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The Velaj Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Velaj 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.

$256k
Granted FY2025still arriving
11
Grants FY2025still arriving
4
States reached
$60k
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, FY2017 to 2025.

Employment$741kHealth$283kArts & Culture$177kRecreation & Sports$148kEducation$115kYouth Development$105kPhilanthropy$96kHuman Services$87kOther$0
02FY2025 · 11 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k4 grants · $6k
  • $10k–50k4 grants · $80k
  • $50k–250k3 grants · $170k
$15,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$3.8M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
STAMFORD HOSPITAL FOUNDATION$60,000
STAMFORD MUSEUM AND NATURE CENTER$60,000
EDUCATION FOR EMPLOYMENT$50,000
BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF STAMFORD INC$25,000
FAMILY CENTERS INC$25,000
FILLING IN THE BLANKS$15,000
PALM BEACH COUNTY LITERACY COALITION$15,000
KANSAS UNIVERSITY ENDOWMENT ASSOCIATION$2,000
GREENWICH SCHOLARSHIP ASSOCIATION$2,000
STAMFORD HOSPITAL FOUNDATION$1,200
Individual grant recipient$1,100
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, $35k) land where the poverty rate runs at 9%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 1% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%UNITED HELP UKRAINE: $1k → 8%CHILD RESCUE COALITION: $250 → 11%GREENWICH CENTER FOR HOPE AND RENEWAL: $1k → 9%FILLING IN THE BLANKS: $15k → 9%FILLING IN THE BLANKS: $15k → 9%SIMPLY SMILES: $3k → 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

WI
NY
MA
NJ
CT
RI
CA
CO
MO
KY
MD
KS
AR
TN
NC
SC
DC
HI
LA
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.

95%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.8M · 31 repeat orgs$95k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +53% since the first grant, against +32% for those funded once.

31 repeat relationships: 6 still active in FY2025, 25 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

31
34

Total granted

$1.8M
$52k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+53%
+32%

Still filing today

61%
56%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 83% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $43k 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
EducationHuman ServicesInternationalPhilanthropyHealthFood & 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

  • SM
    Stamford Museum & Nature Center Inc
    4× · 2022–2025 · $150k · revenue +56%
  • MR
    MILL RIVER COLLABORATIVE INC
    5× · 2020–2024 · $143k · revenue +68%
  • PT
    PERSON TO PERSON INC
    5× · 2018–2022 · $90k · revenue +30%

Funded once

  • KI
    KIDS IN CRISIS INCgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $11k · revenue +32%
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2017 · $5k
  • SS
    SIMPLY SMILES INC
    one grant, 2018 · $3k · revenue -59%
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
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
2
Connecticut Foodshare Inc

The mission of the connecticut foodshare is to deliver an informed and equitable response to hunger by mobilizing community partners, volunteers, and supporters.

—
3
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
4
Children's Hospital Corporation

Provider of pediatric healthcare, education, research & community service

Health
5
Quinnipiac University

To build the university of the future with a strategy propelling us from our storied past toward an ambitious, inclusive & innovative future by preparing graduates as enlightened global citizens equipped for the challenges & opportunities…

Education
6
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
7
Greenwood Project

Greenwood's mission is to create career pathways in the financial services industry for black and latino college students. we partner with companies to find equitable and inclusive solutions for recruitment, retention, and advancement. our…

Human Services
8
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
9
Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors Inc

Rockefeller philanthropy advisors aims to accelerate philanthropy in pursuit of a just world

Philanthropy
10
The Water Research Foundation

The purpose of the water research foundation (wrf) is a definitive research organization to advance the science of all things water to better meet the evolving needs of its subscribers and the water sector. to engage exclusively in…

Environment
11
Global Greengrants Fund

Global greengrants fund seeds grassroots environmental action and social justice through small grants. we support change from the ground up by channeling donations to local projects and grassroots campaigns for environmental justice around…

Environment
12
Fairfield University

To establish, organize, maintain and conduct an institution for secondary, undergraduate and graduate education in the state of connecticut, and to perform such other works of education, charity and religion. see schedule o.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Convoy of Hope; the most unlike its peers is Cool Earth Action Usa 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

44 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 44 of the 72 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)
43/44
Grantees still filing
31/44
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

EDUCATION FOR EMPLOYMENT: $740,500 · InternationalEDUCATION FOR EMPLOYMENT+3 more: $4,050 · InternationalSTAMFORD HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $278,900 · OtherSTAMFORD HOSPITAL FOUNDATIONINTREPID SEA AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM: $110,000 · OtherINTREPID SEA AIR AND SPACE MUSEUMROUND HILL NURSERY SCHOOL INC: $64,000 · OtherROUND HILL NURSERY SCHOOL INCFAMILY CENTERS INC: $50,000 · OtherFAMILY CENTERS INCROUND HILL COMMUNITY CHURCH INC: $26,200 · OtherBOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF STAMFORD INC: $25,000 · OtherFILLING IN THE BLANKS INC: $30,000 · Other+43 more: $118,100 · Other+43 moreStamford Museum & Nature Center Inc: $150,000 · Arts & CultureMILL RIVER COLLABORATIVE INC: $142,500 · Recreation & SportsPERSON TO PERSON INC: $90,400 · Philanthropy+4 more: $5,000 · PhilanthropyPACIFIC HOUSE INC: $45,500 · Housing & ShelterGREENWICH SCHOLARSHIP ASSOCIATION INC: $18,000 · EducationPalm Beach County Literacy Coalition Inc: $15,000 · EducationNANTUCKET BOOK FOUNDATION INC: $3,000 · EducationThe Kansas University Endowment Association: $2,000 · EducationFriends of Greenwich Crew Inc: $2,000 · Education+5 more: $3,750 · Education
International$744,550Other$702,200Arts & Culture$150,000Recreation & Sports$142,500Philanthropy$95,400Housing & Shelter$45,500Education$43,750

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 budgetEDUCATION FOR EMPLOYMENT: $740,500 over 9y, 2.4% of budgetStamford Museum & Nature Center Inc: $150,000 over 4y, 0.7% of budgetMILL RIVER COLLABORATIVE INC: $142,500 over 5y, 1.2% of budgetPERSON TO PERSON INC: $90,400 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetROUND HILL NURSERY SCHOOL INC: $64,000 over 6y, 1.7% of budgetFAMILY CENTERS INC: $50,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetPACIFIC HOUSE INC: $45,500 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetFILLING IN THE BLANKS INC: $30,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF STAMFORD INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetGREENWICH SCHOLARSHIP ASSOCIATION INC: $18,000 over 9y, 0.4% of budgetPalm Beach County Literacy Coalition Inc: $15,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetKIDS IN CRISIS INC: $11,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF GREENWICH: $7,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetNANTUCKET BOOK FOUNDATION INC: $3,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetTHE PHILANTHROPY ROUNDTABLE: $3,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSIMPLY SMILES INC: $3,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetFINAL VICTORY ANIMAL RESCUE INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetMary's Meals USA Inc: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetThe Kansas University Endowment Association: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $1,750 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetLOGGERHEAD MARINELIFE CENTER INC: $1,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetBEN JACKSON FOUNDATION INC: $1,500 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetABILIS INC: $1,300 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $1,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetUnited Help Ukraine Inc: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPEQUOT LIBRARY ASSOCIATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHAWAII COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN FOUNDATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetARKANSAS FOODBANK: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGREENWICH CENTER FOR HOPE AND RENEWAL INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetUNITED WAY OF GREENWICH INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTREVOR PROJECT INC: $750 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetSwim Across America Inc: $500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE GREATER NEW ORLEANS FOUNDATION: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGREENWICH ALLIANCE FOR EDUCATION INC: $500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE RIVER FOOD PANTRY INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCONVOY OF HOPE: $300 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCOMPASSION & CHOICES ACTION NETWORK: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCHILD RESCUE COALITION INC: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE BREAST CANCER RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC: $200 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 EDUCATION FOR EMPLOYMENT ↗
  • Who funds Stamford Museum & Nature Center Inc ↗
  • Who funds MILL RIVER COLLABORATIVE INC ↗
  • Who funds PERSON TO PERSON INC ↗
  • Who funds ROUND HILL NURSERY SCHOOL INC ↗
  • Who funds FAMILY CENTERS INC ↗
  • Who funds PACIFIC HOUSE INC ↗
  • Who funds FILLING IN THE BLANKS INC ↗
  • Who funds BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF STAMFORD INC ↗
  • Who funds GREENWICH SCHOLARSHIP ASSOCIATION INC ↗
  • Who funds Palm Beach County Literacy Coalition Inc ↗
  • Who funds KIDS IN CRISIS INC ↗
  • Who funds BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF GREENWICH ↗
  • Who funds NANTUCKET BOOK FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds THE PHILANTHROPY ROUNDTABLE ↗
  • Who funds SIMPLY SMILES INC ↗
  • Who funds FINAL VICTORY ANIMAL RESCUE INC ↗
  • Who funds Mary's Meals USA Inc ↗
  • Who funds The Kansas University Endowment Association ↗
  • Who funds Friends of Greenwich Crew Inc ↗
  • Who funds WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC ↗
  • Who funds LOGGERHEAD MARINELIFE CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds BEN JACKSON FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds ABILIS INC ↗

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.

Fairfield County's Co…Peoples United Commun…Claire L Helsing Foun…Howard and Amy Finkel…Rich Foundation IncSimmons Family Founda…Stamford Rotary Trust…Schwartz Family Found…Malkin Fund IncViking Global Foundat…Ge Aerospace Foundati…Synchrony Foundation
Fairfield County's Community Foundation IncCT21.1× affinity8 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Fairfield County's Community Foundation Inc · Peoples United Community Foundation · Claire L Helsing Foundation · Howard and Amy Finkelstein Foundation Inc · Rich Foundation Inc · Simmons Family Foundation Inc · Stamford Rotary Trust Fund · Schwartz Family Foundation · Malkin Fund Inc · Viking Global Foundation Inc · Ge Aerospace Foundation · Synchrony 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 Velaj Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Velaj Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 80%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 17%
  • Mill River Collaborative Inc: 100% of income from government
  • Abilis Inc: 74% of income from government
  • Kids in Crisis Inc: 49% of income from government
  • Pacific House Inc: 46% of income from government
  • Child Rescue Coalition Inc: 20% of income from government
  • Family Centers Inc: 20% of income from government
  • Boys & Girls Club of Stamford Inc: 17% of income from government
  • Stamford Museum & Nature Center Inc: 9% of income from government
  • Boys & Girls Club of Greenwich: 7% of income from government
  • Person to Person Inc: 5% of income from government
  • Greenwich Alliance for Education Inc: 3% of income from government
  • Nantucket Book Foundation Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Pequot Library Association: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
8get no government money at all
9report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
2rely 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 72 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 Velaj’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