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· Private foundation

Charles E Smith Family 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.

$818k
Granted FY2022
10
Grants FY2022
4
States reached
$500k
Largest

Read this first · the figures below need context

62% of Charles E Smith Family Foundation’s FY2025 grant dollars went to The Jewish Federation Of Greater Washington Inc, not to grantees.

Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2025 names 6 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2022, the last year Charles E Smith Family Foundation named its own grantees at scale: 5 organizations, $818k. It is dated, not current.

Organizations named directly on the return

12
’17
11
’18
11
’19
11
’20
10
’21
5
’22
7
’23
7
’24
6
’25

Amber years are those where most dollars went to a sponsor.

01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Education$8.2MPhilanthropy$5.9MReligion$2.7MHuman Services$980kArts & Culture$525kHousing & Shelter$500kInternational$233kHealth$75kOther$0
02FY2022 · 10 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2022

  • Under $10k4 grants · $20k
  • $10k–50k3 grants · $48k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $250k
  • $250k+1 grant · $500k
$12,500
Median grant
4
States reached
$3.3M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
JEWISH FEDERAL OF GREATER WASHINGTON$500,000
CHARLES E SMITH JEWISH DAY SCHOOL$150,000
AMERICAN FRIENDS OF HEBREW UNIVERSITY$100,000
SHALOM HARTMAN INSTITUTE OF NORTH AMERICA$25,000
ADAS ISRAEL CONGREGATION$12,500
DCJCC$10,000
GESHER JEWISH DAY SCHOOL$5,000
JEWISH SOCIAL SERVICE AGENCY$5,000
JEWISH COUNCIL FOR THE AGING$5,000
JCC ASSOCIATION$5,000
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, $1.4M) land where the poverty rate runs at 7%, against an area that typically sits at 7%. 68% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 7%JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA: $110k → 6%Jewish Community Center of northern virginia: $110k → 6%JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA: $110k → 6%JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA: $110k → 6%JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA: $5k → 6%JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA: $5k → 6%JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA: $5k → 6%JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA: $5k → 6%JEWISH SOCIAL SERVICE AGENCY: $160k → 8%JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF GREATER WASHINGTON: $110k → 8%Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington: $110k → 8%JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF GREATER WASHINGTON: $110k → 8%JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF GREATER WASHINGTON: $110k → 8%JEWISH SOCIAL SERVICE AGENCY: $105k → 8%JEWISH SOCIAL SERVICE AGENCY: $60k → 8%JEWISH SOCIAL SERVICE AGENCY: $60k → 8%JEWISH COUNCIL FOR THE AGING: $20k → 8%JEWISH COUNCIL FOR THE AGING: $20k → 8%JEWISH COUNCIL FOR THE AGING: $20k → 8%JEWISH COUNCIL FOR THE AGING: $10k → 8%JEWISH COUNCIL FOR THE AGING: $10k → 8%JEWISH SOCIAL SERVICE AGENCY: $10k → 8%JEWISH SOCIAL SERVICE AGENCY: $5k → 8%JEWISH COUNCIL FOR THE AGING: $5k → 8%JEWISH COUNCIL FOR THE AGING: $5k → 8%JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF GREATER WASHINGTON: $5k → 8%JEWISH COUNCIL FOR THE AGING: $5k → 8%JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF GREATER WASHINGTON: $5k → 8%JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF GREATER WASHINGTON: $5k → 8%JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF GREATER WASHINGTON: $5k → 8%JEWISH SOCIAL SERVICE AGENCY: $5k → 8%JEWISH COUNCIL FOR THE AGING: $5k → 8%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.
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.

91%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$12M · 16 repeat orgs$1.2M to everyone else

16 repeat relationships: 7 still active in FY2022, 9 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2022 (too recent to call). Read against FY2022, the last year this funder named its own grantees directly; its giving has since run through a sponsor, which reports no donor behind each grant.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

16
5

Total granted

$12M
$700k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+11%
+72%

Still filing today

50%
60%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 97% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $5k 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
Human ServicesInternationalEducationArts & CultureReligionHealthOther
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

  • CE
    CHARLES E SMITH JEWISH DAY SCHOOL OF GREATER WASHINGTON INC
    9× · 2017–2025 · $6.8M · revenue +14%
  • AF
    AMERICAN FRIENDS OF HEBREW UNIVERSITY INC
    3× · 2019–2021 · $622k · revenue +20%
  • TS
    THE SHALOM HARTMAN INSTITUTE OF NORTH AMERICA
    8× · 2017–2025 · $470k · revenue +24%

Funded once

  • JF
    JOHN F KENNEDY CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTSgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $500k · revenue +115%
  • MJ
    MELVIN J BERMAN HEBREW ACADEMYgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $100k · revenue +72%
  • TM
    THE MEDSTAR-GEORGETOWN MEDICAL CENTER INCgraduated
    one grant, 2018 · $50k · revenue +63%
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
Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary

To prepare students for the rabbinate and to issue the traditional certificate of ordination in connection therewith. the seminary is authorized to confer the degree of master of hebrew literature (m.h.l.), doctor of hebrew literature…

Education
2
Eastern European Jewish Heritage Foundation
Philanthropy
3
The Jerusalem Connection
—
4
The Jewish Community Center in Manhattan Inc

Together with our community, jcc manhattan creates opportunities for people to connect, grow, and learn within an ever-changing jewish landscape.

Human Services
5
Abraham Joshua Heschel Day School

Abraham joshua heschel day school cultivates students' natural sense of wonder into an exceptionally rich education that encourages critical thinking, creativity, and compassion. in partnership with our families, we inspire our students to…

—
6
Jewish Community Centers of Greater Boston

To advance the aspirations of families and individuals to enrich their lives, bodies and spirits, by providing the best in contemporary programs and experiences, informed by jewish values for today's jews and the people in their lives.

Human Services
7
San Diego Jewish Academy

San Diego Jewish Academy empowers each student to learn for life, guided by Jewish values and rooted in strength of community.

Education
8
Torah Temimah Jerusalem

The school trains advanced talmudic scholars, enabling them to become high level teachers and religious leaders in israel and the united states using specific methodology combining traditional talmudic study with innovative learning…

Education
9
Jewish Parent Cooperative School Inc

Jcs is a parent participation elementary school, collaboratively governed by parents and teachers designed to foster a lifelong love of learning and meaningful connection to hashem.

Education
10
National Council of Jewish Women Inc Jersey Hills Section
—
11
Hebrew College

Promotes excellence in jewish learning & leadership within a pluralistic environment. see sch ohebrew college promotes excellence in jewish learning and leadership within a pluralistic environment of open inquiry, intellectual rigor,…

Education
12
Abraham Joshua Heschel School

The abraham joshua heschel school is an independent jewish day school which includes students from a wide range of jewish backgrounds, practices and beliefs. (see schedule o for continuation)

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia Inc; the most unlike its peers is National Christian Leadership Conference for Israel. 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

14 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

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 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 14 of the 27 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)
0
Early backer (in before they grew)
13/14
Grantees still filing
12/14
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

CHARLES E SMITH JEWISH DAY SCHOOL OF GREATER WASHINGTON INC: $6,850,000 · EducationCHARLES E SMITH JEWISH DAY SCHOOL OF GREA…+1 more: $117,500 · EducationTHE JEWISH FEDERATION OF GREATER WASHINGTON INC: $5,375,000 · PhilanthropyTHE JEWISH FEDERATION OF GREATE…ADAS ISRAEL HEBREW CONGREGATION: $1,125,038 · OtherADAS ISRAEL HEBREW CO…DCJCC: $560,000 · OtherDCJCCAmerican Friends of Hebrew University: $522,000 · OtherAmerican Friends of H…CHARLES E SMITH LIFETIME COMMUNITIES: $500,000 · OtherCHARLES E SMITH LIFET…JEWISH FEDERAL OF GREATER WASHINGTON: $500,000 · OtherJEWISH FEDERAL OF GRE…JEWISH AGENCY FOR ISRAEL N AMERICA: $200,000 · OtherJEWISH AGENCY FOR ISR…+8 more: $135,000 · OtherJEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA INC: $460,000 · Human ServicesBENDER JCC OF GREATER WASHINGTON: $460,000 · Human ServicesJEWISH SOCIAL SERVICE AGENCY: $405,000 · Human ServicesJEWISH COUNCIL FOR THE AGING OF GREATER WASHINGTON INC: $100,000 · Human ServicesAMERICAN FRIENDS OF HEBREW UNIVERSITY INC: $622,000 · InternationalTHE SHALOM HARTMAN INSTITUTE OF NORTH AMERICA: $470,000 · International+1 more: $32,500 · InternationalJOHN F KENNEDY CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS: $500,000 · Arts & CultureMELVIN J BERMAN HEBREW ACADEMY: $100,000 · ReligionTHE MEDSTAR-GEORGETOWN MEDICAL CENTER INC: $50,000 · Health
Education$6,967,500Philanthropy$5,375,000Other$3,542,038Human Services$1,425,000International$1,124,500Arts & Culture$500,000Religion$100,000Health$50,000

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 budgetCHARLES E SMITH JEWISH DAY SCHOOL OF GREATER WASHINGTON INC: $6,850,000 over 9y, 4.0% of budgetTHE JEWISH FEDERATION OF GREATER WASHINGTON INC: $5,375,000 over 8y, 3.0% of budgetAMERICAN FRIENDS OF HEBREW UNIVERSITY INC: $622,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetJOHN F KENNEDY CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS: $500,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetTHE SHALOM HARTMAN INSTITUTE OF NORTH AMERICA: $470,000 over 8y, 0.6% of budgetJEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA INC: $460,000 over 8y, 1.2% of budgetBENDER JCC OF GREATER WASHINGTON: $460,000 over 8y, 1.0% of budgetJEWISH SOCIAL SERVICE AGENCY: $405,000 over 7y, 0.5% of budgetGesher School Inc: $117,500 over 6y, 0.7% of budgetMELVIN J BERMAN HEBREW ACADEMY: $100,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetJEWISH COUNCIL FOR THE AGING OF GREATER WASHINGTON INC: $100,000 over 9y, 0.4% of budgetTHE MEDSTAR-GEORGETOWN MEDICAL CENTER INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNational Christian Leadership Conference for Israel: $32,500 over 4y, 13% of budgetEDLAVITCH JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF WASHINGTON DC INC: $5,000 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 CHARLES E SMITH JEWISH DAY SCHOOL OF GREATER WASHINGTON INC ↗
  • Who funds THE JEWISH FEDERATION OF GREATER WASHINGTON INC ↗
  • Who funds AMERICAN FRIENDS OF HEBREW UNIVERSITY INC ↗
  • Who funds JOHN F KENNEDY CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS ↗
  • Who funds THE SHALOM HARTMAN INSTITUTE OF NORTH AMERICA ↗
  • Who funds JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA INC ↗
  • Who funds BENDER JCC OF GREATER WASHINGTON ↗
  • Who funds JEWISH SOCIAL SERVICE AGENCY ↗
  • Who funds Gesher School Inc ↗
  • Who funds MELVIN J BERMAN HEBREW ACADEMY ↗
  • Who funds JEWISH COUNCIL FOR THE AGING OF GREATER WASHINGTON INC ↗
  • Who funds THE MEDSTAR-GEORGETOWN MEDICAL CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds National Christian Leadership Conference for Israel ↗
  • Who funds EDLAVITCH JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF WASHINGTON DC 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.

The Robert P and Arlene R Kogod Family FoundationVA17.9× affinity6 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Robert P and Arlene R Kogod Family Foundation · The Morningstar Philanthropic Foundation D/B/A the Morningstar Foundation · Leslie & Samuel Kaplan Family Foundation · Aviv Foundation Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · National Philanthropic Trust · The Blackbaud Giving Fund · American Endowment Foundation · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund

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 Charles E Smith Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Charles E Smith Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%3%5%8%10%share of the org’s income from government →median 1%
  • Melvin J Berman Hebrew Academy: 2% of income from government
  • Bender Jcc of Greater Washington: 1% of income from government
  • Jewish Social Service Agency: 1% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
3report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–10%
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.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Charles E Smith Family Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Charles E Smith Family Foundation through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.

Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.

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 27 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 2022, released 2022. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

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