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The Nickel Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Nickel Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$243k
Granted FY2024still arriving
1
Grants FY2024still arriving
1
States reached
$243k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0191% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Human Services$293kPhilanthropy$252kEducation$45kHealth$44kArts & Culture$37kInternational$15kYouth Development$9kRecreation & Sports$9kOther$0
02FY2024 · 1 grant

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$243,336
Median grant
1
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
BANK OF AMERICA$243,336
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 (FY17–23, $26k) land where the poverty rate runs at 9%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%TRACKSIDE TEEN CENTER OF WILTON: $5k → 9%TRACKSIDE TEEN CENTER OF WILTON: $2k → 9%TRACKSIDE TEEN CENTER OF WILTON: $100 → 9%TRACKSIDE TEEN CENTER OF WILTON: $50 → 9%ELDERHOUSE: $100 → 9%FAMILY & CHILDREN'S AGENCY: $6k → 9%FAMILY & CHILDREN'S AGENCY: $5k → 9%FAMILY & CHILDREN'S AGENCY: $4k → 9%FAMILY & CHILDREN'S AGENCY: $3k → 9%FAMILY & CHILDREN'S AGENCY: $1k → 9%FAMILY & CHILDREN'S AGENCY: $500 → 9%FAMILY & CHILDREN'S AGENCY: $500 → 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

NH
WA
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
OR
IN
OH
PA
NJ
CT
CA
CO
MO
VA
NM
DC
GA
TX
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.

59%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$428k · 39 repeat orgs$301k to everyone else

39 repeat relationships: 0 still active in FY2024, 39 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

39
65

Total granted

$428k
$58k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+37%
+38%

Still filing today

62%
35%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 0% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $243k went to new ones.

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

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
HealthEducationPhilanthropyHuman ServicesRecreation & SportsFood & NutritionOther
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

  • PA
    PINK AID INC
    2× · 2018–2019 · $17k · revenue +156%
  • TN
    THE NEW GROUP INC
    2× · 2017–2019 · $15k · revenue +1%
  • UO
    University of Michigan
    2× · 2020–2023 · $10k · revenue +139%

Funded once

  • IC
    INTERNATIONAL CENTRE FOR MISSING CHILDREN
    one grant, 2022 · $10k
  • TW
    THE WHOLE IN THE WALL
    one grant, 2023 · $8k
  • TC
    THE COLORADO COLLEGEgraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $5k · revenue +25%
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
Boston Architectural College

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

—
4
Wheaton College

Wheaton college provides a transformative liberal arts education, combining theory and practice, for intellectually curious students within a collaborative and vibrant extended community and network that values and strives to create an…

Education
5
Furman University

The primary mission of furman as a liberal arts institution is to provide a distinctive education in fine arts, humanities, social sciences, mathematics and the sciences, as well as selected professional disciplines.

Education
6
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
7
Asco Association

Asco association promotes the common business interests of its members by: (1) advocating for policies that improve the quality of cancer care; (2) maintaining the highest standards of oncology medical care through programs supporting…

Community Improvement
8
Western Electricity Coordinating Council

To effectively and efficiently mitigate risks to the reliability and security of the western interconnection's bulk power system.

Public Benefit
9
The American College of Trust and Estate Counsel

Enhance the ability of actec members to provide the most efficient and highest quality services to their clients; develop qualified trust and estate counselors; improve and reform probate, trust and tax laws, procedures, and standards of…

Community Improvement
10
United States Telecom Association

See schedule oustelecom exists to ensure members can compete, grow and thrive to build a world where families, enterprises and communities are connected through the power of broadband.our member companies have committed a considerable…

—
11
Federation of State Medical Boards of the United States Inc

The fsmb serves as the voice for state medical boards, supporting them through education, assessment, research and advocacy while providing services and initiatives that promote patient safety, quality health care and regulatory best…

Health
12
American Society of Clinical Oncology Inc

See schedule o:asco is a professional oncology society committed to conquering cancer through research, education, and promotion of the highest quality patient care.

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Fairfield County's Community Foundation Inc; the most unlike its peers is William Loveland 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

50 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. 50 of the 108 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)
9
Early backer (in before they grew)
50/50
Grantees still filing
39/50
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

RIVERBROOK REGIONAL YMCA: $270,333 · OtherRIVERBROOK REGIONAL YMCABANK OF AMERICA: $243,336 · OtherBANK OF AMERICA+75 more: $115,907 · Other+75 moreFAMILY & CHILDREN'S AGENCY INC: $18,900 · Human ServicesTEEN CENTER OF WILTON INC: $7,150 · Human Services+1 more: $100 · Human ServicesLEHIGH UNIVERSITY: $10,000 · EducationTHE COLORADO COLLEGE: $5,000 · EducationWILTON LIBRARY ASSOCIATION INC: $4,250 · EducationBARNARD COLLEGE: $3,100 · EducationWASHINGTON & JEFFERSON COLLEGE: $1,250 · Education+3 more: $1,750 · EducationPINK AID INC: $16,500 · PhilanthropyPERSON TO PERSON INC: $6,315 · PhilanthropyGOFUNDMEORG: $1,068 · Philanthropy+3 more: $644 · PhilanthropyTHE NEW GROUP INC: $15,000 · Arts & Culture+1 more: $500 · Arts & CultureSHATTERPROOF A NONPROFIT CORPORATION: $2,290 · HealthBREAKTHROUGH T1D: $1,500 · HealthCancer Care Inc: $1,250 · HealthINTERNATIONAL BIPOLAR FOUNDATION: $1,200 · HealthWILTON YOUTH COUNCIL INC: $600 · HealthMEMORIAL SLOAN-KETTERING CANCER CENTER: $250 · Health+3 more: $287 · HealthCITY HARVEST INC: $5,509 · Food & NutritionEQUITY ADVOCATES INC: $260 · Food & Nutrition+1 more: $100 · Food & Nutrition
Other$629,576Human Services$26,150Education$25,350Philanthropy$24,527Arts & Culture$15,500Health$7,377Food & Nutrition$5,869

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 budgetFAMILY & CHILDREN'S AGENCY INC: $18,900 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetPINK AID INC: $16,500 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetTHE NEW GROUP INC: $15,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetUniversity of Michigan: $10,000 over 2y, 1.9% of budgetLEHIGH UNIVERSITY: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTEEN CENTER OF WILTON INC: $7,150 over 4y, 1.9% of budgetPERSON TO PERSON INC: $6,315 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetCITY HARVEST INC: $5,509 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE COLORADO COLLEGE: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFELLOWSHIP OF CHRISTIAN ATHLETES: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetVAIL VALLEY FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWILTON LIBRARY ASSOCIATION INC: $4,250 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetBARNARD COLLEGE: $3,100 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICARES FOUNDATION INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSHATTERPROOF A NONPROFIT CORPORATION: $2,290 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetBREAKTHROUGH T1D: $1,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCancer Care Inc: $1,250 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetWASHINGTON & JEFFERSON COLLEGE: $1,250 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetINTERNATIONAL BIPOLAR FOUNDATION: $1,200 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetGOFUNDMEORG: $1,068 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSEA GIRT FIRE CO #1: $1,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetWILTON LACROSSE ASSOCIATION: $775 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetMERCY LEARNING CENTER OF BRIDGEPORT INC: $750 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetWILTON GARDEN CLUB: $700 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetWILTON YOUTH COUNCIL INC: $600 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetTHE ORTHOPEDIC FOUNDATION: $500 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetMETROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSPECIAL OLYMPICS INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPAN-MASSACHUSETTS CHALLENGE INC: $500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetALPHA PHI FOUNDATION INC: $300 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFAIRFIELD COUNTY'S COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $275 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWILLIAM LOVELAND FOUNDATION: $263 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetEQUITY ADVOCATES INC: $260 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMEMORIAL SLOAN-KETTERING CANCER CENTER: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWE THE PROTESTERS INC: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWilton Land Conservation Trust: $250 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE VOTER PARTICIPATION CENTER: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetA BETTER CHANCE INC: $160 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCIRCLE OF CARE FOR FAMILIES OF CHILDREN WITH CANCER INC: $137 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNew Hampshire Charitable Foundation: $106 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAmerican Heart Association Inc: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetELDERHOUSE INC: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFeeding America: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDREAMS COME TRUE OF JACKSONVILLE INC: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBLOOD CANCER UNITED INC: $50 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCENTRAL PARK CONSERVANCY INC: $50 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 FAMILY & CHILDREN'S AGENCY INC ↗
  • Who funds PINK AID INC ↗
  • Who funds THE NEW GROUP INC ↗
  • Who funds University of Michigan ↗
  • Who funds LEHIGH UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds TEEN CENTER OF WILTON INC ↗
  • Who funds PERSON TO PERSON INC ↗
  • Who funds CITY HARVEST INC ↗
  • Who funds THE COLORADO COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds FELLOWSHIP OF CHRISTIAN ATHLETES ↗
  • Who funds VAIL VALLEY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds WILTON LIBRARY ASSOCIATION INC ↗
  • Who funds BARNARD COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds AMERICARES FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds SHATTERPROOF A NONPROFIT CORPORATION ↗
  • Who funds BREAKTHROUGH T1D ↗
  • Who funds Cancer Care Inc ↗
  • Who funds WASHINGTON & JEFFERSON COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds INTERNATIONAL BIPOLAR FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds GOFUNDMEORG ↗
  • Who funds SEA GIRT FIRE CO #1 ↗

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.

Alexander Family Foun…Ge Aerospace Foundati…Viking Global Foundat…The Bauer Family Foun…Perakis Foundation Ja…Davatzes Family Found…Elizabeth Raymond Amb…Fairfield County's Co…The Pfizer Foundation…Jpmorgan Chase Founda…Morgan Stanley Global…National Philanthropi…
Alexander Family Foundation IncCT26.1× affinity10 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Alexander Family Foundation Inc · Ge Aerospace Foundation · Viking Global Foundation Inc · The Bauer Family Foundation Inc · Perakis Foundation James Perakis Trustee · Davatzes Family Foundation Inc · Elizabeth Raymond Ambler Trust · Fairfield County's Community Foundation Inc · The Pfizer Foundation Inc · Jpmorgan Chase Foundation · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · National Philanthropic Trust

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 Nickel Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Nickel Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 100%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 2%
  • Family & Children's Agency Inc: 47% of income from government
  • Person to Person Inc: 5% of income from government
  • Mercy Learning Center of Bridgeport Inc: 4% of income from government
  • Shatterproof a Nonprofit Corporation: 2% of income from government
  • Wilton Library Association Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Americares Foundation Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Pan-Massachusetts Challenge Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
10get no government money at all
9report 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 108 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Nickel’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