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The Heller Foundation Inc at a glance

· Private foundation

The Heller 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.

$530k
Granted FY2025still arriving
23
Grants FY2025still arriving
7
States reached
$125k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0195% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Human Services$1.2MEducation$809kInternational$662kArts & Culture$645kHealth$318kReligion$276kFood & Nutrition$239kPhilanthropy$85kOther$0
02FY2025 · 23 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k12 grants · $30k
  • $10k–50k6 grants · $125k
  • $50k–250k5 grants · $375k
$5,000
Median grant
7
States reached
$6.3M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
BRENNAN CENTER FOR JUSTICE$125,000
UNCHAINED AT LAST$75,000
FOOTSTEPS$75,000
WNYC RADIO$50,000
REPORTERS COMMITTEE FOR FREEDOM OF THE PRESS$50,000
Individual grant recipient$35,000
GRAND STREET SETTLEMENT$35,000
OVERLOOK FOUNDATION$25,000
CENTER FOR METAL ARTS$10,000
CHILDREN'S MUSEUM OF MANHATTAN$10,000
SHOFCO$10,000
JEWISH AGENCY FOR ISRAEL$5,000
CHICKEN IN EGGS PICTURES$5,000
CENTRAL PARK CONSERVANCY$5,000
BEAT THE STREETS$3,000
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, $732k) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 49% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants spread fairly evenly across need levels.

area typical 11%AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF CAREGIVING YOUTH: $3k → 11%KONSCIOUS YOUTH DEVELOPMENT SERVICE: $500 → 6%UNCHAINED AT LAST: $75k → 10%JESPY HOUSE: $5k → 16%AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF CAREGIVING YOUTH: $3k → 11%UNCHAINED AT LAST: $75k → 10%JESPY HOUSE: $1k → 16%UNCHAINED AT LAST: $75k → 10%UNCHAINED AT LAST: $75k → 10%UNCHAINED AT LAST: $75k → 10%GRAND STREET SETTLEMENT: $155k → 17%GRAND STREET SETTLEMENT: $55k → 17%GRAND STREET SETTLEMENT: $50k → 17%GRAND STREET SETTLEMENT: $35k → 17%Grand Street Settlement: $10k → 17%GRAND STREET SETTLEMENT: $10k → 17%GRAND STREET SETTLEMENT INC: $10k → 17%GRAND STREET SETTLEMENT: $10k → 17%GRAND STREET SETTLEMENT INC: $10k → 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

AK
WA
MN
NY
MA
IN
PA
NJ
CT
CA
UT
CO
MO
VA
AZ
TN
DC
LA
AL
FL
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.

84%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$3.4M · 42 repeat orgs$640k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +50% since the first grant, against +27% for those funded once.

42 repeat relationships: 17 still active in FY2025, 25 since wound down; 6 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

42
40

Total granted

$3.4M
$622k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+50%
+27%

Still filing today

64%
40%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 97% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $19k 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
Arts & CultureEducationHuman ServicesHealthInternationalPhilanthropyOther
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

  • WILLIAM J BRENNAN CENTER FOR JUSTICE INC
    7× · 2019–2025 · $572k · revenue +182%
  • UA
    UNCHAINED AT LAST INC
    5× · 2021–2025 · $375k · revenue +102%
  • GS
    GRAND STREET SETTLEMENT INC
    9× · 2017–2025 · $345k · revenue +168%

Funded once

  • TO
    THE OVARIAN CANCER RESEARCH FUND INC
    one grant, 2019 · $100k · revenue +20%
  • IR
    International Rescue Committee INC
    one grant, 2022 · $100k · revenue -4%
  • BI
    BOXCAR INC
    one grant, 2021 · $81k
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
New York Genome Center Inc

Operate a state-of-the-art, world-class genomic research center that creates and uses advanced genomics to understand the genetic basis of disease. for more information, see schedule o.

Health
2
Public Media Nj Inc

To bring quality public television programs and resources to communities throughout new jersey and its tri-state neighbors. its content, both on-air and online, aims to reflect the diverse

Arts & Culture
3
Manhattanville University

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

Education
4
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
5
City Report Inc

CITY REPORT, INC. serves the people of New York through independent journalism that answers their information needs and holds the powerful to account.

Arts & Culture
6
J Street

To organize pro-israel, pro-peace, pro-democracy americans to promote us policies that embody our deeply held jewish and democratic values and that help secure the state of israel as a democratic homeland for the jewish people.

International
7
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
8
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
9
Ie New York College

(see schedule o)

Education
10
Fordham University

Fordham university, the jesuit university of new york, is committed to the discovery of wisdom and the transmission of learning, through research and through education of the highest quality. for more information, see schedule o.

Education
11
Manhattan Institute for Policy Research Inc

The manhattan institute is a community of scholars, journalists, activists, and civic leaders dedicated to advancing opportunity, individual liberty, and the rule of law in america and its great cities.

Public Benefit
12
The Lieber Institute Inc

The mission of the institute is to translate basic genetic and molecular mechanisms of schizophrenia and related developmental brain disorders into clinical advances that change the lives of affected individuals. it is catalyzing a new…

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Children's Museum of Manhattan; the most unlike its peers is Developing Dreams Foundation Inc. 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

53 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. 53 of the 91 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)
12
Early backer (in before they grew)
50/53
Grantees still filing
35/53
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Individual grant recipient: $171,159 · OtherIndividual grant recipientUNITED JEWISH FEDERATION OF METROWEST: $85,000 · OtherUNITED JEWISH FEDERATION OF M…BOXCAR INC: $80,628 · OtherBOXCAR INCTHE REPORTERS COMMITTEE FOR FREEDOM OF THE PRESS: $65,000 · OtherTHE REPORTERS COMMITTEE FOR F…HEBREW UNION COLLEGE-JEWISH INSTITUTE OF RELIGION: $61,113 · OtherUNITED JEWISH APPEAL OF GREATER METROWEST NJ: $60,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $60,000 · OtherLittle Sun Inc: $60,000 · OtherCENTRAL PARK CONSERVANCY INC: $55,000 · Other+44 more: $495,348 · Other+44 moreUNCHAINED AT LAST INC: $375,000 · Human ServicesUNCHAINED AT LAST INCGRAND STREET SETTLEMENT INC: $345,000 · Human ServicesGRAND STREET SETTLEMENT IN…FOOTSTEPS INC: $325,000 · Human ServicesFOOTSTEPS INC+3 more: $11,500 · Human ServicesWILLIAM J BRENNAN CENTER FOR JUSTICE INC: $571,678 · EducationWILLIAM J BRENNAN C…THE ADMINISTRATORS OF THE TULANE EDUCATIONAL FUND: $115,000 · EducationTHE ADMINISTRATORS …PRESENCING INSTITUTE INC: $50,000 · EducationPRESENCING INSTITUT…DALTON SCHOOLS INC: $30,000 · Education+6 more: $29,500 · EducationAMERICAN JEWISH WORLD SERVICE INC: $460,000 · InternationalAMERICAN JEWISH …WATERAID AMERICA INC: $100,000 · InternationalWATERAID AMERICA…International Rescue Committee INC: $100,000 · InternationalInternational Re…+1 more: $1,000 · InternationalNEW YORK PUBLIC RADIO: $350,000 · Arts & CultureNEW YORK PUBLI…CHILDREN'S MUSEUM OF MANHATTAN: $90,000 · Arts & CultureCHILDREN'S MUS…SIGNATURE THEATRE INC: $90,000 · Arts & CultureSIGNATURE THEA…CHICKEN & EGG FILMS INC: $20,000 · Arts & Culture+7 more: $42,200 · Arts & Culture+7 moreYoung Leadership Addiction Awareness Inc: $60,100 · HealthOVERLOOK FOUNDATION: $60,000 · Health+3 more: $4,542 · HealthTHE OVARIAN CANCER RESEARCH FUND INC: $100,000 · Philanthropy+1 more: $1,000 · Philanthropy
Other$1,193,248Human Services$1,056,500Education$796,178International$661,000Arts & Culture$592,200Health$124,642Philanthropy$101,000

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 budgetWILLIAM J BRENNAN CENTER FOR JUSTICE INC: $571,678 over 7y, 0.4% of budgetAMERICAN JEWISH WORLD SERVICE INC: $460,000 over 8y, 0.2% of budgetUNCHAINED AT LAST INC: $375,000 over 5y, 8.4% of budgetNEW YORK PUBLIC RADIO: $350,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetGRAND STREET SETTLEMENT INC: $345,000 over 9y, 0.4% of budgetFOOTSTEPS INC: $325,000 over 6y, 2.0% of budgetTHE ADMINISTRATORS OF THE TULANE EDUCATIONAL FUND: $115,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetWATERAID AMERICA INC: $100,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetTHE OVARIAN CANCER RESEARCH FUND INC: $100,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetInternational Rescue Committee INC: $100,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCHILDREN'S MUSEUM OF MANHATTAN: $90,000 over 9y, 0.2% of budgetSIGNATURE THEATRE INC: $90,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetTHE REPORTERS COMMITTEE FOR FREEDOM OF THE PRESS: $65,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetYoung Leadership Addiction Awareness Inc: $60,100 over 5y, 12% of budgetOVERLOOK FOUNDATION: $60,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetLittle Sun Inc: $60,000 over 2y, 2.0% of budgetCENTRAL PARK CONSERVANCY INC: $55,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetPRESENCING INSTITUTE INC: $50,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetDALTON SCHOOLS INC: $30,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetMAZON A Jewish Response to Hunger: $27,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetTHE ARETE PROJECT: $25,000 over 5y, 2.0% of budgetINTERFAITH FOOD PANTRY INC: $25,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetLIFE SKILLS RESOURCE CENTER INC: $24,500 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetCHICKEN & EGG FILMS INC: $20,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetTHE CHILDRENS STOREFRONT: $18,000 over 5y, 2.1% of budgetSING FOR HOPE INC: $16,000 over 8y, 0.4% of budgetEnable Inc: $14,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetWNET: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetThe Greater Morristown YMCA Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFAMILY PROMISE OF ESSEX COUNTY INC: $10,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetHERBERT H LEHMAN COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetEpoch Inc: $7,000 over 2y, 14% of budgetMuseum of Modern Art: $6,700 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBeat The Streets Inc: $6,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetJESPY HOUSE INC: $6,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetMUSICIANS ON CALL INC: $6,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetSOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC: $5,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF CAREGIVING YOUTH INC: $5,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetISRAEL CANCER RESEARCH FUND INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetThe Hub for Direct Community Action: $5,000 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetPILLAR CARE CONTINUUM: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCHABAD OF SE MORRIS COUNTY INC: $1,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetGIRLS EDUCATIONAL AND MENTORING SERVICES INC: $1,042 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetJOHNSTOWN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE SYNERGOS INSTITUTE INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDEVELOPING DREAMS FOUNDATION INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetCORPORATION OF HAVERFORD COLLEGE: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHUNTSMAN CANCER FOUNDATION: $1,000 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.

  • Who funds WILLIAM J BRENNAN CENTER FOR JUSTICE INC ↗
  • Who funds AMERICAN JEWISH WORLD SERVICE INC ↗
  • Who funds UNCHAINED AT LAST INC ↗
  • Who funds NEW YORK PUBLIC RADIO ↗
  • Who funds GRAND STREET SETTLEMENT INC ↗
  • Who funds FOOTSTEPS INC ↗
  • Who funds THE ADMINISTRATORS OF THE TULANE EDUCATIONAL FUND ↗
  • Who funds WATERAID AMERICA INC ↗
  • Who funds THE OVARIAN CANCER RESEARCH FUND INC ↗
  • Who funds International Rescue Committee INC ↗
  • Who funds CHILDREN'S MUSEUM OF MANHATTAN ↗
  • Who funds SIGNATURE THEATRE INC ↗
  • Who funds THE REPORTERS COMMITTEE FOR FREEDOM OF THE PRESS ↗
  • Who funds Young Leadership Addiction Awareness Inc ↗
  • Who funds OVERLOOK FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Little Sun Inc ↗
  • Who funds CENTRAL PARK CONSERVANCY INC ↗
  • Who funds PRESENCING INSTITUTE INC ↗
  • Who funds DALTON SCHOOLS INC ↗
  • Who funds MAZON A Jewish Response to Hunger ↗
  • Who funds THE ARETE PROJECT ↗
  • Who funds INTERFAITH FOOD PANTRY INC ↗
  • Who funds LIFE SKILLS RESOURCE CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds CHICKEN & EGG FILMS INC ↗
  • Who funds THE CHILDRENS STOREFRONT ↗

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.

Jewish Communal FundThe Hyde and Watson F…The Goldman Sachs Cha…Gs Donor Advised Phil…Jewish Community Foun…Community Foundation …The Ford FoundationHycliff FoundationFjcThe New York Communit…ImpactassetsincJpmorgan Chase Founda…
Jewish Communal FundNY22× affinity14 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Jewish Communal Fund · The Hyde and Watson Foundation · The Goldman Sachs Charitable Gift Fund · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Metrowest NJ · Community Foundation of New Jersey · The Ford Foundation · Hycliff Foundation · Fjc · The New York Community Trust · Impactassetsinc · Jpmorgan Chase 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 Heller Foundation Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Heller Foundation Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 70%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 28%
  • Family Promise of Essex County Inc: 33% of income from government
  • Presencing Institute Inc: 28% of income from government
  • Jespy House Inc: 2% of income from government
  • Pillar Care Continuum: 1% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
7get no government money at all
12report 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.

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 91 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 Heller’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