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Ryan and Ashley Smith Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Ryan and Ashley Smith Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$5.2M
Granted FY2024still arriving
5
Grants FY2024still arriving
3
States reached
$5.0M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0198% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2024.

Health$15MArts & Culture$2.6MHuman Services$2.1MPhilanthropy$1.4MYouth Development$1.3MPublic Safety & Disaster$500kEducation$100kFood & Nutrition$71kOther$0
02FY2024 · 5 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k1 grant · $5k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $10k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $180k
  • $250k+1 grant · $5.0M
$80,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$68M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
FIVE FOR THE FIGHT FOUNDATION$5,000,000
THE WILL HARDY FOUNDATION$100,000
THE DISCOVERY LAND COMPANY FOUNDATION$80,000
ACADEMY FOR CHILD ADVOCACY$10,000
BALLET WEST$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 (FY21–21, $2.0M) land where the poverty rate runs at 8%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%ENCIRCLE: $2.0M → 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.

74%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$18M · 5 repeat orgs$6.4M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +17% since the first grant, against -12% for those funded once.

5 repeat relationships: 3 still active in FY2024, 2 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

5
24

Total granted

$18M
$6.2M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+17%
-12%

Still filing today

80%
46%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 97% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $180k went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24
PhilanthropyYouth DevelopmentArts & CultureHuman ServicesRecreation & SportsEducationOther
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

  • SE
    SMITH ENTERTAINMENT GROUP FOUNDATION
    2× · 2021–2022 · $2.5M · revenue +52% · 79% of their budget
  • PB
    Pebble Beach Company Foundation
    2× · 2020–2023 · $275k · revenue +15%
  • BW
    BALLET WEST
    2× · 2023–2024 · $15k · revenue +17%

Funded once

  • EF
    Encircle Family and Youth Resource Center
    one grant, 2021 · $2.0M · revenue -83%
  • GP
    GS PHILANTROPHY FUND
    one grant, 2020 · $1.2M
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2020 · $1.0M
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
Dell Loy Hansen Utah Symphony Foundation Symphony Foundation

To provide ongoing financial support to the utah symphony.

Arts & Culture
2
Utah Golf Foundation

Provide individuals access to the game of golf and contributions to programs and organizations that help to grow the game.

—
3
Crewe Endowment Foundation

Operates exclusively for the benefit of, to perform the functions of, and/or carry out the purposes of crewe foundation, a utah nonprofit organization, which is exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the internal revenue code.

Human Services
4
Salt Lake County Foundation

The salt lake county foundation was formed to provide an opportunity for individuals and organizations to make tax deductible contributions through the foundation to support the programs, divisions, departments, and initiatives of the salt…

Human Services
5
University of Utah Foundation

Provide support to the University of Utah Growth Capital Partners Foundation in Charitable, Educational and Scientific purposes.

Philanthropy
6
Ucsf Foundation Investment Company

The organization provides professional investment management services for endowed gifts and financial assets entrusted to the ucsf foundation.

Education
7
Uc Santa Cruz Foundation

To benefit the university of california santa cruz.

Education
8
Sci Utah Foundation

To ensure the future of wildlife through conservation, education and hunting.

Animals
9
Real Salt Lake Foundation
Human Services
10
Upward Unlimited Foundation

To accelerate the mission of Upward Unlimited by creating fundraising opportunities for individuals, institutions, and other non-profits to invest in the Upward Unlimited mission thereby overcoming risks and challenges due to lack of…

—
11
Honnold Foundation

Funding solar energy solutions, building capacity, and amplifying local leadership for those experiencing the greatest impacts from climate change, economic instability, and social injustice.

Environment
12
Utah Motorsports Foundation
Philanthropy
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Special Olympics Utah Inc; the most unlike its peers is Fpc Preservation Foundation 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

17 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. 17 of the 31 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.

4
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
17/17
Grantees still filing
8/17
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

FIVE FOR THE FIGHT FOUNDATION: $15,000,000 · PhilanthropyFIVE FOR THE FIGHT FOUNDATIONSMITH ENTERTAINMENT GROUP FOUNDATION: $2,550,000 · PhilanthropySMITH ENTERTAINMENT GROUP FOUNDATION+5 more: $555,000 · PhilanthropyGS PHILANTROPHY FUND: $1,247,000 · OtherGS PHILANTROP…Individual grant recipient: $1,010,000 · OtherIndividual gr…THE 30 DAY FUND INC: $500,000 · OtherTHE 30 DAY FU…+13 more: $85,679 · OtherEncircle Family and Youth Resource Center: $2,000,000 · Human ServicesEncircle …LOVELOUD FOUNDATION % TRIBECA BUSINESS MGMT: $1,000,000 · Youth DevelopmentUTAHS FIRST LADY FOUNDATION: $50,000 · Youth DevelopmentUNIVERSITY OF ST ANDREWS AMERICAN FOUNDATION INC: $100,000 · EducationWILL HARDY FOUNDATION: $100,000 · HealthBALLET WEST: $15,000 · Arts & CultureFPC PRESERVATION FOUNDATION INC: $7,500 · Arts & CultureSPECIAL OLYMPICS UTAH INC: $5,000 · Recreation & Sports
Philanthropy$18,105,000Other$2,842,679Human Services$2,000,000Youth Development$1,050,000Education$100,000Health$100,000Arts & Culture$22,500Recreation & Sports$5,000

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 budgetFIVE FOR THE FIGHT FOUNDATION: $15,000,000 over 3y, 24% of budgetSMITH ENTERTAINMENT GROUP FOUNDATION: $2,550,000 over 2y, 79% of budgetEncircle Family and Youth Resource Center: $2,000,000 over 1y, 14% of budgetLOVELOUD FOUNDATION % TRIBECA BUSINESS MGMT: $1,000,000 over 1y, 68% of budgetTHE 30 DAY FUND INC: $500,000 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetPebble Beach Company Foundation: $275,000 over 2y, 3.3% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF ST ANDREWS AMERICAN FOUNDATION INC: $100,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetFANATICS ALL IN FOUNDATION: $100,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetWILL HARDY FOUNDATION: $100,000 over 1y, 34% of budgetTHE DISCOVERY LAND COMPANY FOUNDATION: $80,000 over 1y, 2.9% of budgetUTAHS FIRST LADY FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 1y, 3.5% of budgetCREWE FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 1y, 91% of budgetRALLY FOUNDATION INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetUTAH FOOD BANK: $40,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBALLET WEST: $15,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetFPC PRESERVATION FOUNDATION INC: $7,500 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetSPECIAL OLYMPICS UTAH INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.4% 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.

Gs Donor Advised Phil…American Endowment Fo…Morgan Stanley Global…National Philanthropi…Vanguard Charitable E…American Online Givin…Fidelity Investments …Donor Advised Charita…Amazonsmile Foundation
Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management IncNY16.7× affinity8 shared granteesties to 8 of 8Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · American Endowment Foundation · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · National Philanthropic Trust · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · 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 Ryan and Ashley Smith Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Ryan and Ashley Smith 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%1%3%4%5%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    5report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–5%
    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 31 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Ryan and Ashley 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