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Claire L Helsing Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Claire L Helsing Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$147k
Granted FY2024still arriving
29
Grants FY2024still arriving
1
States reached
$14k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Crime & Legal$146kEducation$144kHuman Services$131kYouth Development$100kReligion$97kFood & Nutrition$93kArts & Culture$72kCivil Rights$59kOther$0
02FY2024 · 29 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k24 grants · $90k
  • $10k–50k5 grants · $57k
$4,500
Median grant
1
States reached
$2.4M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
CONNECTICUT FOOD BANK$14,000
BUILDING ONE COMMUNITY$12,000
NEW COVENANT HOUSE OF HOSPITALITY$11,000
ACLU OF CONNECTICUT FOUNDATION$10,000
CAMPAIGN FOR JUSTICE CONNECTICUT LEGAL SERVICES INC$10,000
UNITED WAY OF WESTERN CONNECTICUT$7,500
FERGUSON LIBRARY$7,000
STAMFORD HIGH SCHOOL- STRAWBERRY HILL PLAYERS$6,500
CONNECTICUT INSTITUTE FOR REFUGEES AND IMMIGRANTS$6,500
FAIRGATE FARM INC$5,000
SHELTER FOR THE HOMELESS AKA PACIFIC HOUSE$5,000
DOMUS FOUNDATION$5,000
THE ROWAN CENTER FKA CENTER FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT CRISIS COUNSELING AND EDUC$5,000
JEWISH FAMILY SERVICE OF STAMFORD INC$5,000
BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF STAMFORD$4,500
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Its human-services grants (FY17–24, $68k) land where the poverty rate runs at 9%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%AMERICAN RED CROSS CONNECTICUT CHAPTER: $2k → 9%AMERICAN RED CROSS CONNECTICUT CHAPTER: $2k → 9%American Red Cross Connecticut Chapter: $1k → 9%AMERICAN RED CROSS CONNECTICUT CHAPTER: $1k → 9%AMERICAN RED CROSS CONNECTICUT CHAPTER: $1k → 9%AMERICAN RED CROSS CONNECTICUT CHAPTER: $1k → 9%AMERICAN RED CROSS CONNECTICUT CHAPTER: $1k → 9%AMERICAN RED CROSS CONNECTICUT CHAPTER: $1k → 9%BUILDING ONE COMMUNITY: $12k → 9%BUILDING ONE COMMUNITY: $10k → 9%BUILDING ONE COMMUNITY: $10k → 9%BUILDING ONE COMMUNITY: $10k → 9%BUILDING ONE COMMUNITY: $9k → 9%BUILDING ONE COMMUNITY: $8k → 9%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

97%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.0M · 32 repeat orgs$28k to everyone else

32 repeat relationships: 28 still active in FY2024, 4 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

32
7

Total granted

$1.0M
$23k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+39%
+98%

Still filing today

69%
43%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 97% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $5k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
EducationArts & CultureInternationalYouth DevelopmentHousing & ShelterHuman ServicesOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • CF
    CONNECTICUT FOODSHARE INC
    8× · 2017–2024 · $88k · revenue +153%
  • CL
    CONNECTICUT LEGAL SERVICES INC
    8× · 2017–2024 · $70k · revenue +23%
  • BO
    BUILDING ONE COMMUNITY CORP
    6× · 2019–2024 · $59k · revenue +245%

Funded once

  • FO
    FRIENDS OF STAMFORD HIGH
    one grant, 2019 · $9k
  • PH
    PACIFIC HOUSE INCgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $4k · revenue +68%
  • CAREER RESOURCES INCgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $3k · revenue +192%
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Women and Families Center

Wfc is committed to promoting equity and to improving quality of life through services that foster empowerment and independence. our guiding vision: to be the leading agent for positive social change.

Human Services
2
Readyct Inc

Readyct works to advance academic excellence and career-connected learning for all public school students in connecticut through collaboration with business, civic, and education leaders.

Education
3
Community Solutions Inc

Positively impacting the lives of our clients and their communities by providing services that facilitate skill development, enhance responsible citizenship, and increase overall well-being.

Health
4
United Way of Connecticut Inc

United way of connecticut is proud to be a trusted and vital resource for help and information about what the people of connecticut need. we respond to requests for food, housing, health care, child care, child development resources,…

Philanthropy
5
Capital Workforce Partners Inc

A regional workforce investment board serving 37 municipalities in north central ct. the board coordinates comprehensive programs for job seeking employees.

Employment
6
The Workplace Inc

The organization provides job training, placement, and counseling for dislocated and economically disadvantaged individuals in the bridgeport, norwalk, stamford and valley labor market areas.

Employment
7
Workforce Alliance Inc

Provide job training through various programs.

—
8
Connstep Inc

To help connecticut manufacturers apply advanced manufacturing and management techniques to become more competitive, supporting the growth of connecticut economy.

Community Improvement
9
The Children's Community Programs of Ct

The children's community programs of connecticut, inc., is a nonprofit, multi-service agency whose mission is to provide diverse and creative support services to children and families throughout connecticut.

Health
10
Children's Learning Centers of Fairfield County Inc

Provides early educational programs which include head start, school readiness, and child day care in lower fairfield county. clc serves over 800 students age six weeks to five years old.

Human Services
11
United Way of Greater New Haven Inc

United way of greater new haven brings people and organizations together to create solutions to our region's most pressing challenges in the areas of education, health, and financial stability, grounded in racial and social justice. we…

Philanthropy
12
Stamford Partnership Inc

The stamford partnership is the city's and region's predominant economic and community development organization. the stamford partnership is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that brings companies, governments, nonprofits, & people together to…

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Mill River Collaborative Inc; the most unlike its peers is Interfaith Council of Southwestern Connecticut Inc. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

26 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 26 of the 40 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
9
Early backer (in before they grew)
25/26
Grantees still filing
20/26
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

CONNECTICUT FOODSHARE INC: $87,500 · OtherCONNECTICUT FOODSHARE INCNEW COVENANT HOUSE OF HOSPITALITY: $73,500 · OtherNEW COVENANT HOUSE OF HOSPITALITYACLU OF CONNECTICUT FOUNDATION: $59,000 · OtherACLU OF CONNECTICUT FOUNDATIONCONNECTICUT INSTITUTE FOR REFUGEES AND IMMIGRANTS INC: $43,500 · OtherCONNECTICUT INSTITUTE FOR REFUGEES AND IMMIGRANTS INCJEWISH FAMILY SERVICE OF STAMFORD INC: $40,000 · OtherJEWISH FAMILY SERVICE OF STAMFORD INCDOMUS KIDS INC: $40,000 · OtherDOMUS KIDS INCSTAMFORD HIGH SCHOOL- STRAWBERRY HILL PLAYERS: $34,500 · OtherBOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF STAMFORD INC: $34,500 · OtherSTAMFORD FAMILY YMCA: $32,500 · OtherSHELTER FOR THE HOMELESS AKA PACIFIC HOUSE: $30,000 · OtherTHE ROWAN CENTER INC: $25,000 · OtherInterfaith Council of Southwestern Connecticut Inc: $23,000 · OtherBUILDON INC: $24,000 · Other+15 more: $139,000 · Other+15 moreNORWALK COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC: $55,500 · EducationNORWALK COMM…THE FERGUSON LIBRARY: $46,000 · EducationTHE FERGUSON…BACK TO SCHOOL SHOP INC: $12,000 · EducationBACK TO SCHO…STARFISH CONNECTION INC: $9,000 · EducationSTARFISH CON…CONNECTICUT LEGAL SERVICES INC: $69,500 · Crime & LegalBUILDING ONE COMMUNITY CORP: $58,500 · Human ServicesAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $9,000 · Human ServicesUNITED WAY OF COASTAL AND WESTERN CONNECTICUT INC: $53,000 · PhilanthropyCONNECTICUT PUBLIC BROADCASTING INC: $27,000 · Arts & CultureStamford Museum & Nature Center Inc: $10,500 · Arts & CultureFUTURE 5 INC: $20,000 · Youth DevelopmentSTAMFORD PEACE YOUTH FOUNDATION INC: $16,000 · Youth Development
Other$686,000Education$122,500Crime & Legal$69,500Human Services$67,500Philanthropy$53,000Arts & Culture$37,500Youth Development$36,000

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetCONNECTICUT FOODSHARE INC: $87,500 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetCONNECTICUT LEGAL SERVICES INC: $69,500 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetBUILDING ONE COMMUNITY CORP: $58,500 over 6y, 0.4% of budgetNORWALK COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC: $55,500 over 6y, 0.3% of budgetUNITED WAY OF COASTAL AND WESTERN CONNECTICUT INC: $53,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetTHE FERGUSON LIBRARY: $46,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetCONNECTICUT INSTITUTE FOR REFUGEES AND IMMIGRANTS INC: $43,500 over 8y, 0.2% of budgetJEWISH FAMILY SERVICE OF STAMFORD INC: $40,000 over 8y, 0.3% of budgetDOMUS KIDS INC: $40,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF STAMFORD INC: $34,500 over 8y, 0.2% of budgetCONNECTICUT PUBLIC BROADCASTING INC: $27,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ROWAN CENTER INC: $25,000 over 6y, 0.5% of budgetBUILDON INC: $24,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetInterfaith Council of Southwestern Connecticut Inc: $23,000 over 7y, 2.5% of budgetMILL RIVER COLLABORATIVE INC: $22,500 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetFUTURE 5 INC: $20,000 over 8y, 0.3% of budgetOPERATION FUEL INCORPORATED: $18,000 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetSTAMFORD PEACE YOUTH FOUNDATION INC: $16,000 over 8y, 0.6% of budgetWOMEN'S MENTORING NETWORK INC: $13,500 over 7y, 0.8% of budgetBACK TO SCHOOL SHOP INC: $12,000 over 7y, 2.7% of budgetStamford Museum & Nature Center Inc: $10,500 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $9,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetSTARFISH CONNECTION INC: $9,000 over 7y, 2.0% of budgetCAREER RESOURCES INC: $3,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

  • Who funds CONNECTICUT FOODSHARE INC ↗
  • Who funds CONNECTICUT LEGAL SERVICES INC ↗
  • Who funds BUILDING ONE COMMUNITY CORP ↗
  • Who funds NORWALK COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds UNITED WAY OF COASTAL AND WESTERN CONNECTICUT INC ↗
  • Who funds THE FERGUSON LIBRARY ↗
  • Who funds CONNECTICUT INSTITUTE FOR REFUGEES AND IMMIGRANTS INC ↗
  • Who funds JEWISH FAMILY SERVICE OF STAMFORD INC ↗
  • Who funds DOMUS KIDS INC ↗
  • Who funds BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF STAMFORD INC ↗
  • Who funds CONNECTICUT PUBLIC BROADCASTING INC ↗
  • Who funds THE ROWAN CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds BUILDON INC ↗
  • Who funds Interfaith Council of Southwestern Connecticut Inc ↗
  • Who funds MILL RIVER COLLABORATIVE INC ↗
  • Who funds FUTURE 5 INC ↗
  • Who funds OPERATION FUEL INCORPORATED ↗
  • Who funds STAMFORD PEACE YOUTH FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds WOMEN'S MENTORING NETWORK INC ↗
  • Who funds BACK TO SCHOOL SHOP INC ↗
  • Who funds Stamford Museum & Nature Center Inc ↗
  • Who funds American National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches ↗
  • Who funds STARFISH CONNECTION INC ↗
  • Who funds PACIFIC HOUSE INC ↗
  • Who funds CAREER RESOURCES INC ↗
  • Who funds MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC ↗

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Fairfield County's Co…Stamford Rotary Trust…The Pitney Bowes Foun…The Near and Far Asso…The Herbert & Nell Si…New Canaan Community …Peoples United Commun…William Caspar Graust…Impact 100 Fairfield …Garden Homes FundLone Pine Foundation …The Scripps Family Fu…
Fairfield County's Community Foundation IncCT41.6× affinity18 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Fairfield County's Community Foundation Inc · Stamford Rotary Trust Fund · The Pitney Bowes Foundation · The Near and Far Association Inc · The Herbert & Nell Singer Foundation Inc · New Canaan Community Foundation Inc · Peoples United Community Foundation · William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund · Impact 100 Fairfield County · Garden Homes Fund · Lone Pine Foundation Inc · The Scripps Family Fund for Education and the Arts

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Claire L Helsing Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Claire L Helsing Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 60%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 17%
  • Mill River Collaborative Inc: 100% of income from government
  • Operation Fuel Incorporated: 51% of income from government
  • Pacific House Inc: 46% of income from government
  • Connecticut Institute for Refugees and Immigrants Inc: 37% of income from government
  • Career Resources Inc: 35% of income from government
  • Connecticut Legal Services Inc: 18% of income from government
  • Boys & Girls Club of Stamford Inc: 17% of income from government
  • United Way of Coastal and Western Connecticut Inc: 11% of income from government
  • Stamford Museum & Nature Center Inc: 9% of income from government
  • Domus Kids Inc: 7% of income from government
  • Connecticut Foodshare Inc: 5% of income from government
  • Connecticut Public Broadcasting Inc: 3% of income from government
  • Jewish Family Service of Stamford Inc: 2% of income from government
  • Women's Mentoring Network Inc: 1% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
6get no government money at all
3report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
2rely on government for over half their income
typical government reliance, FY20–25
How this is measured
Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.

On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 40 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

How this is measured
Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

Generated from the IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Claire L Helsing’s filings →

More from the funding graph

The unnamed billions
grants reported with no recipient in the public record
The regranting layer
51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
The DAF merry-go-round
$9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
The endowment market
who holds foundation money, and what just moved
The camps
funders cluster by geography, not ideology
By state
where grant money is based, and what stays home