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John F Smiekel Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

John F Smiekel 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.

$220k
Granted FY2025still arriving
11
Grants FY2025still arriving
7
States reached
$33k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2019 to 2025.

Education$249kInternational$224kHuman Services$194kAnimals$183kHealth$174kHousing & Shelter$154kYouth Development$90kEmployment$80kOther$0
02FY2025 · 11 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$16,250
Median grant
7
States reached
$4.5M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
CITIZENS CONCERNED FOR THE HOMELESS$32,500
NORTHERN ILLINOIS FOOD BANK$32,500
DIRECT RELIEF$32,500
GRANDFATHER COMMUNITY FOUNDATION$25,000
CODEART$16,250
NOURISHING HOPE$16,250
AVERY COUNTY HUMANE SOCIETY$15,000
BONEFISH & TARPON TRUST$15,000
JEREMY ELLIOT SCHOLARSHIP FDN$12,500
YELLOWSTONE FOREVER$12,500
WOMENS' AUXILIARY OF PIEDMONT HOSP$10,000
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 (FY19–25, $119k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 92% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%SWIFTSURE RANCH: $10k → 7%GIRLS WHO CODE: $15k → 17%ERIE NEIGHBORHOOD HOSUE: $15k → 14%GRANDFATHER COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $25k → 15%GRANDFATHER COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $15k → 15%GRANDFATHER COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $15k → 15%GRANDFATHER COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $12k → 15%GRANDFATHER COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $12k → 15%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.

Which US states its grants reach

ID
MT
IL
NY
IN
CA
NC
GA
FL
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.

79%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.1M · 16 repeat orgs$299k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +20% since the first grant, against +19% for those funded once.

16 repeat relationships: 6 still active in FY2025, 10 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

16
13

Total granted

$1.1M
$229k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+20%
+19%

Still filing today

81%
69%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 64% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $70k went to new ones.

50%100%’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
AnimalsHuman ServicesRecreation & SportsEducationHousing & ShelterCrime & LegalOther
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

  • DIRECT RELIEF
    6× · 2020–2025 · $224k · revenue +20%
  • JE
    JEREMY ELLIOTT SCHOLARSHIP FOUNDATION
    7× · 2019–2025 · $93k · revenue +44% · 50% of their budget
  • RW
    REVOLUTION WORKSHOP
    4× · 2021–2024 · $80k · revenue +146%

Funded once

  • KF
    KNOTHOLE FOUNDATION KNOTHOLE FOUNDATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $32k · revenue +34%
  • AB
    ANITA BORG INST FOR WOMEN AND TECH
    one grant, 2022 · $29k
  • DW
    DIGS WITH DIGNITY CORPORATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $21k · revenue +121%
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
Goodwill Industries of Northern Il and Wi Stateline Area Inc

The mission of goodwill is to create opportunities for individuals with barriers to enhance their lives. barriers include physical or mental disabilities, lack of education and job preparation, socio-economic disadvantages, and others.…

—
2
Goodwill Industries of Southeastern Michigan Inc

Goodwill provides exceptional opportunities for people facing employment barriers.

—
3
Coop Careers Inc

Building a movement of diverse, upwardly mobile college grads overcoming underemployment through digital skills and peer connections.

Education
4
Goodwill Industries of the Valley Works

Goodwill's mission is to empower individuals, strengthen families, and inspire communities through job skills training and work placement opportunities with a multi-generational approach focused on removing barriers.

Human Services
5
Goodwill Industries of the Valleys Inc

Goodwill's mission is to empower individuals, strengthen families, and inspire communities through job skills training and work placement opportunities with a multi-generational approach focused on removing barriers.

Employment
6
Community Health Partnership of Illinois

Strive to improve the health and well being of migrant and seasonal farmworkers and other medically vulnerable populations by providing quality accessable, affordable, and culturally responsive health care within the community we serve.

Health
7
Arbor Research Collaborative for Health

Arbor research collaborative for health is committed to improving patient care through research that shapes medical policies and practice. in particular, arbor research conducts health outcomes research on chronic disease and end-stage…

Health
8
Impact Community Action Partnership Inc

Reducing the barriers and burdens that families in poverty experience by increasing access to essential needs.

—
9
Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation

The neighborhood reinvestment corporation (d.b.a neighborworks america) is a congressionally chartered public non-profit corporation that creates opportunities for people to live in affordable homes, improve their lives, and strengthen…

—
10
Avery County Habitat for Humanity

Affordable home ownership

—
11
Foundation for the Homeless Inc

Empowering families and individuals experiencing homelessness to build a future filled with dignity, opportunity, and lasting solutions.

—
12
The Affordable Housing Corporation of Lake County

To provide decent, safe and sanitary housing that is affordable to low and moderate-income persons and to stabilize and strengthen communities by improving the local housing stock. the corporation shall administer programs that revitalize…

Human Services
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Girls Who Code Inc; the most unlike its peers is Jeremy Elliott Scholarship Foundation. 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

26 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. 26 of the 34 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
26/26
Grantees still filing
17/26
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

CHICAGO JESUIT ACADEMY: $105,000 · OtherCHICAGO JESUIT ACADEMYHEPHZIBAH CHILDREN'S ASSOCIATION: $35,000 · OtherHEPHZIBAH CHILDREN'S ASSOCIATIONNOURISHING HOPE: $31,250 · OtherWOMEN'S AUX OF PIEDMONT HOSPITAL: $30,000 · OtherANITA BORG INST FOR WOMEN AND TECH: $29,200 · OtherREVOLUTION WORKSHOP: $79,850 · OtherREVOLUTION WORKSHOPCOMPASSIONATE COMMUNITIES FOR CHILDREN: $36,000 · OtherCOMPASSIONATE COMMUNITIES FOR CHILDRENCODEART INC: $52,250 · OtherCODEART INCKNOTHOLE FOUNDATION KNOTHOLE FOUNDATION: $32,450 · OtherPebble Beach Company Foundation: $37,850 · OtherPebble Beach Company FoundationNORTHERN ILLINOIS FOOD BANK: $32,500 · Other+10 more: $145,400 · Other+10 moreDIRECT RELIEF: $223,700 · InternationalDIRECT RELIEFAVERY COUNTY HUMANE SOCIETY INC: $114,200 · AnimalsAVERY COUNTY …MITCHELL COUNTY ANIMAL RESCUE INC: $54,200 · AnimalsMITCHELL COUN…BONEFISH & TARPON TRUST INC: $15,000 · AnimalsBONEFISH & TA…CITIZENS CONCERNED FOR THE HOMELESS INC: $72,500 · Housing & ShelterCITIZENS …HOUSING FORWARD: $60,550 · Housing & ShelterHOUSING F…Grandfather Community Foundation Inc: $79,400 · Human ServicesERIE NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE: $15,000 · Human ServicesGIRLS WHO CODE INC: $15,000 · Human ServicesSWIFTSURE RANCH THERAPEUTIC EQUESTRIAN CENTER INC: $10,000 · Human ServicesJEREMY ELLIOTT SCHOLARSHIP FOUNDATION: $93,400 · EducationQueens University of Charlotte: $20,000 · EducationAPPALACHIAN REGIONAL HEALTHCARE SYSTEM INC: $89,400 · Health
Other$646,750International$223,700Animals$183,400Housing & Shelter$133,050Human Services$119,400Education$113,400Health$89,400

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 budgetDIRECT RELIEF: $223,700 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetAVERY COUNTY HUMANE SOCIETY INC: $114,200 over 7y, 2.9% of budgetJEREMY ELLIOTT SCHOLARSHIP FOUNDATION: $93,400 over 7y, 50% of budgetAPPALACHIAN REGIONAL HEALTHCARE SYSTEM INC: $89,400 over 5y, 1.3% of budgetREVOLUTION WORKSHOP: $79,850 over 4y, 1.0% of budgetGrandfather Community Foundation Inc: $79,400 over 5y, 7.9% of budgetCITIZENS CONCERNED FOR THE HOMELESS INC: $72,500 over 3y, 2.6% of budgetHOUSING FORWARD: $60,550 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetMITCHELL COUNTY ANIMAL RESCUE INC: $54,200 over 4y, 3.9% of budgetCODEART INC: $52,250 over 3y, 2.7% of budgetPebble Beach Company Foundation: $37,850 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetCOMPASSIONATE COMMUNITIES FOR CHILDREN: $36,000 over 2y, 1.2% of budgetHEPHZIBAH CHILDREN'S ASSOCIATION: $35,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetNORTHERN ILLINOIS FOOD BANK: $32,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetKNOTHOLE FOUNDATION KNOTHOLE FOUNDATION: $32,450 over 1y, 4.3% of budgetNOURISHING HOPE: $31,250 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetDIGS WITH DIGNITY CORPORATION: $21,000 over 1y, 5.0% of budgetQueens University of Charlotte: $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE CARING PLACE INC: $20,000 over 1y, 2.3% of budgetPublic Interest Law Initiative: $16,500 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetERIE NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE: $15,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetGIRLS WHO CODE INC: $15,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBONEFISH & TARPON TRUST INC: $15,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetYELLOWSTONE FOREVER: $12,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSWIFTSURE RANCH THERAPEUTIC EQUESTRIAN CENTER INC: $10,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetAgape Community Center: $10,000 over 1y, 0.3% 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.

John D and Catherine …AbbVie FoundationThe Chicago Community…Jpmorgan Chase Founda…The Ayco Charitable F…Vanguard Charitable E…National Philanthropi…The Blackbaud Giving …Charities Aid Foundat…The Bank of America C…Natl Christian Charit…American Endowment Fo…
John D and Catherine T Macarthur FoundationIL14.7× affinity5 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · AbbVie Foundation · The Chicago Community Trust · Jpmorgan Chase Foundation · The Ayco Charitable Foundation · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · National Philanthropic Trust · The Blackbaud Giving Fund · Charities Aid Foundation America · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Natl Christian Charitable Fdn Inc · American Endowment 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 John F Smiekel Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from John F Smiekel Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%4%15%34%60%funder's share of their income ↑0%15%30%45%60%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    15report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–60%
    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 John F Smiekel Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to John F Smiekel 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 34 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 John F Smiekel’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