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Connecticut · Nonprofit

FIRST CANDLE INC

FIRST CANDLE INC (Connecticut) receives grants from 23 organizations whose IRS filings report $430,374 to it, the largest being WK Kellogg Foundation ($125,000). 12 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2024
$853k
Funders on record
23
Grants received
$430k
Net assets
$-70430
12/23 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 18%
01What it does

What First Candle Inc does

Mission

First candle is committed to ending sudden infant death syndrome sids and other sleep-related infant deaths while providing bereavement support to families who have experienced a loss.

As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.

Program

  1. Education and family support: first candle supplies comprehensive quality-assured information on infant health and survival to new and expectant parents and the general public through a toll-free information hotline and website. First candle also provides technical assistance education and training to health professionals and community organizations through workshops and the disbribution of educaitonal materials. First candle also provides telephone bereavement support and online support groups to help families through the difficult time after the loss of a baby. Through the distribution of grief packetes conferences and referrals to local support services and the website first candle helps families connect and share experiences.

    $660,545 spent
    100% of program spending

The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $660,545.

02The organization over time

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.

100 = 20172017 Revenue 100 ($609k) Expenses 100 ($785k) Net assets 100 ($22k)2018 Revenue 0 ($0) Net assets 0 ($0)2019 Revenue 72 ($438k) Expenses 55 ($435k) Net assets 101 ($22k)2021 Revenue 99 ($602k) Expenses 72 ($567k) Net assets 226 ($49k)2022 Revenue 83 ($504k) Expenses 99 ($780k) Net assets -1055 ($-227040)2023 Revenue 147 ($898k) Expenses 122 ($955k) Net assets -1319 ($-283837)2024 Revenue 140 ($853k) Expenses 99 ($778k) Net assets -327 ($-70430)
2017201820192021202220232024
Revenue (140)Expenses (99)Net assets (-327)Peer revenue range

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 $230k to $62k (−73%).

$74k
$0
$92k
$230k
$62k
$88k
$222k
2017201820192021202220232024
Total assetsTotal liabilities

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.

2017
2019
2021
2022
2023
2024
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

Government-grant reliance: 2021 7% · 2022 26% · 2023 45% · 2024 37%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

85% of FIRST CANDLE INC’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (82% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 14,893 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 6 reported years ran a deficit.

−$176k
’17
’18
$3k
’19
$35k
’21
−$276k
’22
−$57k
’23
$75k
’24
2.7
months of
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

Alison Jacobson

CEO

Board chair

Byron Johnson

Chairman

As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.

201720192021202220232024
Listed81412121110
Joined···+0+0+3
No longer listed···014
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 5 funders to 6 funders, grant income rose $56k → $69k.

3 of 23 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 30% 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 FIRST CANDLE INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 22 of 23 funders by total. 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

FIRST CANDLE INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 29% of grant income and the top three 62%; half comes from just 2 funders.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left

55% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund FIRST CANDLE INC.

29%
largest funder
62%
top three
~6
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 45% · 2018 40% · 2019 83% · 2020 59% · 2021 45% · 2022 92% · 2023 62% — growing more concentrated.

“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

29% of FIRST CANDLE INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 52% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y+3y+4y+5y+6y

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

FIRST CANDLE INC draws 96% of its grant income from funders outside Connecticut, across 13 states in all.

WI
MI
NY
MA
SD
IN
PA
CT
CA
NE
MO
VA
NC

In-state vs out-of-state, by year

’17
’18
’19
’20
’21
’22
’23
Connecticut out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $131k arriving through sponsors registered in 3 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.

04Its place in the field

Against its field

FIRST CANDLE INC runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 13,754 health nonprofits its size.

Operating margin9% · above the median
Months of reserve2.7mo · below the median
Revenue growth (annualized)5% · below the median

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 13,754 health nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2024

Government funding FIRST CANDLE INC receives

Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $1.2M on record.

Federal$1.2M
grants $1.2Mcontracts $0
22
23
24
Top agencies
  • Department of Health and Human Services$1.2M

Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.

Organizations like FIRST CANDLE 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 Connecticut

Nationally

05Profile & governance

Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.

Where the money goes

85% of spending goes to programs.

Program 85%Management 6%Fundraising 9%

Governance

9
board members
100%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990–Audited financials

Public support

100%

Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 1 state

CT

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for FIRST CANDLE 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.

A paid feature, included from the $75 plan up. Sign in to download.

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 FIRST CANDLE INC?
FIRST CANDLE INC (Connecticut) receives grants from 23 organizations whose IRS filings report $430,374 to it, the largest being WK Kellogg Foundation ($125,000). 12 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does FIRST CANDLE INC have?
IRS filings report 23 organizations giving $430,374 in grants to FIRST CANDLE INC, 12 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of FIRST CANDLE INC?
WK Kellogg Foundation is the largest funder on record, with $125,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like FIRST CANDLE INC find more funders?
Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Connecticut. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.

Play a game about who funds First Candle →

These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 23 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