Skip to content
The Heck Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Heck Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$350k
Granted FY2025still arriving
107
Grants FY2025still arriving
4
States reached
$100k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
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.

Animals$502kEducation$460kHuman Services$274kYouth Development$234kFood & Nutrition$202kArts & Culture$195kHealth$182kCrime & Legal$101kOther$0
02FY2025 · 107 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k101 grants · $178k
  • $10k–50k5 grants · $73k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $100k
$1,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$4.2M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
CANINE COMPANIONS$100,000
SONOMA STATE UNIV$30,000
SRJC FOUNDATION$12,500
REDWOOD EMPIRE FOOD BANK$10,000
ACTIVE 20-30 CLUB$10,000
CHILDREN'S MUSEUM OF SONOMA COUNTY$10,000
LUTHER BURBANK MEMORIAL FOUNDATION$7,000
NATIONS FINEST$6,000
RIVER TO COAST CHILDREN'S SERVICES$6,000
CHP 11-99 FOUNDATION$5,000
ST VINCENT DEPAUL$5,000
FAMILY JUSTICE CENTER$5,000
SONOMA COUNTY FIRE DISTRICT$5,000
COMMUNITY SUPPORT NETWORK$5,000
SANTA ROSA SYMPHONY ASSOC$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 (FY17–25, $504k) land where the poverty rate runs at 9%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%LAKE FAMILY RESOURCE CENTER: $1k → 17%NORTH BAY CHILDRENS CENTER: $1k → 8%NORTH BAY CHILDRENS CENTER: $1k → 8%NORTH BAY CHILDRENS CENTER: $1k → 8%NORTH BAY CHILDRENS CENTER: $1k → 8%NORTH BAY CHILDRENS CENTER: $1k → 8%HOSPICE BY THE BAY: $500 → 8%OAKS OF HEBRON: $1k → 9%PETALUMA PEOPLE SERVICES: $1k → 8%PETALUMA PEOPLE SERVICES: $1k → 8%OAKS OF HEBRON: $1k → 9%PETALUMA PEOPLE SERVICES: $1k → 8%OAKS OF HEBRON: $1k → 9%PETALUMA PEOPLE SERVICES: $1k → 8%PETALUMA PEOPLE SERVICES: $1k → 8%OAKS OF HEBRON: $1k → 9%OAKS OF HEBRON: $1k → 9%OAKS OF HEBRON: $1k → 9%OAKS OF HEBRON: $1k → 9%OAKS OF HEBRON: $1k → 9%THE LIVING ROOM CENTER: $1k → 9%THE LIVING ROOM CENTER: $1k → 9%THE LIVING ROOM CENTER: $1k → 9%TLC CHILD & FAMILY SERVICES: $6k → 9%TLC CHILD & FAMILY SERVICES: $1k → 9%TLC CHILD & FAMILY SERVICES: $1k → 9%TLC CHILD & FAMILY SERVICES: $1k → 9%TLC CHILD & FAMILY SERVICES: $1k → 9%THE LIVING ROOM CENTER: $1k → 9%LALUZ CENTER: $1k → 9%LALUZ CENTER: $1k → 9%LALUZ CENTER: $1k → 9%LALUZ CENTER: $1k → 9%CANINE COMPANIONS: $100k → 9%CANINE COMPANIONS: $75k → 9%CANINE COMPANIONS: $70k → 9%CANINE COMPANIONS: $53k → 9%CANINE COMPANIONS: $50k → 9%CANINE COMPANIONS: $35k → 9%CANINE COMPANIONS: $26k → 9%CANINE COMPANIONS: $21k → 9%CANINE COMPANIONS: $21k → 9%BECOMING INDEPENDENT: $1k → 9%BECOMING INDEPENDENT: $1k → 9%BECOMING INDEPENDENT: $1k → 9%BECOMING INDEPENDENT: $1k → 9%BECOMING INDEPENDENT: $1k → 9%BECOMING INDEPENDENT: $1k → 9%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

IL
NY
MA
PA
CA
AZ
TN
MS
GA
TX
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.

98%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2.5M · 160 repeat orgs$59k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +48% since the first grant, against +8% for those funded once.

160 repeat relationships: 101 still active in FY2025, 59 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

160
49

Total granted

$2.5M
$54k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+48%
+8%

Still filing today

53%
24%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 99% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $5k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
Human ServicesHealthArts & CultureYouth DevelopmentEnvironmentPhilanthropyOther
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
    CANINE COMPANIONS FOR INDEPENDENCE INC
    9× · 2017–2025 · $453k · revenue +76%
  • RE
    REDWOOD EMPIRE FOOD BANK
    9× · 2017–2025 · $115k · revenue +118%
  • CM
    CHILDREN'S MUSEUM OF SONOMA COUNTY
    9× · 2017–2025 · $55k · revenue +165%

Funded once

  • RC
    REDWOOD CREDIT UNION COMMUNITY FUND INC
    one grant, 2018 · $15k · revenue -77%
  • BI
    BATTLESHIP IOWA MUSEUM
    one grant, 2018 · $5k
  • CA
    CLOVERDALE ARTS ALLIANCE
    one grant, 2021 · $2k · revenue -13%
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
Sonoma Botanical Garden
—
2
Sonoma Mountain Institute
Environment
3
Solano Community Foundation

The Solano Community Foundation strengthens Solano County by advancing equity, supporting nonprofit resilience, and expanding access to philanthropy. We serve as a community leader, responsive grantmaker, and trusted partner for donors who…

Philanthropy
4
Sonoma Applied Village Services

Address the homeless crisis in California.

Housing & Shelter
5
Sonoma County Conservation Action

Sonoma County Conservation Action's mission is to better our quality of life in Sonoma County for all generations, through educating and directly engaging the public on local environmental issues and policies using grassroots organizing.

—
6
Casa of Solano County

Advocates for abused, neglected and other identified children within the court system, with the belief that every child is entitled to a safe and stable home.

Civil Rights
7
Sonoma Valley Health & Recreation Association

Sonoma Valley Health and recreation Association (Sonoma Splash) is dedicated to providing a sustainable state of the art multi-use aquatic and recreation facility accessible to all Sonoma Valley residents for aquatic education and safety,…

Recreation & Sports
8
Homes for California Dba Homes for Sonoma

Homes for Sonoma is a nonprofit developer creating quality workforce housing options that support safe and sustainable community, and finds efficient, scalable solutions to address the housing crisis in Sonoma County and throughout…

Housing & Shelter
9
Symons Family Fund

The Mission of the Symons Family Fund is to benefit, perform the functions of, and carry out the purposes of the Sonora Area Foundation that engage in charitable activities which benefit the residents of Tuolumne County, California.

Human Services
10
Sonoma County Deputy Sheriffs K-9 Association

To provide health care for retired k-9 deputies. educate the public in the roll k-9 deputies play in law enforcment

Crime & Legal
11
Sonora Area Foundation

Strengthens its community through assisting donors, making grants, and providing leadership.

Philanthropy
12
Sustainable Conservation

Sustainable Conservation advances the collaborative stewardship of Californias land, air, and water for the benefit of nature and people. For over three decades, Sustainable Conservation has built coalitions of people with different…

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is River to Coast Children's Services Inc; the most unlike its peers is Korean War Memorial 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

104 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. 104 of the 215 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
38
Early backer (in before they grew)
98/104
Grantees still filing
68/104
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

SONOMA STATE UNIVERSITY: $300,000 · OtherSONOMA STATE UNIVERSITYSRJC FOUNDATION: $114,500 · OtherSRJC FOUNDATIONACTIVE 20-30 CLUB: $52,500 · Other+158 more: $1,038,240 · Other+158 moreCANINE COMPANIONS FOR INDEPENDENCE INC: $452,550 · Human ServicesCANINE COMPANIONS FOR IN…CATHOLIC CHARITIES OF THE DIOCESE OF SANTA ROSA: $45,000 · Human ServicesCATHOLIC CHARITIES OF TH…+11 more: $71,500 · Human Services+11 moreREDWOOD EMPIRE FOOD BANK: $115,000 · Food & NutritionFOOD FOR THOUGHT: $45,000 · Food & NutritionCHILDREN'S MUSEUM OF SONOMA COUNTY: $55,000 · Arts & CultureSANTA ROSA SYMPHONY ASSOCIATION: $42,000 · Arts & CulturePacific Coast Air Museum: $12,000 · Arts & CultureWASHINGTON CROSSING FOUNDATION: $9,000 · Arts & CultureSanta Rosa Players DBA 6th Street Playhouse: $8,500 · Arts & Culture+4 more: $8,500 · Arts & CultureWEST COUNTY HEALTH CENTERS INC: $46,000 · HealthSCOTT HAMILTON CARES FOUNDATION INC: $15,000 · HealthBLOOD CANCER UNITED INC: $15,000 · HealthSide By Side: $10,500 · HealthSenior Advocacy Services: $7,000 · HealthFirst Responders Resiliency: $7,000 · HealthGiant Steps Therapeutic Equestrian Center Inc: $5,000 · Health+4 more: $7,500 · HealthSONOMA COUNTY VINTNERS FOUNDATION: $50,000 · Community ImprovementRUSSIAN RIVER ALLIANCE: $7,500 · Community ImprovementCONTRA COSTA FAMILY JUSTICE ALLIANCE: $40,000 · Crime & LegalPOLLY KLAAS FOUNDATION: $10,000 · Crime & Legal
Other$1,505,240Human Services$569,050Food & Nutrition$160,000Arts & Culture$135,000Health$113,000Community Improvement$57,500Crime & Legal$50,000

Showing the 200 largest grantees by grant value.

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetCANINE COMPANIONS FOR INDEPENDENCE INC: $452,550 over 9y, 0.2% of budgetREDWOOD EMPIRE FOOD BANK: $115,000 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetCHILDREN'S MUSEUM OF SONOMA COUNTY: $55,000 over 9y, 0.5% of budgetSONOMA COUNTY VINTNERS FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 2y, 2.3% of budgetCHP 11-99 FOUNDATION: $48,000 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetWEST COUNTY HEALTH CENTERS INC: $46,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetCATHOLIC CHARITIES OF THE DIOCESE OF SANTA ROSA: $45,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetFOOD FOR THOUGHT: $45,000 over 9y, 0.3% of budgetCommunity Support Network: $45,000 over 9y, 0.2% of budgetSANTA ROSA SYMPHONY ASSOCIATION: $42,000 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetCONTRA COSTA FAMILY JUSTICE ALLIANCE: $40,000 over 9y, 0.2% of budgetKLAAS KIDS FOUNDATION: $27,000 over 6y, 4.3% of budgetLUTHER BURBANK MEMORIAL FOUNDATION: $27,000 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetSonoma County Regional Parks Foundation: $22,500 over 9y, 0.3% of budgetRIVER TO COAST CHILDREN'S SERVICES INC: $18,500 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetREDWOOD GOSPEL MISSIONS: $15,750 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetNATION'S FINEST: $15,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetSCOTT HAMILTON CARES FOUNDATION INC: $15,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetREDWOOD CREDIT UNION COMMUNITY FUND INC: $15,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetBLOOD CANCER UNITED INC: $15,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE CERES COMMUNITY PROJECT: $14,000 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetFree to Be: $13,500 over 9y, 2.2% of budgetPacific Coast Air Museum: $12,000 over 8y, 0.9% of budgetLilys Legacy Senior Dog Sanctuary: $11,500 over 9y, 0.4% of budgetSide By Side: $10,500 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetTLC Child and Family Services: $10,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetLaguna De Santa Rosa Foundation: $10,000 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetPOLLY KLAAS FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetSONOMA LAND TRUST: $9,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetWASHINGTON CROSSING FOUNDATION: $9,000 over 9y, 0.5% of budgetSonoma County Search & Rescue: $9,000 over 9y, 1.6% of budgetPEPPERWOOD FOUNDATION: $9,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetCourt Appointed Special Advocates: $9,000 over 9y, 0.2% of budgetCONSERVATION CORPS NORTH BAY INC: $9,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetRussian Riverkeeper: $8,500 over 9y, 0.2% of budgetSanta Rosa Players DBA 6th Street Playhouse: $8,500 over 9y, 0.2% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF SONOMA-MARIN: $8,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetRUSSIAN RIVER CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: $8,000 over 8y, 0.7% of budgetOAKS OF HEBRON INC: $8,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetBecoming Independent: $7,500 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetLandPaths: $7,500 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetRUSSIAN RIVER ALLIANCE: $7,500 over 8y, 1.3% of budgetSonoma Ecology Center: $7,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetStewards of the Coast and Redwoods: $7,000 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetWEST COUNTY COMMUNITY SERVICES: $7,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetRIP CITY RIDERS: $7,000 over 7y, 13% of budgetSenior Advocacy Services: $7,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetFirst Responders Resiliency: $7,000 over 7y, 0.3% 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 CANINE COMPANIONS FOR INDEPENDENCE INC ↗
  • Who funds REDWOOD EMPIRE FOOD BANK ↗
  • Who funds CHILDREN'S MUSEUM OF SONOMA COUNTY ↗
  • Who funds SONOMA COUNTY VINTNERS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds CHP 11-99 FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds WEST COUNTY HEALTH CENTERS INC ↗
  • Who funds CATHOLIC CHARITIES OF THE DIOCESE OF SANTA ROSA ↗
  • Who funds FOOD FOR THOUGHT ↗
  • Who funds Community Support Network ↗
  • Who funds SANTA ROSA SYMPHONY ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds CONTRA COSTA FAMILY JUSTICE ALLIANCE ↗
  • Who funds KLAAS KIDS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds LUTHER BURBANK MEMORIAL FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Sonoma County Regional Parks Foundation ↗
  • Who funds RIVER TO COAST CHILDREN'S SERVICES INC ↗
  • Who funds REDWOOD GOSPEL MISSIONS ↗
  • Who funds NATION'S FINEST ↗
  • Who funds SCOTT HAMILTON CARES FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds REDWOOD CREDIT UNION COMMUNITY FUND INC ↗
  • Who funds BLOOD CANCER UNITED INC ↗
  • Who funds THE CERES COMMUNITY PROJECT ↗
  • Who funds Free to Be ↗
  • Who funds Pacific Coast Air Museum ↗
  • Who funds Lilys Legacy Senior Dog Sanctuary ↗
  • Who funds Side By Side ↗

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.

Sonoma County Communi…McNabb FoundationSonoma County Vintner…Marin Community Found…Bothin FoundationExchange Bank Foundat…Speedway Children's C…Trione FoundationThe William G Irwin C…Sonoma Valley Vintner…Codding FoundationRedwood Credit Union …
Sonoma County Community FoundationCA107.1× affinity54 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Sonoma County Community Foundation · McNabb Foundation · Sonoma County Vintners Foundation · Marin Community Foundation · Bothin Foundation · Exchange Bank Foundation · Speedway Children's Charities · Trione Foundation · The William G Irwin Charity Foundation · Sonoma Valley Vintners & Growers Foundation · Codding Foundation · Redwood Credit Union Community Fund 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 The Heck Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Heck Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%4%15%34%60%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    33report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    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 The Heck Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to The Heck 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 215 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 Heck’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