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The Helios Foundation Inc at a glance

· Private foundation

The Helios Foundation Inc

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.

$145k
Granted FY2025still arriving
6
Grants FY2025still arriving
4
States reached
$50k
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.

Food & Nutrition$440kEmployment$100kPhilanthropy$100kHousing & Shelter$71kArts & Culture$64kReligion$64kHealth$52kHuman Services$25kOther$0
02FY2025 · 6 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k2 grants · $10k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $35k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $100k
$25,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$1.1M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
ROBIN HOOD$50,000
NONTRADITIONAL EMPLOYMENT FOR WOMEN$50,000
NEMC$25,000
READING PARTNERS$10,000
ALPHA COMMUNITY SERVICES$5,000
THE CARVER$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 (FY25–25, $5k) land where the poverty rate runs at 9%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%THE CARVER: $5k → 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.
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 13% of The Helios Foundation Inc’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address.

The Helios Foundation Inclessmore 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.

93%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$894k · 8 repeat orgs$69k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +32% since the first grant, against +4% for those funded once.

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

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

8
6

Total granted

$894k
$29k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+32%
+4%

Still filing today

75%
67%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 72% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $40k 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
HealthCommunity ImprovementArts & CulturePhilanthropyEmploymentEducationOther
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

  • CF
    CONNECTICUT FOODSHARE INC
    7× · 2017–2023 · $440k · revenue +153%
  • NE
    NONTRADITIONAL EMPLOYMENT FOR WOMEN
    2× · 2024–2025 · $100k · revenue +32%
  • MF
    MAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION OF CONNECTICUT INC
    2× · 2022–2023 · $50k · revenue +5%

Funded once

  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2019 · $15k
  • SO
    SPECIAL OLYMPICS
    one grant, 2019 · $10k
  • TM
    Things Matter Incorporated
    one grant, 2024 · $2k
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
Coop Careers Inc

Building a movement of diverse, upwardly mobile college grads overcoming underemployment through digital skills and peer connections.

Education
2
Connecticut Council for Philanthropy

Ccp organizes, inspires, and equips a community of funders to learn, collaborate, and lead together for sustained impact and social change in connecticut.

Philanthropy
3
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
4
Connecticut Public Broadcasting Inc

Connecticut public broadcasting, inc. will inform, educate and inspire the people of connecticut, connecting and empowering the people of ct through outstanding journalism, storytelling, education and experiences, to make our state a more…

Arts & Culture
5
Jewelers of America Inc

Jewelers of america, the most trusted and influential voice of the jewelry industry, empowers and unites its members through expert guidance and advocacy, driving excellence, integrity, and success in an ever-changing marketplace.

—
6
United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey

United way's mission is to end intergenerational poverty in our region by harnessing, leveraging and strategically investing the collective power of donors, advocates and volunteers, to help individuals and families break the cycle of…

Philanthropy
7
The Common Application Inc

The common application is a not-for-profit membership organization of over 1,100 colleges and universities across the globe committed to access, equity, and integrity in the college admission process. every year, over 1.5 million students…

Education
8
New York School of Interior Design

New york school of interior design provides the most innovative, immersive, and transformative interior design education in the world, demonstrating the impact of professionally designed interiors on the health, happiness, and well-being…

Education
9
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
10
The Way Back Inc

To provide rehabilitative housing services and support to help people with psychiatric disabilities reintegrate into the community.the agency provides rehabilitative housing services and staff support as a primary mechanism for achieving…

Human Services
11
Techbridge Inc

Techbridge breaks the cycle of generational poverty through the innovative use of technology to transform nonprofit and community impact. techbridge's work is focused on four pillars: hunger relief, homeless support, social justice and…

Philanthropy
12
University Associates in Obstetrics and Gynecology University Faculty Pract ice Corporation

Provide clinical instruction to and supervision of medical school students, interns and residents and, incident thereto, rendering professional services.

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Congregation Organized for a New Ct; the most unlike its peers is Nontraditional Employment for Women. 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

12 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. 12 of the 17 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)
0
Early backer (in before they grew)
12/12
Grantees still filing
8/12
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

CONNECTICUT FOODSHARE INC: $440,000 · OtherCONNECTICUT FOODSHARE INCALPHA COMMUNITY SERVICES: $71,000 · OtherALPHA COMMUNITY SERVICESTEMPLE ISRAEL WESTPORT INC: $64,000 · OtherTEMPLE ISRAEL WESTPORT INCNEMC: $25,000 · Other+5 more: $32,500 · OtherROBIN HOOD FOUNDATION: $100,000 · PhilanthropyROBIN HOOD …NONTRADITIONAL EMPLOYMENT FOR WOMEN: $100,000 · EmploymentNONTRADITIO…MAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION OF CONNECTICUT INC: $50,000 · Health+2 more: $1,500 · HealthKids Empowered by Your Support Inc: $49,000 · Arts & CultureANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE FOUNDATION: $19,900 · Civil RightsREADING PARTNERS: $10,000 · Education
Other$632,500Philanthropy$100,000Employment$100,000Health$51,500Arts & Culture$49,000Civil Rights$19,900Education$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 budgetCONNECTICUT FOODSHARE INC: $440,000 over 7y, 0.2% of budgetROBIN HOOD FOUNDATION: $100,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNONTRADITIONAL EMPLOYMENT FOR WOMEN: $100,000 over 2y, 1.3% of budgetMAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION OF CONNECTICUT INC: $50,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE FOUNDATION: $19,900 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetREADING PARTNERS: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE CARVER INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetThings Matter Incorporated: $1,500 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetCONGREGATION ORGANIZED FOR A NEW CT: $1,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetPSYCHOTHERAPY INSTITUTE: $1,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetAMERICAN FOUNDATION FOR SUICIDE PREVENTION: $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.

National Philanthropi…American Online Givin…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
National Philanthropic TrustPA8.7× affinity4 shared granteesties to 4 of 4Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: National Philanthropic Trust · 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 The Helios Foundation Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Helios Foundation Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%15%30%45%60%share of the org’s income from government →median 16%
  • The Carver Inc: 16% of income from government
  • Connecticut Foodshare Inc: 5% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
4report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–60%
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 17 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 Helios’ 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