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The James & Catherine Heitel Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The James & Catherine Heitel 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.

$5k
Granted FY2025still arriving
8
Grants FY2025still arriving
4
States reached
$2k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0196% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Philanthropy$13kHealth$4kYouth Development$3kAnimals$2kEducation$2kEnvironment$2kReligion$2kInternational$1kOther$0
02FY2025 · 8 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$500
Median grant
4
States reached
$29k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
LOGAN HEALTH FOUNDATION$1,600
WHITEFISH COMMUNITY FOUNDATION$1,600
MENTORKIDS USA$1,000
LEWIS & CLARK HUMANE SOCIETY$500
KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS$350
FLATHEAD SHELTER FRIENDS$200
HILLSDALE COLLEGE$100
INDEPENDENT MEDICAL ALLIANCE$52
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 11%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 79% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%ST VINCENT DE PAUL CAREFREE CONFERENCE: $355 → 11%MAYO CLINIC FOUNDATION: $400 → 9%KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS: $350 → 9%SEELEY LAKE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $3k → 9%LOGAN HEALTH FOUNDATION: $2k → 11%HERO'S JOURNEY: $100 → 11%AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION: $100 → 14%PEO INTERNATIONAL: $215 → 10%HILLSDALE COLLEGE: $400 → 14%MINISTRY OF HOPE: $200 → 12%CASA FOR CHILDREN: $100 → 9%ST VINCENT DE PAUL CAREFREE CONFERENCE: $290 → 11%MAYO CLINIC FOUNDATION: $200 → 9%SEELEY LAKE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $450 → 9%LOGAN HEALTH FOUNDTION: $1k → 11%HILLSDALE COLLEGE: $368 → 14%MINISTRY OF HOPE: $100 → 12%SEELEY LAKE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $350 → 9%FLATHEAD SHELTER FRIENDS: $200 → 11%HILLSDALE COLLEGE: $350 → 14%DESERT FOOTHILLS LIBRARY ASSOCIATION: $256 → 11%SEELEY LAKE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $200 → 9%HILLSDALE COLLEGE: $300 → 14%SEELEY LAKE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $200 → 9%WHITEFISH COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $2k → 11%HILLSDALE COLLEGE: $300 → 14%MCDOWELL SONORAN CONSERVANCY: $500 → 11%SEELEY LAKE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $200 → 9%WHITEFISH COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $2k → 11%MCDOWELL SONORAN CONSERVANCY: $250 → 11%SEELEY LAKE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $200 → 9%WHITEFISH COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $2k → 11%MCDOWELL SONORAN CONSERVANCY: $250 → 11%SEELEY LAKE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $200 → 9%WHITEFISH COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $1k → 11%WHITEFISH COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $1k → 11%SHEPHERDS HAND: $1k → 11%FOOTHILLS ANIMAL RESCUE: $150 → 11%WHITEFISH COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $800 → 11%ALL SAINTS EPISCOPAL CHURCH: $200 → 11%WHITEFISH COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $500 → 11%WAG WHITEFISH ANIMAL GROUP: $500 → 11%WHITEFISH LEGACY PARTNERS: $500 → 11%WAG WHITEFISH ANIMAL GROUP: $500 → 11%SKI HERITAGE CENTER: $500 → 11%DREAM ADAPTIVE: $250 → 11%FLATHEAD VALLEY SKI FOUNDATIN: $250 → 11%FLATHEAD VALLEY SKI FOUNDATION: $200 → 11%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

ME
WA
MT
MN
WI
MI
IA
PA
VA
AZ
NC
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.

72%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$13k · 13 repeat orgs$5k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +163% since the first grant, against +89% for those funded once.

13 repeat relationships: 2 still active in FY2025, 11 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

13
17

Total granted

$13k
$4k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+163%
+89%

Still filing today

77%
24%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 70% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $1k 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
ReligionAnimalsHealthEnvironmentPhilanthropyEducationOther
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

  • MU
    MentorKids USA
    3× · 2023–2025 · $3k · revenue +31%
  • MS
    MCDOWELL SONORAN CONSERVANCY
    5× · 2017–2021 · $1k · revenue +198%
  • WD
    WHITEFISH DOG PARKINC
    4× · 2017–2022 · $1k · revenue +34%

Funded once

  • SH
    SHEPHERDS HAND
    one grant, 2017 · $1k
  • WC
    WHITEFISH COMMUNITY FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2019 · $800
  • SH
    SKI HERITAGE CENTER INC
    one grant, 2022 · $500
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
Denver Zoological Foundation

Inspiring communities to save wildlife for future generations.

Animals
2
Lake Humane Society

Mission: to protect animals and build connections between pets and people through advocacy and education. vision: leading and guiding a humane lake county core values: compassion for pets and people. engagement through innovative programs,…

Animals
3
Dazzle Africa

Dazzle africa's mission is to partner with local organizations to provide programs in conservation, education and community development. the organization aims to ensure that future generations are self-sufficient and iconic african…

Animals
4
Swan Valley Connections

Maintain the swan valley's unique natural resources and ensure that a vibrant human community can sustain itself through stewardship, education, economic viability, and conservation on public and private lands.

Environment
5
World Wildlife Fund Inc

Wwf's mission is to conserve nature and reduce the most pressing threats to the diversity of life on earth. (continued on schedule o)

Environment
6
Green Lake Association Inc

Safeguard green lake by improving its water quality, protecting it from critical threats, and accelerating its return to a clean lake.

Environment
7
Kitsap Humane Society

Providing positive life changing solutions to people and animals in need.

Animals
8
Flathead Land Trust

Flathead land trust is dedicated to the conservation of northwest montana's land and water legacy through voluntary agreements with private land owners. flt's primary program service is private land conservation through voluntary…

Environment
9
The Montana Land Reliance

The mission of the montana land reliance (mlr) is to partner with landowners to provide permanent protection for private lands that are significant for agricultural production, fish and wildlife habitat, and open space.

Environment
10
Sky Island Alliance

We work to connect people, wildlife, and lands across the u.s.-mexico border through the use of science, advocacy, educational activities, community engagement, and on-the-ground conservation initiatives. our main activities include…

Environment
11
Montana Wildlife Federation

The montana wildlife federation is a statewide conservation organization dedicated to protecting wildlife, wildlife habitat, and public access for outdoor recreation.

Animals
12
International Snow Leopard Trust

The international snow leopard trust aims to ethically conserve snow leopards and their high mountain ecosystems through partnerships with indigenous peoples and local communities, and through research to improve the understanding of snow…

Animals
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Mcdowell Sonoran Conservancy; the most unlike its peers is Samaritan's Purse. 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

19 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. 19 of the 37 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)
7
Early backer (in before they grew)
19/19
Grantees still filing
15/19
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

WHITEFISH COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $7,690 · PhilanthropyWHITEFISH COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INCSEELEY LAKE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $4,830 · PhilanthropySEELEY LAKE COMMUNITY FOUNDATIONKALISPELL REGIONAL HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION: $2,618 · PhilanthropyKALISPELL REGIONAL HEALTHCARE FOUNDATIONSHEPHERDS HAND: $1,000 · OtherSHEPHERDS HANDWHITEFISH COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $800 · OtherWHITEFISH COMMUNITY FO…ST VINCENT DE PAUL CAREFREE CONFERENCE: $645 · OtherST VINCENT DE PAUL CAR…MAYO CLINIC FOUNDATION: $600 · OtherMAYO CLINIC FOUNDATIONFLATHEAD VALLEY SKI EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $550 · OtherFLATHEAD VALLEY SKI ED…SKI HERITAGE CENTER INC: $500 · OtherSKI HERITAGE CENTER IN…ALL SAINTS EPISCOPAL CHURCH: $350 · OtherALL SAINTS EPISCOPAL C…KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS: $350 · OtherKNIGHTS OF COLUMBUSIndividual grant recipient: $250 · OtherPEO INTERNATIONAL: $215 · Other+12 more: $970 · Other+12 moreMentorKids USA: $3,300 · ReligionMentorKids USAMINISTRY OF HOPE INC: $700 · ReligionMINISTRY OF HO…SAMARITAN'S PURSE: $150 · ReligionWHITEFISH DOG PARKINC: $1,200 · AnimalsLEWIS AND CLARK HUMANE SOCIETY: $500 · AnimalsFOOTHILLS ANIMAL RESCUE: $450 · AnimalsHILLSDALE COLLEGE: $1,818 · EducationDESERT FOOTHILLS LIBRARY ASSOCIATION: $306 · EducationMCDOWELL SONORAN CONSERVANCY: $1,200 · EnvironmentWHITEFISH LEGACY PARTNERS INC: $600 · EnvironmentFLATHEAD SHELTER FRIENDS: $200 · HealthAmerican Heart Association Inc: $100 · Health
Philanthropy$15,138Other$6,230Religion$4,150Animals$2,150Education$2,124Environment$1,800Health$300

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 budgetWHITEFISH COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $7,690 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetSEELEY LAKE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $4,830 over 8y, 0.9% of budgetMentorKids USA: $3,300 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetKALISPELL REGIONAL HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION: $2,618 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetHILLSDALE COLLEGE: $1,818 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetMCDOWELL SONORAN CONSERVANCY: $1,200 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetWHITEFISH DOG PARKINC: $1,200 over 4y, 1.7% of budgetMINISTRY OF HOPE INC: $700 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetWHITEFISH LEGACY PARTNERS INC: $600 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetFLATHEAD VALLEY SKI EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $550 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetLEWIS AND CLARK HUMANE SOCIETY: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFOOTHILLS ANIMAL RESCUE: $450 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetDESERT FOOTHILLS LIBRARY ASSOCIATION: $306 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFLATHEAD SHELTER FRIENDS: $200 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSAMARITAN'S PURSE: $150 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetAmerican Heart Association Inc: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGLACIER NATIONAL PARK CONSERVANCY: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFREEDOM ALLIANCE: $35 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWreaths Across America: $33 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 WHITEFISH COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds SEELEY LAKE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds MentorKids USA ↗
  • Who funds KALISPELL REGIONAL HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds HILLSDALE COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds MCDOWELL SONORAN CONSERVANCY ↗
  • Who funds WHITEFISH DOG PARKINC ↗
  • Who funds MINISTRY OF HOPE INC ↗
  • Who funds WHITEFISH LEGACY PARTNERS INC ↗
  • Who funds FLATHEAD VALLEY SKI EDUCATION FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds LEWIS AND CLARK HUMANE SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds FOOTHILLS ANIMAL RESCUE ↗
  • Who funds DESERT FOOTHILLS LIBRARY ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds FLATHEAD SHELTER FRIENDS ↗
  • Who funds SAMARITAN'S PURSE ↗
  • Who funds American Heart Association Inc ↗
  • Who funds GLACIER NATIONAL PARK CONSERVANCY ↗
  • Who funds FREEDOM ALLIANCE ↗
  • Who funds Wreaths Across America ↗

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.

Whitefish Community F…First Interstate Banc…Arizona Community Fou…Whitefish Credit Unio…Broussard Charitable …American Express Foun…Raymond James Charita…Vanguard Charitable E…The Bank of America C…Network for GoodAmerican Online Givin…Donor Advised Charita…
Whitefish Community Foundation IncMT19.8× affinity7 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Whitefish Community Foundation Inc · First Interstate BancSystem Foundation Inc · Arizona Community Foundation · Whitefish Credit Union Association · Broussard Charitable Foundation Tr · American Express Foundation · Raymond James Charitable Endowment Fund · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Network for Good · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving 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 James & Catherine Heitel Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The James & Catherine Heitel Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%3%5%8%10%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get 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 · 0–10%
    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 37 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 James & Catherine Heitel’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