Massachusetts · Nonprofit
HEALTH EFFECTS INSTITUTE
HEALTH EFFECTS INSTITUTE (Massachusetts) receives grants from 6 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,016,705 to it, the largest being DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC ($1,820,000). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 70% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $13M
- Funders on record
- 6
- Grants received
- $3.0M
- Net assets
- $5.9M
What Health Effects Institute does
Mission
Health Effects Institute's mission is to conduct independent research to provide high-quality, impartial and relevant science on the health effects of air pollution. This is done by identifying the highest priority areas for health effect research; funding and overseeing research; providing independent review of related research projects; collaborating with other institutions; communication of results of hei research and analyses to public and private decision makers.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Hei's environmental and health program tracks air pollution from its sources to its health impacts, studying how those effects occur. Our research quantifies how air and water quality, noise levels, and other non-chemical factors affect health and examines the effects of new fuels and technologies. It then puts the findings into the context of current science and policy discussions, playing a critical role in helping determine emissions standards and other health protective decisions.
$8,508,367 spentof which $4,060,362 as grants$59,995 earned by the program62% of program spendingHei's energy program funds and supports policy-relevant research about the potential impacts from the onshore development of oil and gas from shale and other unconventional resources in the united states. We convene independent experts to select, oversee, and review studies and bring together leaders from government, industry, academia, and non-governmental organizations to guide our research priorities. By synthesizing and communicating scientific evidence, we help audiences in the united states and worldwide use our science in their decision-making.
$4,424,876 spentof which $3,090,536 as grants32% of program spendingHei's global initiatives program engages in projects around the world, applying science to better understand the health impacts of air pollution. Working closely with local and regional partners, especially in areas in africa and asia, the program informs policy action globally, from broad strategies to local, targeted initiatives, and strengthening scientific capacity to complement ongoing in-country activities. The program's flagship initiative, state of global air (soga), tracks annual air pollution exposures for fine particles, ozone, nitrogen dioxide, and household air pollution in addition to the burden of disease attributable to air pollution in cities and countries around the world.
$876,848 spent6% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $13,810,091.
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 2024 to 2025, from $14M to $10M (−27%).
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: 2017 48% · 2018 42% · 2019 50% · 2020 37% · 2021 52% · 2022 61% · 2023 63% · 2024 52% · 2025 56%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
99% of HEALTH EFFECTS INSTITUTE’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (7% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 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.
Board chair
Richard Meserve
Board chairman
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2018 → 2023: the base narrowed from 2 funders to 1 funder, grant income fell $1.1M → $297k.
2 of 6 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 70% 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 HEALTH EFFECTS INSTITUTE’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
HEALTH EFFECTS INSTITUTE leans on a few funders — its largest provides 60% of grant income and the top three 80%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
77% 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 HEALTH EFFECTS INSTITUTE.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2018 91% · 2019 89% · 2020 100% · 2021 100% · 2023 100% — 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.
Where its funders are
70% of HEALTH EFFECTS INSTITUTE's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $900k that is directly attributable, 100% of it comes from funders outside Massachusetts, across 4 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $2.1M arriving through sponsors registered in 2 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
HEALTH EFFECTS INSTITUTE holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 2,843 health nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 2,843 health nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Government funding HEALTH EFFECTS INSTITUTE receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $65.1M on record.
- Environmental Protection Agency$65.1M
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 HEALTH EFFECTS INSTITUTE
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 Massachusetts
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
88% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
87%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- The Health Effects Institute - Energy · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for HEALTH EFFECTS INSTITUTE: 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 HEALTH EFFECTS INSTITUTE?
- HEALTH EFFECTS INSTITUTE (Massachusetts) receives grants from 6 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,016,705 to it, the largest being DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC ($1,820,000). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 70% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does HEALTH EFFECTS INSTITUTE have?
- IRS filings report 6 organizations giving $3,016,705 in grants to HEALTH EFFECTS INSTITUTE, 2 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of HEALTH EFFECTS INSTITUTE?
- DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC is the largest funder on record, with $1,820,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like HEALTH EFFECTS INSTITUTE find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Massachusetts. 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 6 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