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Paul Hellman Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Paul Hellman 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.

$11k
Granted FY2024still arriving
8
Grants FY2024still arriving
4
States reached
$3k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0194% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Human Services$16kCrime & Legal$13kInternational$11kEnvironment$10kCivil Rights$9kHealth$9kPublic Benefit$9kFood & Nutrition$4kOther$0
02FY2024 · 8 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$1,338
Median grant
4
States reached
$212k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
NIRH$2,866
COMMON CAUSE$2,484
GRASSROOTS GROCERY$1,529
GIVE DIRECTLY$1,338
NEW YORK IMMIGRATION COALITION$1,338
JEREMIAH PROGRAM$956
SEEDS FOR PEACE$573
CHARITY NAVIGATOR$382
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, $5k) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 92% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%CHARITY NAVIGATOR: $382 → 7%CHARITY WATER: $1k → 17%CHARITY WATER: $767 → 17%BRIGIS ALLIANCE: $2k → 17%CHARITY WATER: $390 → 17%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

WA
MN
NY
MA
NJ
CA
MD
TN
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.
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 100% of Paul Hellman 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, 0%.

Paul Hellman Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address
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.

65%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$58k · 19 repeat orgs$31k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +80% since the first grant, against +12% for those funded once.

19 repeat relationships: 3 still active in FY2024, 16 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

19
17

Total granted

$58k
$24k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+80%
+12%

Still filing today

84%
76%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 33% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $8k 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
InternationalHealthHuman ServicesCivil RightsFood & NutritionCrime & LegalOther
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

  • CC
    COMMON CAUSE EDUCATION FUND
    2× · 2020–2021 · $9k · revenue +112%
  • JP
    JEREMIAH PROGRAM
    7× · 2017–2024 · $8k · revenue +161%
  • EQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE
    3× · 2017–2019 · $4k · revenue +85%

Funded once

  • NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE & EDUC FUND INC
    one grant, 2020 · $4k · revenue -54%
  • 3
    350ORG
    one grant, 2018 · $3k · revenue -17%
  • GLOBALGIVING FOUNDATION INCgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $2k · revenue +34%
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
Actionaid Usa

Actionaid is an international network building a just, equitable, and sustainable world in solidarity with communities on the frontlines of poverty and injustice. actionaid usa is the u.s. branch of actionaid international, which works in…

Social Science
2
Global Poverty Project Inc

Our mission is to build a movement of global citizens whose actions will help achieve our vision of a world without extreme poverty.

Social Science
3
Direct Action for Women Now World-Wide Inc Formerly Indias Daughters Inc
Philanthropy
4
The Global FoodBanking Network

To nourish the world's hungry through uniting and advancing food banks.

International
5
Waterorg

Water.org's goal is to bring safe water and sanitation to the world through access to small, affordable loans.

International
6
Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition

The mission of the global alliance for improved nutrition (gain) is to improve the consumption of healthier diets for all, especially the most vulnerable, by improving the availability, affordability, desirability, and sustainability of…

Food & Nutrition
7
Namati Inc

Namati, inc. (namati) is dedicated to putting the law in people's hands. we strive to build a just world, in which every one of us can take part in the decisions and demand accountability from the institutions that affect our lives.…

Crime & Legal
8
Climate Catalyst Inc

Climate catalyst sparks collective action to tackle the biggest climate challenges we face today: cutting emissions in heavy industries.

Environment
9
Partners in Food Solutions

Improve the food value chain in developing countries by mobilizing corporate volunteers to share knowledge and expertise with small and growing food processors.

International
10
Asociacion Interamericana Para La Defensa Del Ambiente

To strenghten people's ability to guarantee their individual and collective right to a healthy environment, via the development, implementation, and effective enforcement of national and international law.

Crime & Legal
11
American Flood Coalition Inc

To drive transformational adaptation to protect communities across the country from higher seas, stronger storms, and more frequent flooding.

Environment
12
Friends of the Earth

Friends of the earth strives for a more healthy and just world by defendng the environment and human health while advancing social and economic justice by conducting research and education, transforming the economy so it protects the…

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Action Against Hunger - Usa; the most unlike its peers is Humane World for Animals International. 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

33 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. 33 of the 42 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)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
33/33
Grantees still filing
24/33
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

BRENNAN CENTER FOR JUSTICE: $3,765 · OtherBRENNAN CENTER FOR JUSTICENIRH: $2,866 · OtherNIRHCOMMON CAUSE: $2,484 · OtherCOMMON CAUSEAMERICAN IMMIGRATION COUNCIL: $1,559 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $1,535 · OtherNEW YORK IMMIGRATION COALITION INC: $1,338 · OtherTIDES FOUNDATION: $3,800 · OtherTIDES FOUNDATIONThe Life You Can Save: $2,000 · OtherTHE METROWEST FREE MEDICAL PROGRAM INC: $2,000 · OtherMETAVIVOR RESEARCH AND SUPPORT INC: $1,559 · OtherEVERYTOWN FOR GUN SAFETY SUPPORT FUND INC: $4,024 · OtherEVERYTOWN FOR GUN SAFETY SUPPORT FUND INCNY COMMUNITY FRIDGE CORP: $4,176 · OtherNY COMMUNITY FRIDGE CORPHumane World for Animals International: $2,630 · OtherHumane World for Animals International+12 more: $6,082 · Other+12 moreInternational Rescue Committee INC: $2,761 · InternationalInternationa…GLOBALGIVING FOUNDATION INC: $2,485 · InternationalGLOBALGIVING…WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $1,765 · InternationalWORLD CENTRA…ACTION AGAINST HUNGER - USA: $1,148 · InternationalACTION AGAIN…CAMFED USA FOUNDATION: $1,144 · InternationalCAMFED USA F…SEEDS OF PEACE INC: $573 · InternationalSEEDS OF PEA…Center for Arms Control and: $573 · InternationalCenter for A…COALITION FOR RAINFOREST NATIONS SECRETARIAT: $7,085 · EnvironmentCOALITION FO…350ORG: $2,853 · Environment350ORGCOMMON CAUSE EDUCATION FUND: $8,936 · Public BenefitCOMMON CAU…JEREMIAH PROGRAM: $8,157 · Housing & ShelterJEREMIAH …EQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE: $4,226 · Civil RightsEQUAL JUS…NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE & EDUC FUND INC: $3,800 · Civil RightsNAACP LEG…GIVEDIRECTLY INC: $3,103 · Human ServicesGIVEDIREC…CHARITY GLOBAL INC: $2,298 · Human ServicesCHARITY G…THE BRIGID ALLIANCE INC: $2,000 · Human ServicesTHE BRIGI…Charity Navigator: $382 · Human Services
Other$39,818International$10,449Environment$9,938Public Benefit$8,936Housing & Shelter$8,157Civil Rights$8,026Human Services$7,783

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 budgetCOMMON CAUSE EDUCATION FUND: $8,936 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetJEREMIAH PROGRAM: $8,157 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetCOALITION FOR RAINFOREST NATIONS SECRETARIAT: $7,085 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetEQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE: $4,226 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetNY COMMUNITY FRIDGE CORP: $4,176 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetEVERYTOWN FOR GUN SAFETY SUPPORT FUND INC: $4,024 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetNAACP LEGAL DEFENSE & EDUC FUND INC: $3,800 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTIDES FOUNDATION: $3,800 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGIVEDIRECTLY INC: $3,103 over 2y, 0.0% of budget350ORG: $2,853 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetInternational Rescue Committee INC: $2,761 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetHumane World for Animals International: $2,630 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetGLOBALGIVING FOUNDATION INC: $2,485 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCHARITY GLOBAL INC: $2,298 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetThe Life You Can Save: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE BRIGID ALLIANCE INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE METROWEST FREE MEDICAL PROGRAM INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $1,765 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN IMMIGRATION COUNCIL: $1,559 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMETAVIVOR RESEARCH AND SUPPORT INC: $1,559 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNEW YORK IMMIGRATION COALITION INC: $1,338 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGood Call NYC: $1,151 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetACTION AGAINST HUNGER - USA: $1,148 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetPLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA INC: $1,145 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCAMFED USA FOUNDATION: $1,144 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetBLOOD CANCER UNITED INC: $861 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSEEDS OF PEACE INC: $573 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCenter for Arms Control and: $573 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCharity Navigator: $382 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc: $200 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetGREATER BOSTON FOOD BANK INC: $150 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPAN-MASSACHUSETTS CHALLENGE INC: $150 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFOOD BANK OF CONTRA COSTA AND SOLANO: $100 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.

American Online Givin…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
American Online Giving Foundation IncDE7.8× affinity4 shared granteesties to 3 of 3Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: American Online Giving Foundation 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 Paul Hellman Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Paul Hellman Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 30%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%10%20%30%40%share of the org’s income from government →median 7%
  • Greater Boston Food Bank Inc: 22% of income from government
  • Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc: 7% of income from government
  • Pan-Massachusetts Challenge Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
3get no government money at all
3report 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 42 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 Paul Hellman’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