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· Private foundation

Heisman Trophy Trust

Its FY2025 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$2.0M
Granted FY2017
40
Grants FY2017
19
States reached
$1.2M
Largest

Read this first · the figures below need context

86% of Heisman Trophy Trust’s FY2025 grant dollars went to The New York Community Trust, not to grantees.

Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2025 names 13 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2017, the last year Heisman Trophy Trust named its own grantees at scale: 28 organizations, $2M. It is dated, not current.

Organizations named directly on the return

28
’17
15
’18
24
’19
18
’20
26
’21
13
’22
17
’23
19
’24
13
’25

Amber years are those where most dollars went to a sponsor.

01What it funds
0199% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Philanthropy$15MEducation$1.2MHealth$692kYouth Development$579kHuman Services$268kArts & Culture$258kRecreation & Sports$221kReligion$208kOther$0
02FY2017 · 40 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2017

  • Under $10k16 grants · $110k
  • $10k–50k18 grants · $381k
  • $50k–250k5 grants · $281k
  • $250k+1 grant · $1.2M
$15,000
Median grant
19
States reached
$58M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Community Funds Inc$1,207,000
Athlife Foundation Inc$75,000
DonorsChooseorg$56,300
LUCY Outreach$50,000
Disable Sports USA$50,000
Page Education Foundation$50,000
Habitat for Humanity International$40,000
Desire Street Ministries$32,500
United Cerebral Palsy of Greater Hartford$30,000
Tim Tebow Foundation$27,500
Summerhill Community Ministries Inc$26,000
Urban Promise Trenton$25,000
First Tee of Metro NY$25,000
Manchester Public Schools$24,000
The Doug Flutie Jr Foundation for Autism$23,500
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 (FY20–22, $50k) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%CENTER FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES INC: $10k → 13%MOTIV8 FOUNDATION: $10k → 17%THE LOUISVILLE URBAN LEAGUE INC: $10k → 15%THE LOUISVILLE URBAN LEAGUE INC: $5k → 15%GREEN BERET FOUNDATION: $10k → 16%WOUNDED WARRIORS FAMILY SUPPORT: $5k → 12%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.

Which US states its grants reach

ID
MN
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
NV
IA
IN
OH
PA
NJ
CT
CA
UT
CO
NE
MO
KY
VA
MD
NM
TN
NC
SC
OK
AL
GA
TX
FL
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.

47%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2.7M · 50 repeat orgs$3.0M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +23% since the first grant, against +14% for those funded once.

50 repeat relationships: 14 still active in FY2017, 36 since wound down; 100 grantees were first funded in FY2017 (too recent to call). Read against FY2017, the last year this funder named its own grantees directly; its giving has since run through a sponsor, which reports no donor behind each grant.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

50
100

Total granted

$2.7M
$3.0M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+23%
+14%

Still filing today

48%
49%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 63% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $142k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
EducationPhilanthropyHealthYouth DevelopmentHuman ServicesRecreation & SportsOther
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

  • D
    DONORSCHOOSEORG
    8× · 2017–2024 · $283k · revenue +24%
  • TT
    TIM TEBOW FOUNDATION INC
    8× · 2017–2025 · $188k · revenue ×12
  • CR
    CRISTO REY NEW YORK HIGH SCHOOL
    5× · 2021–2025 · $92k · revenue +9%

Funded once

  • CF
    COMMUNITY FUNDS INC
    one grant, 2017 · $1.2M
  • K
    KALEIDOSCOPE
    one grant, 2024 · $118k
  • HR
    HARLEM RBI INCgraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $75k · revenue +110%
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
Cancer Research Fund of the Damon Runyon-Walter Winchell Foundation

To accelerate breakthroughs by providing today's best young scientists with funding to pursue innovative cancer research. the foundation's goals are to identify and fund the best and brightest early-career scientists in cancer research;…

Health
2
Usta Foundation Incorporated

To bring tennis & education together to change lives, with particular emphasis on under-resourced youth. using this powerful combination, we help serve up dreams.

Recreation & Sports
3
The Leadership Foundation

The leadership foundation, inc. (the foundation), established in 1990, is the mechanism by which iwf members advance the next generation of women leaders. the foundation accelerates the careers of top-performing women by offering…

—
4
Techforce Foundation

To champion all students to and through their education and into careers as professional technicians.

Philanthropy
5
Cal Ripken Sr Foundation Inc

The cal ripken, sr. foundation helps to strengthen america's most underserved and distressed communities by supporting and advocating for children, building youth development parks, partnering with law enforcement and youth service…

Education
6
Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation Inc

See schedule othe marine corps scholarship foundation is the nation's oldest and largest provider of need-based scholarships to military children. founded in 1962, the marine corps scholarship foundation provides access to education for…

Education
7
Usa Football Inc

Usa football's mission is to lead, strengthen and grow football for all. as the sport's governing body, usa football authors and delivers best-in-class resources and standards for every family member to pursue and enjoy america's favorite…

Recreation & Sports
8
United States Naval Institute

Provide an independent forum for those who dare to read, think, speak, and write to advance the professional, literary, and scientific understanding of sea power and other issues critical to global security.

—
9
Daniel Murphy Scholarship Fund

The mission of the daniel murphy scholarship fund is to give high school scholarship assistance and educational support to chicago students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. the fund seeks to make a life-altering difference in…

—
10
Furman University

The primary mission of furman as a liberal arts institution is to provide a distinctive education in fine arts, humanities, social sciences, mathematics and the sciences, as well as selected professional disciplines.

Education
11
Think Big for Kids Inc

Think big for kids is breaking the cycle of poverty by providing middle and high school students with career opportunities, mentorship, and job readiness training to excel in today's workforce.

Youth Development
12
New Heights Youth Inc

To educate and empower promising underserved youth to be leaders, champions and student-athletes by developing the skills necessary for success in high school, college and life.

Youth Development
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Warrick Dunn Charities Inc; the most unlike its peers is Matt Leinart Foundation. 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

87 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 87 of the 154 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.

7
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
20
Early backer (in before they grew)
77/87
Grantees still filing
53/87
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE NEW YORK COMMUNITY TRUST: $15,335,375 · PhilanthropyTHE NEW YORK COMMUNITY TRUST+14 more: $635,000 · PhilanthropyCOMMUNITY FUNDS INC: $1,207,000 · OtherCOMMUNITY FUNDS IN…SCHOLARSHIP AMERICA INC: $375,850 · OtherSCHOLARSHIP AMERIC…KALEIDOSCOPE: $118,000 · Other+95 more: $1,736,431 · Other+95 moreDONORSCHOOSEORG: $283,050 · EducationCRISTO REY NEW YORK HIGH SCHOOL: $92,400 · EducationGeorge Rogers Foundation of the Carolinas Inc: $65,000 · EducationTRENTON KAPPA FOUNDATION INC: $40,000 · EducationThe Florida State University Foundation Inc: $22,500 · Education+12 more: $117,500 · EducationTHE V FOUNDATION: $90,000 · HealthTHE TORRETTA FOUNDATION INC: $87,500 · HealthThe Defensive Line Inc: $75,000 · HealthELS FOR AUTISM FOUNDATION: $75,000 · HealthTHE DOUG FLUTIE JR FOUNDATION FOR AUTISM INC: $53,500 · HealthThe Marty Lyons Foundation Inc: $27,500 · Health+3 more: $23,170 · HealthJOHNNY RODGERS YOUTH FOUNDATION: $87,500 · Youth DevelopmentATHLIFE FOUNDATION INC: $75,000 · Youth DevelopmentLUCY OUTREACH A NJ NONPROFIT CORPORATION: $50,000 · Youth DevelopmentSUMMERHILL COMMUNITY MINISTRIES INC: $26,000 · Youth DevelopmentURBANPROMISE TRENTON INC: $25,000 · Youth DevelopmentWRITE ON SPORTS INC: $20,000 · Youth DevelopmentDRIVEN FOUNDATION: $20,000 · Youth Development+2 more: $20,000 · Youth DevelopmentDesire Street Ministries: $187,500 · ReligionInterVarsity Christian FellowshipUSA: $20,000 · ReligionMOVE UNITED: $50,000 · Recreation & SportsDOC WAYNE INC: $15,000 · Recreation & SportsHEROES MOVEMENT: $10,000 · Recreation & SportsELKHORN ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION INC: $10,000 · Recreation & Sports
Philanthropy$15,970,375Other$3,437,281Education$620,450Health$431,670Youth Development$323,500Religion$207,500Recreation & Sports$85,000

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetTHE NEW YORK COMMUNITY TRUST: $15,335,375 over 8y, 0.8% of budgetDONORSCHOOSEORG: $283,050 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetTIM TEBOW FOUNDATION INC: $187,500 over 8y, 0.5% of budgetDesire Street Ministries: $187,500 over 7y, 2.4% of budgetCRISTO REY NEW YORK HIGH SCHOOL: $92,400 over 5y, 0.5% of budgetTHE V FOUNDATION: $90,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetTHE TORRETTA FOUNDATION INC: $87,500 over 8y, 11% of budgetJOHNNY RODGERS YOUTH FOUNDATION: $87,500 over 9y, 100% of budgetHBC FOUNDATION INC: $80,000 over 8y, 90% of budgetHARLEM RBI INC: $75,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetATHLIFE FOUNDATION INC: $75,000 over 1y, 30% of budgetCURTIS GRANDERSON FOUNDATION INC: $75,000 over 1y, 85% of budgetELS FOR AUTISM FOUNDATION: $75,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetGeorge Rogers Foundation of the Carolinas Inc: $65,000 over 7y, 43% of budgetTHE DOUG FLUTIE JR FOUNDATION FOR AUTISM INC: $53,500 over 3y, 1.7% of budgetLUCY OUTREACH A NJ NONPROFIT CORPORATION: $50,000 over 1y, 14% of budgetMOVE UNITED: $50,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetTRENTON KAPPA FOUNDATION INC: $40,000 over 4y, 12% of budgetDR JOHN E UPLEDGER FOUNDATIONINC: $40,000 over 3y, 18% of budgetHABITAT FOR HUMANITY INTERNATIONAL INC: $40,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWUERFFEL FOUNDATION INC: $40,000 over 3y, 3.0% of budgetCHARLIE AND TONJA WARD FAMILY FOUNDATION INC: $40,000 over 3y, 6.3% of budgetTHE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE INC: $35,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCOASTAL COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF SOUTH CAROLINA INC: $35,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF NEW YORK CITY INC: $30,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetTHE DAVID ROBINSON FOUNDATION: $27,500 over 2y, 36% of budgetThe Marty Lyons Foundation Inc: $27,500 over 3y, 1.8% of budgetURBANPROMISE TRENTON INC: $25,000 over 1y, 5.7% of budgetThe Florida State University Foundation Inc: $22,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetFUND FOR ISRAEL'S TOMORROW: $20,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetWRITE ON SPORTS INC: $20,000 over 1y, 11% of budgetDRIVEN FOUNDATION: $20,000 over 2y, 5.2% of budgetCOMPANIONS IN COURAGE FOUNDATION: $20,000 over 2y, 4.4% of budgetPACKER COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE: $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetEAST TEXAS COMMUNITIES FOUNDATION: $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetWARRICK DUNN CHARITIES INC: $17,500 over 2y, 1.2% of budgetDOC WAYNE INC: $15,000 over 1y, 1.9% of budgetTHE LOUISVILLE URBAN LEAGUE INC: $15,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetBROOKLYN JESUIT PREP: $15,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetDYNAMITE YOUTH CENTER FOUNDATION INC: $13,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetTHE EILEEN FUND CORP: $10,000 over 1y, 64% of budgetDickinson ISD Education Foundation Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetCAMP RAINBOW GOLD INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetPALS FOR LIFE ASSOCIATION: $10,000 over 1y, 5.1% of budgetHEROES MOVEMENT: $10,000 over 1y, 9.4% of budgetAN CLAIDHEAMH SOLUIS INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetUNITED NEGRO COLLEGE FUND INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCENTER FOR CHILDREN & FAMILIES INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.4% 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 THE NEW YORK COMMUNITY TRUST ↗
  • Who funds DONORSCHOOSEORG ↗
  • Who funds TIM TEBOW FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds Desire Street Ministries ↗
  • Who funds CRISTO REY NEW YORK HIGH SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds THE V FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds THE TORRETTA FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds JOHNNY RODGERS YOUTH FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds HBC FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds HARLEM RBI INC ↗
  • Who funds ATHLIFE FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds CURTIS GRANDERSON FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds The Defensive Line Inc ↗
  • Who funds THE MISTY COPELAND FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds ELS FOR AUTISM FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds George Rogers Foundation of the Carolinas Inc ↗
  • Who funds THE DOUG FLUTIE JR FOUNDATION FOR AUTISM INC ↗
  • Who funds LUCY OUTREACH A NJ NONPROFIT CORPORATION ↗
  • Who funds PAGE EDUCATION FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds MOVE UNITED ↗
  • Who funds TRENTON KAPPA FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds DR JOHN E UPLEDGER FOUNDATIONINC ↗
  • Who funds HABITAT FOR HUMANITY INTERNATIONAL INC ↗
  • Who funds WUERFFEL FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds CHARLIE AND TONJA WARD FAMILY FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE INC ↗
  • Who funds COASTAL COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF SOUTH CAROLINA 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.

Nfl Foundation IncNY18.8× affinity8 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Nfl Foundation Inc · The Goldman Sachs Charitable Gift Fund · Moglia Family Foundation · The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation · Chubb Charitable Foundation · Verizon Foundation · Morgan Stanley Foundation Inc · Community Foundation of New Jersey · Mutual of America Foundation · American Express Foundation · Amica Companies Foundation · Charities Aid Foundation America

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 Heisman Trophy Trust funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Heisman Trophy Trust. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 130%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%13%25%38%50%share of the org’s income from government →median 15%
  • Move United: 16% of income from government
  • Doc Wayne Inc: 15% of income from government
  • Annapolis Maritime Museum Inc: 2% of income from government
  • Urbanpromise Trenton Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
13get no government money at all
19report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–50%
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.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Heisman Trophy Trust?

Find your warmest path to Heisman Trophy Trust through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.

Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.

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 154 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 2017, released 2017. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

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