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Helfrich Family Fund at a glance

· Private foundation

Helfrich Family Fund

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.

$6k
Granted FY2024still arriving
9
Grants FY2024still arriving
7
States reached
$3k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0187% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Arts & Culture$6kEducation$3kFood & Nutrition$3kReligion$3kHealth$2kCivil Rights$1kEnvironment$500Public Benefit$500Other$0
02FY2024 · 9 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$400
Median grant
7
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Ideastream Public Media$2,500
Magical Theatre Co$1,000
Southern Poverty Law Center$500
Reproductive Freedom for All Founda$500
American Library Association$400
Round House Theatre$300
Creative Cauldron$300
Signature Theatre$250
ProPublica$153
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 (FY20–21, $625) land where the poverty rate runs at 6%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%FOOD FOR OTHERS: $500 → 6%FOOD FOR OTHERS: $125 → 6%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

VT
IL
WI
NY
OH
VA
MD
DC
AL
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.

59%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$13k · 9 repeat orgs$9k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +41% since the first grant, against +21% for those funded once.

9 repeat relationships: 0 still active in FY2024, 9 since wound down; 9 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

9
7

Total granted

$13k
$3k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+41%
+21%

Still filing today

44%
43%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 0% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $6k went to new ones.

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

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’24
Arts & CultureEducationFood & NutritionCivil RightsEnvironmentYouth DevelopmentOther
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

  • AR
    AKRON-CANTON REGIONAL FOODBANK
    4× · 2017–2020 · $2k · revenue +43%
  • FF
    FOOD FOR OTHERS INC
    2× · 2020–2021 · $625 · revenue +33%
  • CM
    CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART
    2× · 2019–2021 · $575 · revenue +32%

Funded once

  • CO
    CHURCH ON SILVER LAKE
    one grant, 2020 · $600
  • TS
    The Sanders Institutegraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $500 · revenue +33%
  • 9W
    903 WCPN IDEASTREAM RADIO
    one grant, 2017 · $500
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
America's Newspapers

Providing research, education and practical information all aimed at optimizing newspapers' business operations, deepening their community engagement and enhancing the quality of their journalism.

Employment
2
The American Theatre Guild

The american theatre guild is dedicated to providing the experience of live theatre to foster passion, inspire creativity and empower youth within our communities.

Arts & Culture
3
Oklahoma Repertory Theatre Group Inc

Okc rep produces live theater that builds community, creates conversation, and inspires us all.

Arts & Culture
4
State Theatre Center for the Arts Inc

The theatre's mission is to unite the community using the power of our cultural resources and to provide a stage to celebrate and explore the arts together. we bring together, enrich the lives, and entertain people of all ages, races,…

Arts & Culture
5
Watertower Theatre Inc

To create innovative, diverse theatre that builds community by fostering empathy and dialogue.

Arts & Culture
6
Oregon Shakespeare Festival Association Inc

The oregon shakespeare festival creates world-class theater, revealing our collective humanity through illuminating interpretations of new and classic plays, and inspiring a love of our art form for current and future generations.

Arts & Culture
7
Academy of Television Arts and Sciences

The Television Academy is dedicated to celebrating excellence, innovation and the advancement of the telecommunications arts and sciences through recognition, education and leadership, while fostering a diverse, inclusive and accessible…

—
8
Ohio State Bar Association

The ohio state bar association (the "association") is an unincorporated voluntary non-profit organization. the association was formed to promote justice and advance the interests of the legal profession.

—
9
Shattered Globe Theatre

Engaging audiences in dynamic re-imaginings of classic works, as well as premiere productions that celebrate new voices and innovative viewpoints.

Arts & Culture
10
Center Stage Associates Inc

See schedule o.inspired by our home city, baltimore center stage acts as a cultural catalyst for all communities to access theater in every form and engage in compelling conversations. programming: capture the collective imagination and…

Arts & Culture
11
Unicorn Theatre

The unicorn theatre exists to enhance the cultural life of kansas city by producing professional contemporary, thought-provoking theater, which inspires emotional response and stimulates discussion.

Arts & Culture
12
Nashville Public Radio

Nashville public radio's mission is to be the most trusted & independent nashville voice, connecting our communities through non-partisan journalism, compelling storytelling, civil conversation and music discovery.

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Round House Theatre Inc; the most unlike its peers is Cleveland Museum of Art. 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

14 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. 14 of the 25 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)
0
Early backer (in before they grew)
14/14
Grantees still filing
8/14
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Individual grant recipient: $3,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientIndividual grant recipient: $2,575 · OtherIndividual grant recipientLILY DALE HEALING TEMPLE: $2,000 · OtherLILY DALE HEALING TEMPLEINOVA LIFE WITH CANCER PROGRAM: $1,500 · OtherINOVA LIFE WITH CANCER PROGRAMMagical Theatre Co: $1,000 · OtherMagical Theatre CoCHURCH ON SILVER LAKE: $600 · Other903 WCPN IDEASTREAM RADIO: $500 · OtherReproductive Freedom for All Founda: $500 · OtherSOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC: $500 · Other350ORG: $500 · Other+3 more: $625 · OtherIDEASTREAM: $2,500 · Youth DevelopmentIDEASTREAMAKRON-CANTON REGIONAL FOODBANK: $2,000 · Food & NutritionAKRON-CANT…CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART: $575 · Arts & CultureCLEVELAND…Creative Cauldron Inc: $300 · Arts & CultureCreative …ROUND HOUSE THEATRE INC: $300 · Arts & CultureROUND HOU…MAGICAL THEATRE COMPANY: $300 · Arts & CultureMAGICAL T…SIGNATURE THEATRE INC: $250 · Arts & CultureSIGNATURE…PRO PUBLICA INC: $153 · Arts & CulturePRO PUBLI…UNION THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY: $500 · EducationAMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION: $400 · EducationFOOD FOR OTHERS INC: $625 · Human ServicesThe Sanders Institute: $500 · Civil Rights
Other$13,300Youth Development$2,500Food & Nutrition$2,000Arts & Culture$1,878Education$900Human Services$625Civil Rights$500

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 budgetIDEASTREAM: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAKRON-CANTON REGIONAL FOODBANK: $2,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetFOOD FOR OTHERS INC: $625 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART: $575 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetThe Sanders Institute: $500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUNION THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budget350ORG: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION: $400 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCreative Cauldron Inc: $300 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetROUND HOUSE THEATRE INC: $300 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSIGNATURE THEATRE INC: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPRO PUBLICA INC: $153 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.

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.

Vanguard Charitable E…Morgan Stanley Global…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Vanguard Charitable Endowment ProgramPA10.2× affinity5 shared granteesties to 4 of 4Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile Foundation

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 Helfrich Family Fund funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Helfrich Family Fund. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%10%20%30%40%share of the org’s income from government →median 5%
  • Round House Theatre Inc: 5% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
5report 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.

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 25 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

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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