PORTLAND, Ore. -- The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation has awarded $11.8 million in grants to Northwest nonprofits.

Forty-six Washington organizations received grants, the most of the five states during the fall 2007 application cycle. Twenty Oregon nonprofits benefited, followed by five in Alaska, three in Idaho, two in Montana and one grant distributed regionwide.

The grants were announced Wednesday and come at an opportune time because the souring economy has made it more difficult for nonprofits to raise money.

Oregon's biggest grant recipient was the Neighborhood Partnership Fund. The nonprofit, which creates affordable housing opportunities, was awarded $400,000 over three years to help pay for a key program called Bridges to Housing.

Most of the Oregon recipients were arts and culture organizations in Portland. The Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland will receive $300,000 over three years to fund its 2008-10 seasons. The Eugene Ballet Company got $200,000 for a capital campaign to build a new arts center.

For small organizations, modest-sounding grants have an impact. The Portland Institute for Contemporary Art got $75,000 to fund its Time-Based Art Festival, which brings a mix of avant-garde and fringe artists and performers from around the world.

"That's a major level sponsorship for us," said PICA spokesman Brian Costello. "It's by far one of our larger private or foundation funding outlets."

The smallest donation was $5,000 given to Portland's Hand2Mouth Theatre to help fund "Dos Pueblos," a new theatrical production.

One major organization, the Oregon Symphony, did not get money because of its $1.7 million deficit last year. A symphony spokesman told The Oregonian that the foundation encouraged the symphony to apply once it whittles the deficit down.