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Heller Foundation of San Diego at a glance

· Private foundation

Heller Foundation of San Diego

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.

$325k
Granted FY2025still arriving
35
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$67k
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, FY2020 to 2025.

Animals$430kEnvironment$345kHuman Services$260kRecreation & Sports$163kYouth Development$160kEducation$82kArts & Culture$75kFood & Nutrition$67kOther$0
02FY2025 · 35 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k27 grants · $113k
  • $10k–50k7 grants · $145k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $67k
$5,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$5.7M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF SAN DIEGO$67,000
ANZA-BORREGO FOUNDATION$40,000
YMCA OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY$35,000
YOSEMITE CONSERVANCY$20,000
CALIFORNIA STATE PARKS FOUNDATION$15,000
FRIENDS OF SUNSET CLIFF$15,000
BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF SAN DIEGO$10,000
YWCA SAN DIEGO COUNTY$10,000
CLASSICS 4 KIDS$5,000
SAN DIEGO HUMANE SOCIETY$5,000
SAN DIEGO RIVER PARK FOUNDATION$5,000
RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES OF SAN$5,000
SAN DIEGO CHALLENGE CENTER$5,000
MEALS ON WHEELS$5,000
SAN DIEGO COASTKEEPER$5,000
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:

Its human-services grants (FY20–25, $167k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%YMCA OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY: $39k → 11%YMCA OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY: $35k → 11%YMCA OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY: $15k → 11%ELDERHELP OF SAN DIEGO: $5k → 11%SAN DIEGO CENTER FOR CHILDREN: $1k → 11%OLIVEWOOD GARDENS & LEARNING CENTER: $5k → 11%ICF CENTER FOR CROSS BORDER PHILANTH: $4k → 11%OLIVEWOOD GARDENS & LEARNING CENTER INC: $4k → 11%ICF CENTER FOR CROSS BORDER PHILANTH: $3k → 11%ICF CENTER FOR CROSS BORDER PHILANTH: $3k → 11%ELDER HELP OF SAN DIEGO: $5k → 11%ELDER HELP OF SAN DIEGO: $5k → 11%ELDER HELP OF SAN DIEGO: $5k → 11%CASA DE AMPARO: $3k → 11%CASA DE AMPARO: $3k → 11%CASA DE AMPARO: $3k → 11%YWCA OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY: $10k → 11%YWCA SAN DIEGO COUNTY: $10k → 11%YWCA OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY: $10k → 11%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.

93%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.5M · 48 repeat orgs$124k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +34% since the first grant, against +25% for those funded once.

48 repeat relationships: 25 still active in FY2025, 23 since wound down; 9 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

48
15

Total granted

$1.5M
$72k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+34%
+25%

Still filing today

75%
60%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 84% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $52k went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24’25
Human ServicesRecreation & SportsArts & CultureYouth DevelopmentEnvironmentAnimalsOther
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

  • ZS
    ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF SAN DIEGO
    6× · 2020–2025 · $372k · revenue +77%
  • AF
    ANZA-BORREGO FOUNDATION
    6× · 2020–2025 · $130k · revenue +54%
  • YO
    YMCA OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY
    3× · 2023–2025 · $89k · revenue +55%

Funded once

  • BS
    BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA
    one grant, 2023 · $10k
  • BB
    BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF SAN DIEGO CT
    one grant, 2024 · $10k
  • SD
    SAN DIEGO IMPERIAL CENTER
    one grant, 2020 · $8k
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
San Diego Coasters
Arts & Culture
2
Nature Collective

Nature collective's mission is to drive a passion for nature for all. we think inclusively and diversely when serving those devoid of nature those who remember nature and want to connect back to it and those who have an affinity with…

Environment
3
San Diego Habitat Conservancy

Acquire, manage and protect land in perpetuity that supports sensitive habitats and species, and to educate and inspire people and communities as stewards and advocates of their natural environment.

Arts & Culture
4
The San Diego Foundation

The san diego foundation inspires enduring philanthropy and enables community solutions to improve the quality of life in our region.

Philanthropy
5
Quail Botanical Gardens Foundation

The mission of san diego botanic garden: we garden to create, share, and apply plant wisdom in our world. the organization's diverse topography and wide variety of microclimates provides visitors with the varied sensations of strolling…

Environment
6
Balboa Park Conservancy

Balboa Park Conservancy (the Conservancy) was organized on November 3, 1923. The Conservancy is the City of San Diegos (the City) partner and advocated for the greater good of Balboa Park (the Park). The Conservancy collaborated with and…

—
7
San Diego Double Ten Committee
Arts & Culture
8
San Diego Canyonlands Inc

To promote, protect and restore the natural habitats in San Diego County's canyons and creeks. We do this by fostering education and ongoing community involvement in stewardship and advocacy, and by collaborating with other organizations.

Environment
9
Institute for Public Strategies

Institute of Public Strategies (IPS) is a nonprofit corporation that receives its funding from local and federal governmental agencies and private foundations, through long-term grants or contracts to provide community-level services…

Health
10
Save Oceanside Sand

Save Oceanside Sand is a group of local activists dedicated to restoring and preserving the beaches of Oceanside, California. Working with local, regional, state, and federal authorities, our mission is to protect this vital resource by…

Education
11
San Diego Crime Commission

Law enforcement agencies in today's environment find it difficult to cope with the magnitude of crime without the involved support of business, media and community. Since 1981, the San Diego County Crime Commission has built public…

—
12
Downtown San Diego Public Spaces Foundation

To elevate the quality of life in our urban communities through improvements, services, and activations in downtown's parks and open spaces.

Recreation & Sports
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is San Diego Center for Children; the most unlike its peers is Changing Tides 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

49 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. 49 of the 73 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)
15
Early backer (in before they grew)
49/49
Grantees still filing
41/49
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

ANZA-BORREGO FOUNDATION: $130,000 · OtherANZA-BORREGO FOUNDATIONYMCA - SAN DIEGO: $70,000 · OtherYMCA - SAN DIEGOI LOVE A CLEAN SAN DIEGO: $35,000 · OtherBIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF SAN DIEGO: $32,500 · OtherMONARCH SCHOOL PROJECT: $23,000 · OtherFOREVER BALBOA PARK: $35,000 · OtherJACOBS & CUSHMAN SAN DIEGO FOOD BANK: $25,000 · Other+41 more: $327,500 · Other+41 moreZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF SAN DIEGO: $371,721 · AnimalsZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF SAN D…SAN DIEGO HUMANE SOCIETY AND SPCA: $27,500 · AnimalsSAN DIEGO HUMANE SOCIETY AN…+1 more: $5,000 · AnimalsCALIFORNIA STATE PARKS FOUNDATION: $75,000 · Recreation & SportsCALIFORNIA S…YOSEMITE FOUNDATION: $60,000 · Recreation & SportsYOSEMITE FOU…The San Diego River Park Foundation: $30,000 · Recreation & SportsThe San Dieg…San Diego Parks Foundation: $17,500 · Recreation & SportsSan Diego Pa…YMCA OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY: $89,175 · Human ServicesYMCA OF SAN…YWCA OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY: $30,000 · Human ServicesYWCA OF SAN…ELDERHELP OF SAN DIEGO: $20,000 · Human ServicesELDERHELP O…OLIVEWOODS GARDENS & LEARNING CENTER INC: $19,000 · Human ServicesOLIVEWOODS …Casa De Amparo: $7,500 · Human Services+1 more: $1,000 · Human ServicesSAN DIEGO SOCIETY OF NATURAL HISTORY: $45,000 · Arts & CultureCabrillo National Monument Foundation: $30,000 · Arts & CultureSAN DIEGO MUSEUM OF MAN DBA MUSEUM OF US: $14,000 · Arts & Culture+1 more: $1,500 · Arts & CultureOUTDOOR OUTREACH: $30,000 · Youth DevelopmentGIRL SCOUTS SAN DIEGO-IMPERIAL COUNCIL INC: $27,500 · Youth DevelopmentBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF GREATER SAN DIEGO: $5,000 · Youth DevelopmentOUTSIDE THE LENS: $5,000 · Youth DevelopmentSan Diego Bird Alliance: $25,325 · EnvironmentLIVING COAST DISCOVERY CENTER: $25,000 · EnvironmentSAN DIEGO COASTKEEPER: $15,000 · Environment+1 more: $2,000 · Environment
Other$678,000Animals$404,221Recreation & Sports$182,500Human Services$166,675Arts & Culture$90,500Youth Development$67,500Environment$67,325

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 budgetZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF SAN DIEGO: $371,721 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetANZA-BORREGO FOUNDATION: $130,000 over 6y, 2.7% of budgetYMCA OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY: $89,175 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCALIFORNIA STATE PARKS FOUNDATION: $75,000 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetYOSEMITE FOUNDATION: $60,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetSAN DIEGO SOCIETY OF NATURAL HISTORY: $45,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetFOREVER BALBOA PARK: $35,000 over 4y, 0.7% of budgetThe San Diego River Park Foundation: $30,000 over 3y, 1.3% of budgetOUTDOOR OUTREACH: $30,000 over 6y, 0.3% of budgetCabrillo National Monument Foundation: $30,000 over 3y, 1.1% of budgetYWCA OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY: $30,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetSAN DIEGO HUMANE SOCIETY AND SPCA: $27,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetGIRL SCOUTS SAN DIEGO-IMPERIAL COUNCIL INC: $27,500 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetSan Diego Bird Alliance: $25,325 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetJACOBS & CUSHMAN SAN DIEGO FOOD BANK: $25,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetLIVING COAST DISCOVERY CENTER: $25,000 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetMONARCH SCHOOL PROJECT: $23,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetSan Diego-Imperial Council Boy Scouts of America: $20,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetELDERHELP OF SAN DIEGO: $20,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetOLIVEWOODS GARDENS & LEARNING CENTER INC: $19,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetSan Diego Parks Foundation: $17,500 over 4y, 1.8% of budgetSAN DIEGO COASTKEEPER: $15,000 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetSAN DIEGO MUSEUM OF MAN DBA MUSEUM OF US: $14,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetUNITED THROUGH READING: $13,500 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetVOICES FOR CHILDREN: $10,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetSAN DIEGO PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION: $9,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetCasa De Amparo: $7,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetSAN DIEGO SECOND CHANCE PROGRAM: $7,500 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetWRITE OUT LOUD: $7,500 over 3y, 1.6% of budgetSAN DIEGO YOUTH SYMPHONY & CONSERVATORY: $7,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF GREATER SAN DIEGO: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetRONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES OF SAN DIEGO INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSan Diego Council on Literacy: $5,000 over 2y, 1.4% of budgetSAN DIEGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetHUBBS-SEA WORLD RESEARCH INSTITUTE: $5,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetBIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF GREEN COUNTY INC: $5,000 over 1y, 2.6% of budgetSAN DIEGO EDUCATION FUND: $4,500 over 2y, 1.3% of budgetTHE SAN MARCOS PROMISE: $4,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetREUBEN H FLEET SCIENCE CENTER: $3,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetAGUA HEDIONDA LAGOON FOUNDATION: $3,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetCOASTAL ROOTS FARM: $3,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetSANDIEGO350: $2,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetTHERAPY CENTER INC DBA CHALLENGE CENTER: $1,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetLAMBS PLAYERS THEATRE: $1,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBurn Institute: $1,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSAN DIEGO CENTER FOR CHILDREN: $1,000 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 ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF SAN DIEGO ↗
  • Who funds ANZA-BORREGO FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds YMCA OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY ↗
  • Who funds CALIFORNIA STATE PARKS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds YOSEMITE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds SAN DIEGO SOCIETY OF NATURAL HISTORY ↗
  • Who funds FOREVER BALBOA PARK ↗
  • Who funds The San Diego River Park Foundation ↗
  • Who funds OUTDOOR OUTREACH ↗
  • Who funds Cabrillo National Monument Foundation ↗
  • Who funds YWCA OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY ↗
  • Who funds SAN DIEGO HUMANE SOCIETY AND SPCA ↗
  • Who funds GIRL SCOUTS SAN DIEGO-IMPERIAL COUNCIL INC ↗
  • Who funds San Diego Bird Alliance ↗
  • Who funds JACOBS & CUSHMAN SAN DIEGO FOOD BANK ↗
  • Who funds LIVING COAST DISCOVERY CENTER ↗
  • Who funds MONARCH SCHOOL PROJECT ↗
  • Who funds San Diego-Imperial Council Boy Scouts of America ↗
  • Who funds ELDERHELP OF SAN DIEGO ↗
  • Who funds OLIVEWOODS GARDENS & LEARNING CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds San Diego Parks Foundation ↗
  • Who funds SAN DIEGO COASTKEEPER ↗
  • Who funds SAN DIEGO MUSEUM OF MAN DBA MUSEUM OF US ↗
  • Who funds UNITED THROUGH READING ↗
  • Who funds VOICES FOR CHILDREN ↗
  • Who funds SAN DIEGO PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION ↗

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 San Diego Foundat…The Conrad Prebys Fou…Pratt Memorial FundSamuel I & John Henry…Price Philanthropies …Jewish Community Foun…Sempra FoundationThe Nordson Corporati…Walter J & Betty C Za…The Cushman FoundationThe Parker FoundationArt Pratt Foundation …
The San Diego FoundationCA70.6× affinity37 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The San Diego Foundation · The Conrad Prebys Foundation · Pratt Memorial Fund · Samuel I & John Henry Fox Foundation · Price Philanthropies Foundation · Jewish Community Foundation of San Diego · Sempra Foundation · The Nordson Corporation Foundation · Walter J & Betty C Zable Foundation · The Cushman Foundation · The Parker Foundation · Art Pratt Foundation of Old Mission Rc

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 Heller Foundation of San Diego funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Heller Foundation of San Diego. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%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
    22report 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 73 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 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Heller Foundation of San Diego’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