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Helaine Edgar Opportunity Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Helaine Edgar Opportunity Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$261k
Granted FY2024still arriving
10
Grants FY2024still arriving
3
States reached
$36k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0195% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2021 to 2024.

Education$230kEmployment$130kInternational$72kCommunity Improvement$55kRecreation & Sports$50kCrime & Legal$36kPhilanthropy$36kYouth Development$35kOther$0
02FY2024 · 10 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$25,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$8.1M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
AID Coalition$36,000
HFS Chicago Scholars$25,000
Growing Home Inc$25,000
Industrial Council for Nearwest Chi$25,000
Revolution Workshop$25,000
Evanston Scholars$25,000
CHAMPS Male Mentoring$25,000
West Town Bikes$25,000
Math Circles of Chicago$25,000
Chabad Center of Sudbury INC$25,000
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY21–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 89% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%JAZMINE SAAVEDRA: $6k → 8%AID Coalition: $36k → 10%The Shalem Foundation: $36k → 17%Ocean State Job Lot Charitable Foun: $36k → 14%Growing Home Inc: $25k → 14%ISAI ARGUETA: $5k → 8%GROWING HOME INC: $10k → 14%JAZMINE SAAVEDRA: $2k → 8%Evanston Scholars: $25k → 14%ISAI ARGUETA: $500 → 8%Evanston Scholars: $25k → 14%ALESHA ARBOLEDA: $50 → 8%RYAN BANKS ACADEMY: $10k → 14%Chabad Center of Sudbury INC: $25k → 8%EVANSTON SCHOLARS: $10k → 14%Industrial Council for Nearwest Chi: $25k → 14%INDUSTRIAL COUNCIL FOR NW CHGO: $10k → 14%Math Circles of Chicago: $25k → 14%Math Circles of Chicago: $25k → 14%West Town Bikes: $25k → 14%MINDS MATTER CHICAGO: $10k → 14%West Town Bikes: $25k → 14%HIGH JUMP: $10k → 14%WEST TOWN BIKE: $10k → 14%MATH CIRCLES OF CHICAGO: $10k → 14%CHAMPS Male Mentoring: $25k → 14%CHICAGO SUNSHINE ENTERPRISE: $10k → 14%CHAMPS MALE MENTORING: $10k → 14%HFS Chicago Scholars: $25k → 14%HFS Chicago Scholars: $25k → 14%HFS CHICAGO SCHOLARS: $10k → 14%Growing Home Inc: $25k → 14%Jewish United Fund of Chicago: $36k → 14%YOUTH JOB CENTER: $10k → 14%NORTHWEST SETTLEMENT FDTN: $10k → 14%Revolution Workshop: $25k → 14%Revolution Workshop: $25k → 14%REVOLUTION WORKSHOP: $10k → 14%MAAFA REDEMPTION PROJECT: $10k → 14%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.
04

Where the work is directed

The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.

About 10% of Helaine Edgar Opportunity Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address. By recipient address, 12% of the giving stays in MA; by stated purpose, 7%.

Helaine Edgar Opportunity Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address · 16% directed abroad (not shown)
How this is measured
Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the funder’s own 990 grant descriptions.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

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

58%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$398k · 9 repeat orgs$291k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +49% since the first grant, against +16% for those funded once.

9 repeat relationships: 7 still active in FY2024, 2 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

9
15

Total granted

$398k
$205k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+49%
+16%

Still filing today

78%
53%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 67% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $86k went to new ones.

50%100%’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’21’22’23’24
EducationEmploymentCommunity ImprovementPhilanthropyYouth DevelopmentRecreation & 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

  • HC
    HFS CHICAGO SCHOLARS
    3× · 2022–2024 · $60k · revenue +18%
  • ES
    EVANSTON SCHOLARS
    3× · 2022–2024 · $60k · revenue +53%
  • MC
    MATH CIRCLES OF CHICAGO
    3× · 2022–2024 · $60k · revenue +105%

Funded once

  • TS
    The Shalem Foundation
    one grant, 2023 · $36k · revenue -49%
  • JU
    JEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGOgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $36k · revenue +32%
  • OS
    Ocean State Job Lot Charitable Foun
    one grant, 2023 · $36k
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
Students Run Chicago
Health
2
Chicago Youth Programs Inc

Tutoring and mentoring programs for inner city youth.

—
3
The Chicago Scholars Foundation

Chicago scholars is transforming the leadership landscape of our city by resolving the fundamental barriers to success for academically driven, first generation college students from under-resourced communities.

Education
4
The Chicago High School for the Arts

The chicago high school for the arts (chiarts) develops the next generation of diverse, artistically promising scholar-artists through intensive pre-professional training in the arts, combined with a comprehensive college preparatory…

Education
5
Highsight

To provide academic & social support to inner-city chicago high school students. program provides scholarships, mentors & tutors to enable students to succeed in the high school of their choice.

Community Improvement
6
Chicago Collegiate Inc

To equip all students in grades six through twelve with the academic skills, intellectual habits and character traits to succeed in the college of their choice, strenghten their communities and change the world.

Education
7
Equality Dream Team

Provide resources and tools to help african american youth from underserved communities aged 14-24 achieve economic sustainability through education, career, and workforce development.

Education
8
Chicago Votes

Chicago Votes is a non-partisan, non-profit organization building a more inclusive democracy by putting power in the hands of young Chicagoans. We're engaging and developing a new generation of leaders by opening the doors of government,…

Civil Rights
9
Chicago Chess Foundation

We provide all Chicago youth with equitable access to chess education empowering them with essential life skills for success on and off the board.

Recreation & Sports
10
Chicago Summer Business Institute Inc

The chicago summer business institute was founded in 1991 to provide meaningful summer jobs for chicago high school students and to introduce them to the financial services sector. positions at financial firms throughout chicago are…

Employment
11
Future Founders Foundation

Future founders is building the nation's largest inclusive community of intentional young entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial-minded leaders.

Education
12
A Better Chicago

A better chicago is changing how chicago fights poverty by investing in bold ideas that create opportunity for our youth.

Human Services
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is High Jump; the most unlike its peers is The Shalem Foundation. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
05the grantee network

16 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. 16 of the 27 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)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
16/16
Grantees still filing
11/16
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

MATH CIRCLES OF CHICAGO: $60,000 · OtherMATH CIRCLES OF CHICAGOOcean State Job Lot Charitable Foun: $36,000 · OtherOcean State Job Lot Charitable FounIndustrial Council for Nearwest Chi: $25,000 · OtherIndustrial Council for Nearwest ChiCHABAD CENTER OF SUDBURY INC: $25,000 · OtherCHABAD CENTER OF SUDBURY INCRYAN BANKS ACADEMY: $10,000 · OtherINDUSTRIAL COUNCIL FOR NW CHGO: $10,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $10,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $10,000 · OtherYOUTH JOB CENTER INC: $10,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $7,500 · Other+4 more: $12,386 · Other+4 moreHFS CHICAGO SCHOLARS: $60,000 · EducationHFS CHICAGO SCHOLARSEVANSTON SCHOLARS: $60,000 · EducationEVANSTON SCHOLARSCHAMPS MALE MENTORING PROGRAM - CHIRISE: $35,000 · EducationCHAMPS MALE MENTORING PROGR…HIGH JUMP: $10,000 · EducationHIGH JUMPREVOLUTION WORKSHOP: $60,000 · EmploymentREVOLUTION WORKSHOPGROWING HOME INC: $60,000 · EmploymentGROWING HOME INCJEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO: $36,000 · PhilanthropyJEWISH UNIT…AMERICA ISRAEL DEMOCRACY COALITION: $36,000 · PhilanthropyAMERICA ISR…WEST TOWN BIKES NFP: $50,000 · Recreation & SportsThe Shalem Foundation: $36,000 · Crime & LegalMAAFA Redemption Project: $10,000 · Community ImprovementCHICAGO'S SUNSHINE ENTERPRISES INC: $10,000 · Community ImprovementMINDS MATTER OF CHICAGO INC: $10,000 · Youth Development
Other$215,886Education$165,000Employment$120,000Philanthropy$72,000Recreation & Sports$50,000Crime & Legal$36,000Community Improvement$20,000Youth Development$10,000

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 budgetHFS CHICAGO SCHOLARS: $60,000 over 3y, 2.0% of budgetEVANSTON SCHOLARS: $60,000 over 3y, 1.8% of budgetMATH CIRCLES OF CHICAGO: $60,000 over 3y, 3.6% of budgetREVOLUTION WORKSHOP: $60,000 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetGROWING HOME INC: $60,000 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetWEST TOWN BIKES NFP: $50,000 over 2y, 5.6% of budgetThe Shalem Foundation: $36,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetJEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO: $36,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICA ISRAEL DEMOCRACY COALITION: $36,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetCHAMPS MALE MENTORING PROGRAM - CHIRISE: $35,000 over 2y, 2.1% of budgetMAAFA Redemption Project: $10,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetRYAN BANKS ACADEMY: $10,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetMINDS MATTER OF CHICAGO INC: $10,000 over 1y, 4.0% of budgetHIGH JUMP: $10,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetYOUTH JOB CENTER INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetCHICAGO'S SUNSHINE ENTERPRISES INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% 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.

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.

The Chicago Community…Jpmorgan Chase Founda…Robert R McCormick Fo…Polk Bros Foundation …Circle of Service Fou…United Way of Metropo…Jewish Federation of …AbbVie FoundationSilicon Valley Commun…Local Initiatives Sup…National Philanthropi…The Bank of America C…
The Chicago Community TrustIL25.4× affinity12 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Chicago Community Trust · Jpmorgan Chase Foundation · Robert R McCormick Foundation · Polk Bros Foundation Inc · Circle of Service Foundation · United Way of Metropolitan Chicago Inc · Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago · AbbVie Foundation · Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Local Initiatives Support Corporation · National Philanthropic Trust · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc

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 Helaine Edgar Opportunity Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Helaine Edgar Opportunity Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%10%20%30%40%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    7report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–40%
    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 Helaine Edgar Opportunity Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Helaine Edgar Opportunity Foundation 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 27 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 Helaine Edgar Opportunity’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