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The Heineman-Russell Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Heineman-Russell Family 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.

$1.1M
Granted FY2025still arriving
10
Grants FY2025still arriving
6
States reached
$475k
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.

Health$2.8MEducation$2.7MInternational$575kCrime & Legal$424kSocial Science$250kHuman Services$125kPhilanthropy$110kScience & Tech$100kOther$0
02FY2025 · 10 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • $10k–50k7 grants · $154k
  • $250k+3 grants · $980k
$34,152
Median grant
6
States reached
$5.3M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center$475,000
Northern University$255,000
Yale Law School$250,000
Smart Love Center$40,000
Partners for Justice$34,152
Island Autism$25,000
Museum of Modern Art$25,000
Stillpoint$10,000
Impact Assets$10,000
President & Fellows of Harvard College$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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 69% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS OF HARVARD COLLEGE: $250k → 8%Martha's Vineyard Community Foundation: $100k → 8%Northern University: $255k → 16%Mills College: $250k → 10%Impact Assets: $10k → 12%Corning Museum of Glass: $20k → 13%Partners for Justice: $37k → 17%Reporter's Committee for Freedom of the Press: $25k → 14%Horizons National Student Enrichment Program Inc: $25k → 9%Yale Law School: $250k → 12%Smart Love Center: $40k → 14%PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS OF HARVARD COLLEGE: $250k → 8%Island Autism Group Inc: $50k → 8%Northeastern University: $250k → 16%Mills College: $50k → 10%Corning Museum of Glass: $20k → 13%Partners for Justice: $34k → 17%Center for Strategic and International Studies: $150k → 14%Smart Love Family Services: $25k → 14%President and Fellows of Harvard College: $50k → 8%Island Autism: $25k → 8%Partners for Justice: $28k → 17%Center for Strategic and International Studies: $150k → 14%Smart Love Family Services: $25k → 14%President & Fellows of Harvard College: $35k → 8%SHERIFFS MEADOW FOUNDATION: $25k → 8%Kehilat Romemu: $9k → 17%Center for Strategic and International Studies: $100k → 14%Smart Love Family Services: $25k → 14%President and Fellows of Harvard College: $25k → 8%Brandeis University: $15k → 8%Central European University: $50k → 17%Center for Strategic and International Studies: $100k → 14%University of Chicago: $25k → 14%President & Fellows of Harvard College: $25k → 8%Central European University: $25k → 17%Center for Strategic and International Studies: $75k → 14%Smart Love Pre-School: $25k → 14%President & Fellows of Harvard College: $10k → 8%Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center: $250k → 17%University of Chicago: $25k → 14%Museum of Modern Art: $25k → 17%Smart Love Pre-School: $25k → 14%Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center: $250k → 17%Central European University: $25k → 17%Partners for Justice: $100k → 17%Partners for Justice: $100k → 17%Partners for Justice: $100k → 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
IL
WI
NY
MA
NV
CT
CA
DE
DC
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 59% of The Heineman-Russell Family Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address. By recipient address, 33% of the giving stays in CT; by stated purpose, 21%.

The Heineman-Russell Family 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.

84%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$5.3M · 12 repeat orgs$1.0M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +41% since the first grant, against 0% for those funded once.

12 repeat relationships: 3 still active in FY2025, 9 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

12
7

Total granted

$5.3M
$459k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+41%
0%

Still filing today

50%
86%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 48% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $580k 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
InternationalEducationEnvironmentCrime & LegalArts & CultureScience & TechOther
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

  • CENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
    5× · 2019–2024 · $575k · revenue +10%
  • PF
    PARTNERS FOR JUSTICE INC
    6× · 2019–2025 · $399k · revenue +871%
  • TC
    THE CENTRAL EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY
    3× · 2017–2020 · $100k · revenue +67%

Funded once

  • NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY
    one grant, 2024 · $250k · revenue +6%
  • CF
    COUNCIL FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE WRITING INC
    one grant, 2024 · $100k · revenue 0%
  • SM
    SHERIFF'S MEADOW FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2021 · $25k · revenue -63%
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
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The mission of mit is to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century.

Education
2
University of New Haven

The University of New Haven is a student-centered comprehensive university with an emphasis on excellence in liberal arts and professional education. Our mission is to prepare our students to lead purposeful and fulfilling lives in a…

Education
3
Manhattanville University

To educate students to be ethical and socially responsible leaders in a global community.

Education
4
The Trustees of Princeton University

Research, education and general - princeton university is a private not-for-profit, non-sectarian institution of higher learning with approximately 5,700 undergraduate and 3,300 graduate students. 2,500 students graduated in the 2024-2025…

Education
5
Boston Architectural College

The bac is committed to provide excellence in design education grounded in practice and accessible to diverse communities.

—
6
Trustees of Dartmouth College

Dartmouth College educates the most promising students and prepares them for a lifetime of learning and of responsible leadership, through a faculty dedicated to teaching and the creation of knowledge.

Education
7
The George Washington University

The mission of the george washington university (gw) is to educate individuals in liberal arts, languages, sciences, learned professions, and other courses and subjects of study, and to conduct scholarly research and publish the findings…

Education
8
Lehigh University

The university's goal in the coming decade is to advance learning through the integration of teaching, research and service to others. the core of this goal is to prepare graduates to engage with the world and lead lives of meaning. to do…

Education
9
United States Naval Institute

Provide an independent forum for those who dare to read, think, speak, and write to advance the professional, literary, and scientific understanding of sea power and other issues critical to global security.

—
10
Trustees of Boston University

Organization's mission: boston university is an international, comprehensive, private research university, committed to educating students to be reflective, resourceful individuals ready to live, adapt, and lead in an interconnected world.…

—
11
Trustees of Tufts College

Education and Research

Education
12
National Association of College and University Attorneys

To advance the practice of higher education attorneys for the benefit of the institutions they serve.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Northeastern University; the most unlike its peers is The Central European University. 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

18 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. 18 of the 28 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)
17/18
Grantees still filing
10/18
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center: $2,675,000 · OtherMemorial Sloan Kettering Cancer CenterYALE UNIVERSITY: $750,000 · OtherYALE UNIVERSITYMILLS COLLEGE: $300,000 · OtherMILLS COLLEGENorthern University: $255,000 · OtherYale Law School: $250,000 · OtherThe American Trust for Oxford: $250,000 · Other+11 more: $349,000 · Other+11 morePresident and Fellows of Harvard College: $645,000 · EducationPresident and F…NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY: $250,000 · EducationNORTHEASTERN UN…University of Chicago: $50,000 · Education+1 more: $15,000 · EducationCENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: $575,000 · InternationalCENTER FOR…THE CENTRAL EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY: $100,000 · InternationalTHE CENTRA…PARTNERS FOR JUSTICE INC: $399,047 · Crime & LegalMARTHA'S VINEYARD COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $100,000 · PhilanthropyIMPACTASSETSINC: $10,000 · PhilanthropyCOUNCIL FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE WRITING INC: $100,000 · Science & TechISLAND AUTISM GROUP INC: $75,000 · Health
Other$4,829,000Education$960,000International$675,000Crime & Legal$399,047Philanthropy$110,000Science & Tech$100,000Health$75,000

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 budgetPresident and Fellows of Harvard College: $645,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetCENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: $575,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetPARTNERS FOR JUSTICE INC: $399,047 over 6y, 11% of budgetMILLS COLLEGE: $300,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetNORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY: $250,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCOUNCIL FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE WRITING INC: $100,000 over 1y, 13% of budgetMARTHA'S VINEYARD COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $100,000 over 1y, 2.4% of budgetTHE CENTRAL EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY: $100,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetISLAND AUTISM GROUP INC: $75,000 over 2y, 1.7% of budgetUniversity of Chicago: $50,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE CORNING MUSEUM OF GLASS: $40,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetMuseum of Modern Art: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSHERIFF'S MEADOW FOUNDATION: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetHORIZONS NATIONAL STUDENT ENRICHMENT PROGRAM INC: $25,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetAMERICAN SOCIETY FOR LEGAL HISTORY INC: $25,000 over 1y, 4.3% of budgetTHE REPORTERS COMMITTEE FOR FREEDOM OF THE PRESS: $25,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetBRANDEIS UNIVERSITY: $15,000 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.

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.

Gs Donor Advised Phil…National Philanthropi…Vanguard Charitable E…Fidelity Investments …Donor Advised Charita…American Online Givin…Amazonsmile Foundation
Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management IncNY12.9× affinity5 shared granteesties to 6 of 6Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · National Philanthropic Trust · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · 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 The Heineman-Russell Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Heineman-Russell Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 30%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%13%25%38%50%share of the org’s income from government →median 7%
  • Martha's Vineyard Community Foundation Inc: 34% of income from government
  • Brandeis University: 9% of income from government
  • President and Fellows of Harvard College: 7% of income from government
  • Northeastern University: 7% of income from government
  • Sheriff's Meadow Foundation: 2% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
3get no government money at all
1report 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.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to The Heineman-Russell Family Foundation?

Find your warmest path to The Heineman-Russell Family 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 28 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 Heineman-Russell Family’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