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Ray of Hope Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Ray of Hope Foundation

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.

$1.2M
Granted FY2025still arriving
5
Grants FY2025still arriving
3
States reached
$1.0M
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, FY2017 to 2025.

Education$1.0MHealth$520kReligion$395kYouth Development$172kHuman Services$50kHousing & Shelter$20kAnimals$10kEnvironment$2k
02FY2025 · 5 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • $10k–50k2 grants · $20k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $175k
  • $250k+1 grant · $1.0M
$50,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$6k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Northeastern University$1,000,000
STARability Foundation$125,000
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southern Maine$50,000
University Southern Maine Foundation$10,000
SNIP Collier Inc$10,000
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 (FY19–22, $20k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 50% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants spread fairly evenly across need levels.

area typical 12%Greater Boston Real Estate Board Foundation: $10k → 16%Preble Street: $10k → 7%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 47% of Ray of Hope Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address.

Ray of Hope 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.

50%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.1M · 8 repeat orgs$1.1M to everyone else

8 repeat relationships: 2 still active in FY2025, 6 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

8
10

Total granted

$1.1M
$90k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+18%
+29%

Still filing today

63%
80%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 15% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $1.0M went to new ones.

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

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

’17’19’20’22’23’24’25
HealthEducationPhilanthropyHuman ServicesAnimalsPublic BenefitOther
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

  • SF
    STARABILITY FOUNDATION INC
    4× · 2022–2025 · $475k · revenue +290%
  • BB
    Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southern ME
    4× · 2020–2025 · $152k · revenue +18%
  • TW
    THE WISDOM OF HEALING SCHOOL INC
    2× · 2023–2024 · $10k · revenue +9%

Funded once

  • M
    MaineHealthgraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $19k · revenue +106%
  • CL
    CHAI LIFELINE INC
    one grant, 2022 · $10k · revenue +13%
  • TRAVIS MILLS FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2019 · $10k · revenue +19%
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
MaineGeneral Health

To enhance, every day, the health of our patients, our families and our communities. We do that through a range of health care services for people of all ages, in a variety of care settings.

Health
2
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Mid-Maine

Role models (bigs) in one-to-one friendships in seven counties throughout Eastern, Coastal, and Central Maine. They partner with parents, in conjunction with over 30 schools and hundreds of volunteers and generous partners in our community…

—
3
President and Trustees of Bates College

Bates is a college of the liberal arts and sciences, and is a coeducational, nonsectarian, residential college with special commitments to academic rigor, and to assuring in all of its efforts the dignity of each individual, and access to…

Education
4
Brighton Marine Inc

Brighton marine, inc. provides military and veteran families with comprehensive campus-based quality health care, as well as affordable and supportive housing for at-risk veterans and their families.

Health
5
Maine Behavioral Healthcare

Maine Behavioral Healthcare provides a seamless and compassionate continuum of care through a community of providers collaborating to promote recovery and the overall mental and physical well-being of those we are privileged to serve.

—
6
Bridgton Hospital

To provide exceptional healthcare services in a safe and trustfulenvironment through the expertise, commitment, and compassion ofour family of caregivers.

Health
7
Community Health and Nursing Services

Community Health and Nursing Services (CHANS) provides home health andcommunity health promotion services in Brunswick, Bath, andsurrounding communities.

Health
8
University of New England

The University of New England prepares students to thrive in a rapidly-changing world and, in so doing, to improve the health of people, communities, and our planet.

Education
9
Ronald McDonald House Charities of Maine Inc

Ronald McDonald House Charities of Maine creates, finds and supports programs that directly improve the health and well being of children statewide; provides affordable home away from home lodging which increases access to medical care for…

Health
10
Central Maine Healthcare Corporation

To provide exceptional healthcare services in a safe and trustful environment through the expertise, committment, and compassion of our family of caregivers.

Health
11
Central Maine Medical Center

To provide exceptional healthcare services in a safe and trustfulenvironment through the expertise, commitment and compassion of ourfamily of caregivers.

Health
12
Rumford Hospital

To provide exceptional healthcare services in a safe and trustfulenvironment through the expertise, commitment and compassion of ourfamily of caregivers.

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Center for Grieving Children; the most unlike its peers is Snip Collier Inc. 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 21 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)
16/16
Grantees still filing
13/16
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY: $1,000,000 · EducationNORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY+1 more: $10,000 · EducationMESIVTA YESHIVA RABBI CHAIM BERLIN: $395,000 · OtherMESIVTA YESHIVA RABBI CHAIM BERL…Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southern ME: $152,000 · OtherBig Brothers Big Sisters of Sout…Ronald McDonald House: $40,000 · OtherRonald McDonald House+7 more: $52,050 · Other+7 moreSTARABILITY FOUNDATION INC: $475,000 · PhilanthropySTARABILITY FOUNDATION I…+1 more: $10,000 · PhilanthropyMaineHealth: $19,225 · HealthCHAI LIFELINE INC: $10,000 · Health+1 more: $500 · HealthPREBLE STREET: $10,000 · Human ServicesGreater Boston Real Estate Board Foundation: $10,000 · Human ServicesTRAVIS MILLS FOUNDATION: $10,000 · Public BenefitTHE CENTER FOR GRIEVING CHILDREN: $10,000 · Youth Development
Education$1,010,000Other$639,050Philanthropy$485,000Health$29,725Human Services$20,000Public Benefit$10,000Youth 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 budgetNORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY: $1,000,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSTARABILITY FOUNDATION INC: $475,000 over 4y, 2.0% of budgetBig Brothers Big Sisters of Southern ME: $152,000 over 4y, 7.4% of budgetMaineHealth: $19,225 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCHAI LIFELINE INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTRAVIS MILLS FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetUniversity of Southern Maine Foundation: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE CENTER FOR GRIEVING CHILDREN: $10,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetBIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF BA BRUNSWICK: $10,000 over 1y, 4.0% of budgetPREBLE STREET: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetGreater Boston Real Estate Board Foundation: $10,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetTHE WISDOM OF HEALING SCHOOL INC: $10,000 over 2y, 3.7% of budgetSafe Passage: $4,800 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetROYAL RIVER CONSERVATION TRUST: $2,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetCYSTIC FIBROSIS FOUNDATION: $500 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.

Maine Community Found…Texas Instruments Fou…Morgan Stanley Global…Vanguard Charitable E…National Philanthropi…The Bank of America C…Donor Advised Charita…American Online Givin…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Maine Community Foundation IncME13.1× affinity4 shared granteesties to 9 of 9Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Maine Community Foundation Inc · Texas Instruments Foundation · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · National Philanthropic Trust · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · American Online Giving Foundation 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 Ray of Hope Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Ray of Hope Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 40%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%13%25%38%50%share of the org’s income from government →median 7%
  • Northeastern University: 7% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
4get no government money at all
2report 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.

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 21 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

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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