New York · Nonprofit
CITIES FOR FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT FUND INC
CITIES FOR FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT FUND INC (New York) receives grants from 20 organizations whose IRS filings report $60,063,957 to it, the largest being THE BLOOMBERG FAMILY FOUNDATION INC ($30,008,000). 12 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $17M
- Funders on record
- 20
- Grants received
- $60M
- Net assets
- $17M
What Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund Inc does
Mission
See schedule othe cfe fund's mission is to leverage municipal engagement to improve the financial stability of households by embedding financial empowerment strategies into local government infrastructure. The cfe fund focuses programmatic, research, and policy efforts towards designing, embedding, and replicating financial empowerment initiatives within local government.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Financial empowerment centersmunicipal financial empowerment centers (fecs) offer professional, one-on-one financial counseling as a free public service. The model, first piloted in new york city, is now active in 39 cities and counties, helping over 200,000 clients reduce debt by more than $344 million and increase savings by over $69 million; dozens of additional local governments are working to launch a local fec initiative. Each partner has seen incredible demand for fec services and has quickly realized the importance of this work; many have transitioned successfully from private investment into ongoing public funding sustainability. (continued on schedule o)the cfe fund's fec academy entry point guides cities and counties through each step of planning to launch the model locally. This year, the cfe fund also introduced legacy planning as a new fec service plan; counselors can now help clients protect their assets, plan for retirement, and access resources to help them create legal documents like wills. Finally, the cfe fund is piloting a new enhancement to the fec model focusing on small business and entrepreneurship services.
$8,108,471 spentof which $3,290,000 as grants66% of program spendingCity start the citystart initiative provides structured support to help local governments identify financial empowerment goals, convene relevant stakeholders, and develop actionable strategies, culminating in the creation of a "wealth equity blueprint," rooted in local insights. This two-phase engagement combines critical insights about the impact of financial instability on municipal governments with tangible strategies to help residents build financial stability. The cfe fund has supported 50 municipalities through the citystart initiative.
$1,210,987 spentof which $600,000 as grants10% of program spendingFinancial empowerment cities across 150 municipalities and years of work, the cfe fund's programmatic experience have shown that financial empowerment efforts can achieve successful outcomes in both impact and scale when they are led by local government. Through the financial empowerment cities (fe cities) initiative, the cfe fund supports municipalities to more deeply invest in their financial empowerment work by creating a dedicated office of financial empowerment (ofe). Each cohort of fe cities leaders completes a two-year training program, working with the cfe fund to launch and lead ofes in their respective municipalities. The cfe fund has supported 10 municipalities through the fe cities initiative.
$1,121,076 spentof which $480,000 as grants9% of program spendingAdditional cfe fund programs include: supporting the cfe coalition, an invitation-only group of 19 cities on the cutting edge of municipal financial empowerment; liaising nationally with banking, regulatory, and nonprofit organization partners to ensure that everyone has access to safe, affordable banking; connecting local emergency management leadership with community and government financial empowerment resources to ensure that emergency response protocols incorporate personal finance considerations; developing consumer financial protection capacity; and using the scale and infrastructure of municipal youth employment programs to integrate targeted financial education and banking access strategies.
$1,843,715 spentof which $484,081 as grants$9,600 earned by the program15% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $12,284,249.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2021 to 2022, from $15M to $30M (+102%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2021 4%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
95% of CITIES FOR FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT FUND INC’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (61% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Chief executive
Jonathan Mintz
President and CEO
Board chair
Karen Freeman-Wilson
Board chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 8 funders, grant income rose $585k → $1.1M.
7 of 20 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 13% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of CITIES FOR FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT FUND INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
CITIES FOR FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT FUND INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 50% of grant income and the top three 86%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 98% · 2018 35% · 2019 35% · 2020 49% · 2021 56% · 2022 65% · 2023 75% — diversifying over time.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
62% of CITIES FOR FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT FUND INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 60% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
92% of CITIES FOR FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT FUND INC's grant income comes from New York funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $7.7M arriving through sponsors registered in 7 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
CITIES FOR FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT FUND INC holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 328 community improvement nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 328 community improvement nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Organizations like CITIES FOR FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT FUND INC
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In New York
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
86% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
30%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for CITIES FOR FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT FUND INC: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds CITIES FOR FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT FUND INC?
- CITIES FOR FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT FUND INC (New York) receives grants from 20 organizations whose IRS filings report $60,063,957 to it, the largest being THE BLOOMBERG FAMILY FOUNDATION INC ($30,008,000). 12 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does CITIES FOR FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT FUND INC have?
- IRS filings report 20 organizations giving $60,063,957 in grants to CITIES FOR FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT FUND INC, 12 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of CITIES FOR FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT FUND INC?
- THE BLOOMBERG FAMILY FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $30,008,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like CITIES FOR FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT FUND INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in New York. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 20 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing