Connecticut · Nonprofit
THE CONNECTION INC
THE CONNECTION INC (Connecticut) receives grants from 19 organizations whose IRS filings report $865,786 to it, the largest being Middlesex United Way Inc ($339,774). 9 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $53M
- Funders on record
- 19
- Grants received
- $866k
- Net assets
- $5.5M
What The Connection Inc does
Mission
Building safe, healthy, caring communities and inspiring people to reach their full potential as productive and valued citizens.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Supportive housing: supportive housing has been proven in national studies to effectively address chronic homelessness and save citizens money by reducing or eliminating far more expensive alternatives, like hospitalizations, prison time and shelter stays. The supportive housing for families program works closely with the connecticut department of children and families to reunite and keep families together through appropriate housing. Other scattered-site supportive housing programs assist both individuals and families who have suffered from a disability or from chronic homelessness to live independently and with dignity.
$19,885,564 spent45% of program spendingCommunity justice: the connection, inc. Has long been one of connecticut's recognized leaders in improving community safety and justice by helping those involved in the criminal justice system become productive and valued citizens. Starting with the original program, connection house, one of the first halfway houses in the state, to the most recent, a unique scattered site apartment program for people leaving prison, the organization has provided the necessary residential, rehabilitation, and supervisory services to help people turn around their lives. Working closely with its funders and service partners, the organization has utilized proven state-of-the-art cognitive behavioral treatment approaches to successfully reduce criminal recidivism.
$15,324,557 spentof which $9,113,834 as grants$2,819,562 earned by the program35% of program spendingBehavioral health: addiction and mental health issues are at the heart of many problems the connection, inc. Addresses. The organization operates two free standing outpatient behavioral health clinics, and delivers empirically-validated psychosocial rehabilitation approaches at all of its programs. In so doing, the organization delivers a preventative approach to the problems of addiction and stress, and provides opportunities for hope and recovery to all its clients.
$9,008,989 spent20% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $44,219,110.
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 $8.2M to $12M (+42%).
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 86% · 2018 87% · 2019 90% · 2020 92% · 2021 94% · 2022 94% · 2023 94% · 2024 94% · 2025 94%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
94% of THE CONNECTION INC’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. 5 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
Lisa Dematteis-Lepore
CEO/president
Board chair
Karen Buckley
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 3 funders to 6 funders, grant income rose $73k → $119k.
7 of 19 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 25% 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 THE CONNECTION 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
THE CONNECTION INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 39% of grant income and the top three 76%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
92% 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 THE CONNECTION INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 90% · 2018 45% · 2019 68% · 2020 57% · 2021 50% · 2022 36% · 2023 40% — 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
33% of THE CONNECTION INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 47% 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
99% of THE CONNECTION INC's grant income comes from Connecticut funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $213k arriving through sponsors registered in 5 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
THE CONNECTION INC runs a healthier operating margin than half 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 THE CONNECTION INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $360.0M on record — $1.9M federal, $358.0M state.
- Department of Housing and Urban Development$1.9M
- Department of Health and Human Services$43k
- Department of Justice$13k
- CT$357.9M
- VT$116k
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 THE CONNECTION 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
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
87% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
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
Part of a family of 7 related entities
- The Connection Fund Inc · exempt
- The Connection Fund Realty Inc · exempt
- The Connection Inc Employees · exempt
- The Connection Fund - Jefferson Inc · exempt
- The Connection Fund - Liberty Inc · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE CONNECTION 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 THE CONNECTION INC?
- THE CONNECTION INC (Connecticut) receives grants from 19 organizations whose IRS filings report $865,786 to it, the largest being Middlesex United Way Inc ($339,774). 9 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE CONNECTION INC have?
- IRS filings report 19 organizations giving $865,786 in grants to THE CONNECTION INC, 9 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE CONNECTION INC?
- Middlesex United Way Inc is the largest funder on record, with $339,774 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE CONNECTION 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.
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 19 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