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The Vela Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Vela 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.

$352k
Granted FY2024still arriving
17
Grants FY2024still arriving
4
States reached
$82k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0197% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2024.

Health$682kFood & Nutrition$410kHuman Services$305kEducation$207kYouth Development$145kPhilanthropy$70kReligion$65kHousing & Shelter$45kOther$0
02FY2024 · 17 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k3 grants · $15k
  • $10k–50k13 grants · $255k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $82k
$20,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$12M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
ALBERTUS MAGNUS HIGH SCHOOL$81,844
BOSTON MEDICAL CENTER$25,000
CAPE COD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES$25,000
COMMUNITY SERVINGS$25,000
WIDE HORIZONS FOR CHILDREN$25,000
ADOPT-A-FAMILY$25,000
FAMILY PANTRY OF CAPE COD$20,000
COASTAL FOODSHED$20,000
HOMELESS PREVENTION COUNCIL$20,000
PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY$20,000
CALMER CHOICE$15,000
CATHOLIC CHARITIES DIOCESE OF FALL RIVER$15,000
MY BROTHERS KEEPER$10,000
MERCY MEALS AND MORE$10,000
HYANNISPORT SCHOLARSHIP FUND$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 (FY20–24, $270k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 98% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%WIDE HORIZONS FOR CHILDREN: $25k → 8%FRANKLIN FOOD PANTRY: $5k → 7%WIDE HORIZONS FOR CHILDREN: $20k → 8%WIDE HORIZONS FOR CHILDREN: $15k → 8%LA COLLABORATIVA: $10k → 16%HELPING OUR WOMEN: $10k → 8%MY BROTHERS KEEPER: $10k → 11%MY BROTHERS KEEPER: $10k → 11%CHINATOWN MAIN STREET: $5k → 16%MY BROTHERS KEEPER: $10k → 11%MY BROTHERS KEEPER: $10k → 11%COMMUNITY SERVINGS: $25k → 16%COMMUNITY SERVINGS: $25k → 16%COMMUNITY SERVINGS: $20k → 16%SELF ESTEEM BOSTON: $15k → 16%CAPE ABILITIES: $5k → 8%SELF ESTEEM BOSTON: $5k → 16%HOMELESS PREVENTION COUNCIL: $20k → 8%HOMELESS PREVENTION COUNCIL: $10k → 8%NURTURING FOSTER FAMILIES: $5k → 8%WE CAN: $10k → 8%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.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

83%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.8M · 32 repeat orgs$368k to everyone else

32 repeat relationships: 14 still active in FY2024, 18 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

32
35

Total granted

$1.8M
$338k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+26%
+30%

Still filing today

75%
60%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 91% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $30k went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24
Human ServicesFood & NutritionHealthYouth DevelopmentEducationPhilanthropyOther
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

  • BOSTON MEDICAL CENTER CORPORATION
    4× · 2020–2024 · $415k · revenue +58%
  • TF
    THE FAMILY PANTRY OF CAPE COD CORP
    5× · 2020–2024 · $100k · revenue +10%
  • CF
    COASTAL FOODSHED
    4× · 2021–2024 · $75k · revenue +228%

Funded once

  • BA
    BOYS AND GIRLS OF CAPE COD
    one grant, 2021 · $20k
  • PH
    PARTNERS HUMAN RESEARCH COMMITTEE
    one grant, 2020 · $17k
  • BA
    BOYS AND GIRLS NEW BEDFORD
    one grant, 2021 · $15k
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
Community Cooks Inc

Community cooks mobilizes individuals, businesses, civic educational and faith-based groups to prepare home-cooked food for vulnerable populations seeking assistance from human service agencies throughout greater boston. the agency…

Food & Nutrition
2
The Federation of Massachusetts Farmers and Gardeners Markets Inc

Mass farmers markets partners wtih farmers, consumers, and communities to improve the health of individuals, strenghten community vitality, and enhance local farm viability through farmers markets.

Food & Nutrition
3
Community Action Committee of Cape Cod & Islands Inc

Provide resources and skills to individuals and families in the cape and islands to attain and retain independence and economic stability and self-sufficiency through personal growth, family stabilization, life skills and employment…

Community Improvement
4
Boston Public Market Association Inc

Our mission is to continue to develop and operate a permanent year-round market in boston and to support the farmers, fishers, and entrepreneurs who grow, catch, and produce local food, and to nourish our community with food and…

Public Benefit
5
Central Ma Food Rescue Inc

Full belly foods purchases food from farms and wholesalers and donates the food to low-income communities across the country.

Food & Nutrition
6
Brighton Marine Inc

Brighton marine, inc. provides military and veteran families with comprehensive campus-based quality health care, as well as affordable and supportive housing for at-risk veterans and their families.

Health
7
Lower Cape Communications Inc

To provide public broadcasting to lower cape cod massachusetts

Arts & Culture
8
Greater Boston Food Bank Inc

Our costs consist of acquiring, sorting and distributing food to 617 member agencies, transportation and logistics, and community outreach to 69 direct distribution sites such as gbfb mobile markets, and federal distributions for low…

—
9
Nantucket Conservation Foundation Inc

The nantucket conservation foundation owns, protects, and stewards over 9,000 acres of land and coastal shoreline, conserves nantucket's rare and significant natural resources, and engages in impactful ecological research to inform…

Environment
10
Climable Inc

To make climate science and clean energy understandable and actionable for everyone. climable does this by organizing community-based clean energy accessibility programs, developing materials, teaching climate programming, and facilitating…

Environment
11
Massachusetts Council of Human Services Providers Inc

To advance the interests of the human services sector and providers through advocacy, education, and engagement of diverse stakeholders for collective impact.

—
12
Boston Harbor Now Inc

Our mission is to ensure that the people of greater boston benefit from a vibrant, resilient, and inclusive waterfront, harbor, and islands; these spaces are equitable, accessible, and adapted to climate change; and to ensure our public,…

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Family Pantry of Cape Cod Corp; the most unlike its peers is Peabody Essex Museum 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

48 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. 48 of the 71 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
13
Early backer (in before they grew)
47/48
Grantees still filing
36/48
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

ALBERTUS MAGNUS HIGH SCHOOL: $161,844 · OtherALBERTUS MAGNUS HIGH SCHOOLHARVARD CHAN SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH: $105,000 · OtherHARVARD CHAN SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTHCAPE COD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES INC: $65,000 · OtherCAPE COD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES INCIndividual grant recipient: $45,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientCATHOLIC CHARITIES DIOCESE OF FALL RIVER: $40,000 · OtherMOUNT WASHINGTON OBSERVATORY: $30,000 · Other+31 more: $350,805 · Other+31 moreBOSTON MEDICAL CENTER CORPORATION: $415,000 · HealthBOSTON MEDICAL CENTER CORPO…Franciscan Hospital for Children: $65,000 · HealthFranciscan Hospital for Chi…CALMER CHOICE INC: $35,000 · HealthCALMER CHOICE INC+1 more: $10,000 · HealthTHE FAMILY PANTRY OF CAPE COD CORP: $100,000 · Food & NutritionTHE FAMILY PANTRY O…Adopt a Family Inc: $100,000 · Food & NutritionAdopt a Family IncCOASTAL FOODSHED: $75,000 · Food & NutritionCOASTAL FOODSHEDCOMMUNITY HARVEST PROJECT INC: $20,000 · Food & NutritionMILL CITY GROWS INC: $20,000 · Food & NutritionCAPE KID MEALS INC: $15,000 · Food & NutritionNEWTON FOOD PANTRY INC: $15,000 · Food & NutritionMERCY MEALS AND MORE: $15,000 · Food & Nutrition+2 more: $15,000 · Food & NutritionCOMMUNITY SERVINGS INC: $70,000 · Human ServicesCOMMUNITY SERV…WIDE HORIZONS FOR CHILDREN INC: $60,000 · Human ServicesWIDE HORIZONS …My Brothers Keeper Inc: $40,000 · Human ServicesMy Brothers Ke…HOMELESS PREVENTION COUNCIL INC: $30,000 · Human ServicesHOMELESS PREVE…Self Esteem Boston Educational Institute Inc: $20,000 · Human ServicesSelf Esteem Bo…LA COLABORATIVA INC: $10,000 · Human ServicesWE CAN CORPORATION: $10,000 · Human ServicesHELPING OUR WOMEN INC: $10,000 · Human Services+4 more: $20,000 · Human Services+4 moreBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF BOSTON INC: $60,000 · Youth DevelopmentMARTHA'S VINEYARD BOYS & GIRLS CLUB INC: $15,000 · Youth DevelopmentYouth Opportunities Unlimited Inc: $5,000 · Youth DevelopmentCape Cod Foundation Inc: $20,000 · EducationVILLANOVA UNIVERSITY: $20,000 · EducationCAPE COD CHILDREN'S PLACE INC: $15,000 · EducationCAPE COD TIMES NEIGHBORS FUND INC: $20,000 · PhilanthropyCAPE AND ISLANDS UNITED WAY INC: $20,000 · Philanthropy
Other$797,649Health$525,000Food & Nutrition$375,000Human Services$270,000Youth Development$80,000Education$55,000Philanthropy$40,000

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 budgetBOSTON MEDICAL CENTER CORPORATION: $415,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHE FAMILY PANTRY OF CAPE COD CORP: $100,000 over 5y, 0.5% of budgetAdopt a Family Inc: $100,000 over 4y, 62% of budgetCOASTAL FOODSHED: $75,000 over 4y, 5.0% of budgetCOMMUNITY SERVINGS INC: $70,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetFranciscan Hospital for Children: $65,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF BOSTON INC: $60,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetWIDE HORIZONS FOR CHILDREN INC: $60,000 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetMy Brothers Keeper Inc: $40,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetCALMER CHOICE INC: $35,000 over 2y, 2.4% of budgetMOUNT WASHINGTON OBSERVATORY: $30,000 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetHOMELESS PREVENTION COUNCIL INC: $30,000 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetTHE HUNDRED CLUB OF MASS INC: $25,000 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetCape Cod Foundation Inc: $20,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetCOMMUNITY HARVEST PROJECT INC: $20,000 over 2y, 1.6% of budgetSelf Esteem Boston Educational Institute Inc: $20,000 over 2y, 2.8% of budgetCAPE COD TIMES NEIGHBORS FUND INC: $20,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetVILLANOVA UNIVERSITY: $20,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetBARNSTABLE LAND TRUST INC: $20,000 over 2y, 1.0% of budgetMILL CITY GROWS INC: $20,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetCAPE AND ISLANDS UNITED WAY INC: $20,000 over 2y, 1.0% of budgetCAPE COD CHILDREN'S PLACE INC: $15,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetMARTHA'S VINEYARD BOYS & GIRLS CLUB INC: $15,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetFALMOUTH SERVICE CENTER INC: $15,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetNEWTON FOOD PANTRY INC: $15,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetMERCY MEALS AND MORE: $15,000 over 2y, 5.5% of budgetFENWAY COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION: $15,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetOSTERVILLE HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC: $11,000 over 3y, 1.3% of budgetPROJECT HOME AGAIN: $10,000 over 1y, 2.3% of budgetBrookwood Community Farm Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 2.3% of budgetCOMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER OF CAPE COD INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLITTLETON COMMUNITY FARM: $10,000 over 1y, 7.2% of budgetWALTHAM BOYS & GIRLS CLUB INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetNEEDHAM COMMUNITY COUNCIL INC: $10,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetLA COLABORATIVA INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetWE CAN CORPORATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetHELPING OUR WOMEN INC: $10,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetCYCLE KIDS INC: $5,805 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetCAPE ABILITIES INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHREE BAYS PRESERVATION INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetNURTURING FOSTER FAMILIES INC: $5,000 over 1y, 4.7% of budgetCHINATOWN MAIN STREET INC: $5,000 over 1y, 4.7% of budgetFranklin Food Pantry Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetHERITAGE MUSEUMS AND GARDENS INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetYouth Opportunities Unlimited Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetROOT NS INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% 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.

Eastern Bank Foundati…Rockland Trust Charit…Cape Cod Five Cents S…Mutual Bancorp Founda…Cape Cod Foundation I…Cape and Islands Unit…Bilezikian Family Fou…Cape Cod Healthcare I…Agnes M Lindsay TrustArbella Insurance Fou…Cape & Coast Bank Fou…Lyndon Paul Lorusso C…
Eastern Bank FoundationMA53.5× affinity28 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Eastern Bank Foundation · Rockland Trust Charitable Foundation Inc · Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank Charitable Foundation Trust · Mutual Bancorp Foundation Inc Fka Cape Cod 5 Foundation Inc · Cape Cod Foundation Inc · Cape and Islands United Way Inc · Bilezikian Family Foundation Inc · Cape Cod Healthcare Inc & Affiliates · Agnes M Lindsay Trust · Arbella Insurance Foundation · Cape & Coast Bank Foundation · Lyndon Paul Lorusso Charitable Foundatio

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 180%5%19%42%75%funder's share of their income ↑0%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from government →median 12%
  • Cape Abilities Inc: 81% of income from government
  • Coastal Foodshed: 66% of income from government
  • Cape Cod Children's Place Inc: 47% of income from government
  • La Colaborativa Inc: 34% of income from government
  • Martha's Vineyard Boys & Girls Club Inc: 30% of income from government
  • Waltham Boys & Girls Club Inc: 29% of income from government
  • Root Ns Inc: 26% of income from government
  • Boston Medical Center Corporation: 23% of income from government
  • Community Harvest Project Inc: 18% of income from government
  • Three Bays Preservation Inc: 18% of income from government
  • Calmer Choice Inc: 14% of income from government
  • Helping Our Women Inc: 14% of income from government
  • Community Servings Inc: 12% of income from government
  • Community Health Center of Cape Cod Inc: 9% of income from government
  • Mill City Grows Inc: 7% of income from government
  • Barnstable Land Trust Inc: 4% of income from government
  • Homeless Prevention Council Inc: 4% of income from government
  • Franklin Food Pantry Inc: 3% of income from government
  • Peabody Essex Museum Inc: 3% of income from government
  • Needham Community Council Inc: 2% of income from government
  • Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston Inc: 2% of income from government
  • Cape Cod Foundation Inc: 2% of income from government
  • Osterville Historical Society Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Franciscan Hospital for Children: 0% of income from government
  • We Can Corporation: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
18get no government money at all
2report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
2rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–90%
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 71 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 Vela’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