO Inc.majorOthersGrantee partner operating Wayfinders summer camp for kindergarten through 8th graders with focus on STEAMED topics, leadership development and mentoring for youth ages 15 to 18, with emphasis on children from economically disadvantaged communities.
• City of PortlandcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Levy is a City of Portland initiative administered under the direction of the Allocation Committee with grants requiring City Council approval. The City economist provides revenue projections and manages the property tax collection.
• Community Childcare Initiative PartnersmajorOthersPartnership with childcare providers throughout Portland to make quality childcare affordable for working families with low incomes by covering the gap between childcare costs and state ERDC subsidy. Allows more than 200 children annually to access high-quality care.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Children's Defense Fund: National child advocacy and policy organization focused on child poverty, education, and child welfare for low-income children and children of color. Operates at national scale on overlapping program themes (foster care, child abuse prevention, mentoring) but as an advocacy/funder hybrid rather than a pure municipal grantmaker.
• Casey Family Programs: National foundation focused on safely reducing the need for foster care and supporting children and families involved with child welfare. A broader incumbent peer aligned with PCL's foster care and child abuse prevention program areas.
• Annie E. Casey Foundation: National private foundation focused on child welfare, foster care, and youth development with a strong emphasis on racial equity. A broader incumbent funder in overlapping program areas (foster care, mentoring, after-school) that shares PCL's equity-centered grantmaking philosophy but operates nationally.
• Marguerite Casey Foundation: National foundation focused on equity, social and economic justice, and family-centered grantmaking for low-income communities and communities of color. Shares PCL's equity-first, family-focused grantmaking orientation at national scale.
• Robin Hood Foundation: New York City-focused poverty-fighting foundation funding child and family programs, education, and early childhood. A broader incumbent peer using evidence-based, outcomes-oriented grantmaking to support low-income children and families in a single metro area — structurally similar to PCL's city-bounded approach.

Regional players

• The Denver Foundation: Community foundation serving the Denver metro area with dedicated funds for children, youth, and family stability. A regional peer with comparable community-foundation grantmaking structure and overlapping child/family program focus, but serving a different geography.
• William Penn Foundation: Philadelphia-area foundation making major grants in child development, education, and family economic security. A regional peer with comparable mission focus on children, families, and equity but serving a different metropolitan geography.

Direct peers

• Multnomah County Preschool for All: Voter-approved Multnomah County initiative passed in 2020 that funds free preschool across the Portland metro area. It is a directly comparable local, voter-approved children's funding mechanism with overlapping early-childhood program areas; PCL actually exited preschool classroom funding specifically because of this parallel initiative.
• Oregon Community Foundation: The largest community foundation in Oregon, making grants across education, child welfare, and family stability statewide. A direct geographic peer that supports many of the same child- and family-serving nonprofits in Portland through multi-year grants and capacity-building.
• United Way of the Columbia-Willamette: Regional United Way affiliate funding child and family services, after-school programs, and hunger relief across the Portland metro area. Operates a similar grantmaking-plus-program-partner model and serves overlapping populations and some of the same community-based organizations that PCL funds.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fportlandchildrenslevy.org%2Freport%2F2025-community-report%2F
• Facebookfacebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fportlandchildrenslevy.org%2Freport%2F2025-community-report%2F
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/portland-childrens-levy

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Levy Portland Children's