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David Bruce Smith Foundation Inc at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Private foundation

David Bruce Smith Foundation Inc

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.

$265k
Granted FY2025still arriving
13
Grants FY2025still arriving
5
States reached
$50k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0195% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Human Services$556kReligion$503kEducation$294kArts & Culture$228kRecreation & Sports$100kPhilanthropy$45kCommunity Improvement$20kYouth Development$500Other$0
02FY2025 · 13 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k4 grants · $18k
  • $10k–50k6 grants · $98k
  • $50k–250k3 grants · $150k
$15,000
Median grant
5
States reached
$20M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
CHARLES E SMITH JEWISH DAY SCHOOL$50,000
NATIONAL SPORTING LIBRARY & MUSEUM$50,000
AMERICAN FRIENDS OF HEBREW UNIVERSITY$50,000
GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION INC$25,000
JSSA - HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS PROGRAM$20,000
OPEN MIND LEGACY PROJECT$15,000
CHILDREN OF DIFFERENCE FOUNDATION$15,000
LIBRARY OF AMERICA$12,500
THE CHESAPEAKE ORCHESTRA$10,000
WASHINGTON INDEPENDENT REVIEW BOOKS$7,500
AMERICAN COUNCIL OF TRUSTEES AND ALUMNI$7,500
THE MOUNT VERNON LADIES' ASSOCIATION$1,500
FEDERATION OF STATE HUMANITIES COUNCILS$1,000
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 51% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants spread fairly evenly across need levels.

area typical 10%SUPREME COURT HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $12k → 17%RESTLESS BOOKS: $10k → 20%WASHINGTON DRAMA SOCIETY (ARENA STAGE): $65k → 14%CHILDREN OF DIFFERENCE FOUNDATION: $18k → 11%HISTORY NEWS NETWORK: $5k → 9%AFNIPI: $10k → 14%GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION INC: $25k → 6%CHARLES E SMITH LIFE COMMUNITIES HEBREW HOME OF GREATER WASHINGTON: $100k → 8%THE CHESAPEAKE ORCHESTRA: $10k → 8%UNIVERSITY OF MD COLLEGE PARK FOUNDATION: $3k → 11%MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION: $10k → 17%WA DRAMA SOCIETY INC (DBA ARENA STAGE): $10k → 14%CHILDREN OF DIFFERENCE FOUNDATION: $15k → 11%GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION INC: $25k → 6%CHARLES E SMITH LIFE COMMUNITIES HEBREW HOME OF GREATER WASHINGTON: $100k → 8%CHESAPEAKE ORCHESTRA INC: $5k → 8%OPEN MIND LEGACY PROJECT: $20k → 17%ARENA STAGE: $5k → 14%LITERARY CLASSICS OF THE US INC DBS LIBRARY OF AMERICA: $7k → 6%CHARLES E LIFE COMMUNITIES HEBREW HOME OF GREATER WASHINGTON: $100k → 8%CHESAPEAKE ORCHESTRAINC: $5k → 8%OPEN MIND LEGACY PROJECT: $15k → 17%CHARLES E SMITH LIFE COMMUNITIES HEBREW HOME OF GREATER WASHINGTON: $100k → 8%AMERICAN FRIENDS OF HEBREW UNIVERSITY: $50k → 17%CHARLES E SMITH LIFE COMMUNITIES HEBREW HOME OF GREATER WASHINGTON: $100k → 8%LIBRARY OF AMERICA: $13k → 17%THE MUSEUM OF LANGUAGE ARTS INC (DBA PLANET WORD MUSEUM): $10k → 14%CHARLES E SMITH JEWISH DAY SCHOOL: $70k → 8%AMERICAN FRIENDS OF HEBREW UNIVERSITY: $20k → 17%SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION: $8k → 14%CHARLES E SMITH JEWISH DAY SCHOOL: $50k → 8%AFNHU: $5k → 17%DCJCC: $100k → 14%CHARLES E SMITH JEWISH DAY SCHOOL: $30k → 8%DCJCC: $100k → 14%JEWISH FEDERATION OF GREATER WASHINGTON: $10k → 8%DCJCC: $100k → 14%JEWISH COMMUNITY RELATIONS COUNCIL OF GREATER WASHINGTON: $10k → 8%DCJCC: $100k → 14%JEWISH COMMUNITY RELATIONS COUNCIL OF GREATER WASHINGTON: $10k → 8%DCJCC: $100k → 14%CHARLES E SMITH JEWISH DAY SCHOOL: $10k → 8%AMERICAN COUNCIL OF TRUSTEES AND ALUMNI: $8k → 14%JSSA - HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS PROGRAM: $20k → 8%MOSAIC THEATER COMPANY OF DC: $3k → 14%WASHINGTON INDEPENDENT REVIEW BOOKS: $8k → 14%MOSAIC THEATER COMPANY OF DC: $3k → 14%PRESIDENT LINCOLN'S COTTAGE: $5k → 14%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.

80%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.4M · 13 repeat orgs$342k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +35% since the first grant, against +30% for those funded once.

13 repeat relationships: 9 still active in FY2025, 4 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

13
24

Total granted

$1.4M
$301k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+35%
+30%

Still filing today

77%
46%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 84% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $42k 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
Arts & CultureEducationInternationalCommunity ImprovementPhilanthropyReligionOther
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
    4× · 2017–2025 · $160k · revenue +14%
  • TN
    THE NATIONAL SPORTING LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
    2× · 2024–2025 · $100k · revenue +35%
  • AF
    AMERICAN FRIENDS OF HEBREW UNIVERSITY INC
    2× · 2017–2025 · $70k · revenue +40%

Funded once

  • CE
    CHARLES E LIFE COMMUNITIES HEBREW HOME OF GREATER WASHINGTON
    one grant, 2017 · $100k
  • WD
    WASHINGTON DRAMA SOCIETY (ARENA STAGE)
    one grant, 2021 · $65k
  • FO
    FRIENDS OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN HOUSE
    one grant, 2021 · $15k
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
Harvard Club of Washington Dc

To inform and enrich the intellectual lives of 20,000 alumni of harvard university in the washington, dc area and to assist harvard university with respect to applicants and undergraduates from the dc area.

Education
2
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Chartered by a unanimous act of congress, the museum is america's national institution for the documentation, study, interpretation, and education of holocaust history and serves as our country's memorial to the victims of the holocaust.…

Arts & Culture
3
United States Naval Institute

Provide an independent forum for those who dare to read, think, speak, and write to advance the professional, literary, and scientific understanding of sea power and other issues critical to global security.

—
4
President and Fellows of Harvard College

Undergraduate, graduate, and professional education and research across a broad array of academic domains.

Education
5
Augustana College

Rooted in the liberal arts & sciences & lutheran expression of the christian faith, & is committed to offering a challenging education that develops qualities of mind, spirit, & body necessary for a rewarding life of leadership & service…

Education
6
Institute for Experiential Learning Inc

The mission of the washington internship institute is to foster students' intellectual, personal, and professional development through individually tailored, quality internships and challenging academic coursework that take full advantage…

Education
7
The Jewish Museum

The mission of the jewish museum is to collect, preserve, exhibit and interpret art and jewish culture. see schedule o for more information.

Arts & Culture
8
University of New Haven

The University of New Haven is a student-centered comprehensive university with an emphasis on excellence in liberal arts and professional education. Our mission is to prepare our students to lead purposeful and fulfilling lives in a…

Education
9
United States Capitol Historical Society

Today, with the formal approval of congress, the society continues exploring and instituting new and creative ways to bring the fascinating story of the capitol, its institutions and america's unique history to people across the nation and…

Arts & Culture
10
Furman University

The primary mission of furman as a liberal arts institution is to provide a distinctive education in fine arts, humanities, social sciences, mathematics and the sciences, as well as selected professional disciplines.

Education
11
Peter G Peterson Institute for International Economics

The peterson institute for international economics (piie) is an independent nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization dedicated to strengthening prosperity and human welfare in the global economy through expert analysis and practical…

Social Science
12
Washington & Jefferson College

To graduate people of uncommon integrity, competence, and maturity, who are effective lifelong learners and responsible citizens, and who are prepared to contribute substantially to the world in which they live.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Mount Vernon Ladies' Association of the Union; the most unlike its peers is The Open Mind Legacy Project Inc. 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

24 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. 24 of the 42 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)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
24/24
Grantees still filing
19/24
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

DCJCC: $500,000 · OtherDCJCCCHARLES E SMITH LIFE COMMUNITIES HEBREW HOME OF GREATER WASHINGTON: $400,000 · OtherCHARLES E SMITH LIFE COMMUNITIES HEBREW HOME OF GREATER WASHINGTONCHARLES E LIFE COMMUNITIES HEBREW HOME OF GREATER WASHINGTON: $100,000 · OtherCHARLES E LIFE COMMUNITIES HEBREW HOME OF GREATER WASHINGTONWASHINGTON DRAMA SOCIETY (ARENA STAGE): $65,000 · OtherWASHINGTON DRAMA SOCIETY (ARENA STAGE)+15 more: $148,000 · Other+15 moreCHARLES E SMITH JEWISH DAY SCHOOL OF GREATER WASHINGTON INC: $160,000 · EducationCHARLES E SMITH JEWI…THE NATIONAL SPORTING LIBRARY AND MUSEUM: $100,000 · EducationTHE NATIONAL SPORTIN…GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION INC: $50,000 · EducationGEORGE MASON UNIVERS…+3 more: $5,400 · EducationCHESAPEAKE ORCHESTRA INC: $20,000 · Arts & CultureTHE LITERARY CLASSICS OF THE US INC D/B/A LIBRARY OF AMERICA: $12,500 · Arts & CultureTHE MOUNT VERNON LADIES' ASSOCIATION OF THE UNION: $10,000 · Arts & CultureRESTLESS BOOKS INC: $10,000 · Arts & CultureAMERICAN COUNCIL OF TRUSTEES AND ALUMNI: $10,000 · Arts & CultureSMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION: $8,000 · Arts & CultureWASHINGTON INDEPENDENT REVIEW OF BOOKS INC: $7,500 · Arts & CultureMOSAIC THEATER COMPANY OF DC: $6,000 · Arts & CultureWASHINGTON DRAMA SOCIETY INC: $5,000 · Arts & CulturePRESIDENT LINCOLN'S COTTAGE AT THE SOLDIERS HOME: $5,000 · Arts & Culture+1 more: $1,000 · Arts & CultureAMERICAN FRIENDS OF HEBREW UNIVERSITY INC: $70,000 · InternationalTHE OPEN MIND LEGACY PROJECT INC: $35,000 · PhilanthropyTHE JEWISH FEDERATION OF GREATER WASHINGTON INC: $10,000 · PhilanthropyJEWISH COMMUNITY RELATIONS COUNCIL OF GREATER WASHINGTON: $20,000 · Community ImprovementTHE HABERMAN INSTITUTE FOR JEWISH STUDIES: $2,500 · Religion826DC INC: $500 · Youth Development
Other$1,213,000Education$315,400Arts & Culture$95,000International$70,000Philanthropy$45,000Community Improvement$20,000Religion$2,500Youth Development$500

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: $160,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetTHE NATIONAL SPORTING LIBRARY AND MUSEUM: $100,000 over 2y, 1.5% of budgetAMERICAN FRIENDS OF HEBREW UNIVERSITY INC: $70,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetGEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION INC: $50,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE OPEN MIND LEGACY PROJECT INC: $35,000 over 2y, 3.8% of budgetJEWISH COMMUNITY RELATIONS COUNCIL OF GREATER WASHINGTON: $20,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetCHESAPEAKE ORCHESTRA INC: $20,000 over 3y, 3.0% of budgetTHE LITERARY CLASSICS OF THE US INC D/B/A LIBRARY OF AMERICA: $12,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetTHE MOUNT VERNON LADIES' ASSOCIATION OF THE UNION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetRESTLESS BOOKS INC: $10,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetAMERICAN COUNCIL OF TRUSTEES AND ALUMNI: $10,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTHE JEWISH FEDERATION OF GREATER WASHINGTON INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION: $8,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWASHINGTON INDEPENDENT REVIEW OF BOOKS INC: $7,500 over 1y, 5.4% of budgetMOSAIC THEATER COMPANY OF DC: $6,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetWASHINGTON DRAMA SOCIETY INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFEDERATION OF STATE HUMANITIES COUNCILS: $5,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetPRESIDENT LINCOLN'S COTTAGE AT THE SOLDIERS HOME: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND COLLEGE PARK FOUNDATION INC: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE HABERMAN INSTITUTE FOR JEWISH STUDIES: $2,500 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetThe George Washington University: $1,400 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMaryland Humanities Council Inc: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetLIBRARY OF VIRGINIA FOUNDATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budget826DC INC: $500 over 1y, 0.1% 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.

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.

Robert H Smith Family…The Robert P and Arle…American Endowment Fo…Vanguard Charitable E…National Philanthropi…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Robert H Smith Family FoundationVA15.8× affinity5 shared granteesties to 7 of 7Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Robert H Smith Family Foundation · The Robert P and Arlene R Kogod Family Foundation · American Endowment Foundation · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · National Philanthropic Trust · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile Foundation

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 David Bruce Smith Foundation Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from David Bruce Smith Foundation Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 40%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →median 5%
  • Restless Books Inc: 5% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
4get no government money at all
2report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–75%
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 David Bruce Smith Foundation Inc?

Find your warmest path to David Bruce Smith Foundation Inc 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 42 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 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on David Bruce Smith’s filings →

More from the funding graph

The unnamed billions
grants reported with no recipient in the public record
The regranting layer
51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
The DAF merry-go-round
$9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
The endowment market
who holds foundation money, and what just moved
The camps
funders cluster by geography, not ideology
By state
where grant money is based, and what stays home