Skip to content
Mary Jean and Frank P Smeal Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Mary Jean and Frank P Smeal 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.

$1.2M
Granted FY2025still arriving
11
Grants FY2025still arriving
7
States reached
$300k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0187% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Environment$950kArts & Culture$650kFood & Nutrition$500kEducation$470kInternational$200kPhilanthropy$200kHealth$190kHousing & Shelter$150kOther$0
02FY2025 · 11 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • $10k–50k1 grant · $40k
  • $50k–250k8 grants · $570k
  • $250k+2 grants · $550k
$70,000
Median grant
7
States reached
$9.6M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Peninsula Open Space Trust$300,000
Metropolitan Opera Association Inc$250,000
The Wilderness Society$100,000
Natural Resources Defense Council Inc$100,000
Sierra Watch$100,000
Tufts University$70,000
LifeMoves$50,000
Second Harvest Food Bank of Silicon Valley$50,000
Trustees of Dartmouth College$50,000
Penn State University$50,000
Yale UNIVERSITY$40,000
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 10%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 39% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%Tufts University: $70k → 8%LifeMoves: $50k → 7%Peninsula Open Space Trust: $300k → 8%Sierra Watch: $100k → 11%International Documentary Foundation: $200k → 14%See Attached: $720k → 7%The James Beard Foundation Inc: $200k → 17%The Wilderness Society: $100k → 14%Yale Field Hockey Association: $25k → 12%Planned Parenthood Greater Memphis Region Inc: $50k → 17%State Line Abortion Access Partners: $40k → 11%Trustees of Dartmouth College: $50k → 10%Tufts University: $60k → 8%LifeMoves: $50k → 7%Peninsula Open Space Trust: $150k → 8%Sierra Watch: $100k → 11%See Attached: $720k → 7%Natural Resources Defense Council Inc: $100k → 17%Insight Meditation Center: $50k → 7%Second Harvest Food Bank of Silicon Valley: $50k → 8%See Attached: $678k → 7%NEO Philanthropy: $175k → 17%Second Harvest Food Bank of Silicon Valley: $50k → 8%NEO Philanthropy: $25k → 17%Center for Reproductive Rights: $75k → 17%Metropolitan Opera Association Inc: $250k → 17%Metropolitan Opera Association Inc: $200k → 17%International Rescue Committee: $200k → 17%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

NH
NY
MA
PA
CT
CA
VA
TN
DC
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.

65%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2.3M · 9 repeat orgs$1.3M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +39% since the first grant, against -2% for those funded once.

9 repeat relationships: 7 still active in FY2025, 2 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

9
13

Total granted

$2.3M
$1.0M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+39%
-2%

Still filing today

89%
38%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 77% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $250k went to new ones.

50%100%’20’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’20’23’24’25
EnvironmentArts & CultureCivil RightsEducationFood & NutritionInternationalOther
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

  • PO
    PENINSULA OPEN SPACE TRUST
    3× · 2020–2025 · $550k · revenue +100%
  • Metropolitan Opera Association Inc
    2× · 2024–2025 · $450k · revenue +7%
  • TJ
    THE JAMES BEARD FOUNDATION INC
    2× · 2020–2024 · $350k · revenue +26%

Funded once

  • IR
    International Rescue Committee INC
    one grant, 2023 · $200k · revenue -2%
  • INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FOUNDATION INC
    one grant, 2023 · $200k · revenue -15%
  • CS
    Community Service Society, Inc.
    one grant, 2020 · $100k
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
Guttmacher Institute Inc

The institute is a leading research and policy organization committed to advancing sexual and reproductive health and rights in the united states and globally.

—
2
World Wildlife Fund Inc

Wwf's mission is to conserve nature and reduce the most pressing threats to the diversity of life on earth. (continued on schedule o)

Environment
3
Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy

Iatp works locally and globally at the intersection of policy and practice to ensure fair and sustainable food, farm and trade systems.

Food & Nutrition
4
Project Drawdown

Project drawdown's mission is to drive meaningful climate action by advancing science-based solutions and strategies. project drawdown's work is focused on three pillars: science - advancing science-based climate solutions and strategies;…

Education
5
Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Foundation

To engage and catalyze global seafood supply chains in rebuilding depleted fish stocks and reducing the environmental impacts of fishing and fish farming.

Animals
6
Third Way

To research and develop centrist policy ideas.

Civil Rights
7
Property and Environment Research Center

Perc is dedicated to advancing conservation through markets, incentives, property rights, and partnerships.

Public Benefit
8
Conservation International Foundation

Ci works to spotlight and secure the critical benefits that nature provides to humanity.

Environment
9
Resource Renewal Institute

The resource renewal institute facilitates the creation, development and implementation of practical strategies to solve the entire complex environmental problem by addressing it comprehensively.

Environment
10
International Snow Leopard Trust

The international snow leopard trust aims to ethically conserve snow leopards and their high mountain ecosystems through partnerships with indigenous peoples and local communities, and through research to improve the understanding of snow…

Animals
11
The Population Council Inc

We generate ideas, produce evidence, and design solutions to improve the lives of underserved populations around the world. we take a multidisciplinary, intergenerational, life-cycle approach that contributes to (see schedule o)four global…

International
12
Rainforest Alliance Inc

RA works at the intersection of business, agriculture & forests to improve lives & protect nature by transforming how land is used, production of goods & consumer choices.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Wilderness Society; the most unlike its peers is State Line Abortion Access Partners. 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

16 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. 16 of the 26 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)
0
Early backer (in before they grew)
16/16
Grantees still filing
8/16
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE JAMES BEARD FOUNDATION INC: $350,000 · OtherTHE JAMES BEARD FOUNDATION INCLIFEMOVES: $150,000 · OtherLIFEMOVESCommunity Service Society, Inc.: $100,000 · OtherCommunity Service Society, Inc.Planned Parenthood: $100,000 · OtherPlanned ParenthoodYALE UNIVERSITY: $80,000 · OtherYALE UNIVERSITYInsight Meditation Center: $50,000 · OtherSecond Harvest Food Bank: $50,000 · OtherDartmouth College: $50,000 · OtherPenn State University: $50,000 · OtherSECOND HARVEST OF SILICON VALLEY: $100,000 · OtherSECOND HARVEST OF SILICON VALLEYPLANNED PARENTHOOD GREATER MEMPHIS REGION INC: $50,000 · Other+3 more: $85,000 · Other+3 morePENINSULA OPEN SPACE TRUST: $550,000 · EnvironmentPENINSULA OPEN SPACE TRUSTSIERRA WATCH: $200,000 · EnvironmentSIERRA WATCHTHE WILDERNESS SOCIETY: $100,000 · EnvironmentTHE WILDERNESS SOCIETYNATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC: $100,000 · EnvironmentNATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUN…Metropolitan Opera Association Inc: $450,000 · Arts & CultureMetropolitan Opera A…INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FOUNDATION INC: $200,000 · Arts & CultureINTERNATIONAL DOCUME…Trustees of Tufts College: $200,000 · EducationTrustees of Dartmouth College: $50,000 · EducationInternational Rescue Committee INC: $200,000 · InternationalNEO Philanthropy Inc: $200,000 · Public BenefitTHE CENTER FOR REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS INC: $75,000 · Civil RightsSTATE LINE ABORTION ACCESS PARTNERS: $40,000 · Civil Rights
Other$1,215,000Environment$950,000Arts & Culture$650,000Education$250,000International$200,000Public Benefit$200,000Civil Rights$115,000

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetPENINSULA OPEN SPACE TRUST: $550,000 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetMetropolitan Opera Association Inc: $450,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTHE JAMES BEARD FOUNDATION INC: $350,000 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetInternational Rescue Committee INC: $200,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNEO Philanthropy Inc: $200,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetINTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FOUNDATION INC: $200,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetSIERRA WATCH: $200,000 over 2y, 20% of budgetTrustees of Tufts College: $200,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetLIFEMOVES: $150,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetSECOND HARVEST OF SILICON VALLEY: $100,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE WILDERNESS SOCIETY: $100,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetNATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC: $100,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE CENTER FOR REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS INC: $75,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetPLANNED PARENTHOOD GREATER MEMPHIS REGION INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetTrustees of Dartmouth College: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSTATE LINE ABORTION ACCESS PARTNERS: $40,000 over 1y, 77% 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.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Mary Jean and Frank P Smeal Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Mary Jean and Frank P Smeal Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%6%23%51%90%funder's share of their income ↑0%10%20%30%40%share of the org’s income from government →median 13%
  • Trustees of Tufts College: 13% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
1report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–40%
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.

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 26 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 Mary Jean and Frank P Smeal’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