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Simmons Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Simmons Family 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.

$625k
Granted FY2024still arriving
21
Grants FY2024still arriving
2
States reached
$202k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0197% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Health$1.4MArts & Culture$1.1MEducation$1.1MHousing & Shelter$730kHuman Services$565kPhilanthropy$511kYouth Development$345kCivil Rights$120kOther$0
02FY2024 · 21 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • $10k–50k18 grants · $320k
  • $50k–250k3 grants · $305k
$20,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$18M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
PRIMARY CHILDREN'S MEDICAL CENTER F$202,351
COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF JACKSON HOL$52,755
PIONEER THEATRE COMPANY$50,000
UTAH SYMPHONY AND OPERA$30,000
THE ROAD HOME$30,000
UNIVERSITY OF UTAH WOMEN'S RESOURCE$20,000
SOUTHERN UTAH UNIVERSITY$20,000
UTAH YOUTH VILLAGE$20,000
PEOPLE HELPING PEOPLE$20,000
SALT LAKE COMMUNITY COLLEGE$20,000
DISCOVERY GATEWAY$20,000
UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY$20,000
CATHOLIC COMMUNITY SERVICES$20,000
VOLUNTEERS OF AMERICA$20,000
BALLET WEST$20,000
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 (FY17–24, $700k) land where the poverty rate runs at 8%, against an area that typically sits at 6%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 6%AMERICAN INDIAN SERVICES: $20k → 8%AMERICAN INDIAN SERVICES: $20k → 8%AMERICAN INDIAN SERVICES: $20k → 8%AMERICAN INDIAN SERVICES: $20k → 8%AMERICAN INDIAN SERVICES: $20k → 8%AMERICAN INDIAN SERVICES: $20k → 8%AMERICAN INDIAN SERVICES: $20k → 8%AMERICAN INDIAN SERVICES: $10k → 8%Little Lambs Foundation for Kids: $5k → 12%Little Lambs Foundation for Kids: $3k → 12%SOUTH VALLEY SERVICES: $20k → 8%PEOPLE HELPING PEOPLE: $25k → 8%PEOPLE HELPING PEOPLE: $25k → 8%PEOPLE HELPING PEOPLE: $25k → 8%People Helping People: $25k → 8%People Helping People: $25k → 8%People Helping People: $25k → 8%PEOPLE HELPING PEOPLE: $20k → 8%People Helping People: $15k → 8%SOUTH VALLEY SERVICES: $15k → 8%THE ROAD HOME: $30k → 8%Utah Parent Center: $15k → 8%Utah Parent Center: $12k → 8%THE ROAD HOME: $30k → 8%THE ROAD HOME: $30k → 8%THE ROAD HOME: $30k → 8%UTAH YOUTH VILLAGE: $30k → 8%UTAH YOUTH VILLAGE: $30k → 8%UTAH YOUTH VILLAGE: $30k → 8%UTAH YOUTH VILLAGE: $25k → 8%UTAH YOUTH VILLAGE: $25k → 8%UTAH YOUTH VILLAGE: $20k → 8%UTAH YOUTH VILLAGE: $15k → 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.

93%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$5.1M · 35 repeat orgs$387k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +49% since the first grant, against +42% for those funded once.

35 repeat relationships: 18 still active in FY2024, 17 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

35
6

Total granted

$5.1M
$367k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+49%
+42%

Still filing today

60%
33%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 97% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $20k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
Human ServicesArts & CultureHealthEducationYouth DevelopmentRecreation & SportsOther
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

  • IH
    INTERMOUNTAIN HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION INC
    4× · 2018–2021 · $770k · revenue +64%
  • DE
    Davis Education Foundation
    7× · 2017–2023 · $240k · revenue +112%
  • US
    UTAH SYMPHONY & OPERA
    8× · 2017–2024 · $210k · revenue +18%

Funded once

  • IF
    INTERMOUNTAIN FOUNDATION PRIMARY CH
    one grant, 2022 · $200k
  • IF
    INTERMOUNTAIN FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2022 · $72k
  • PT
    PIONEER THEATRE COMOPANY
    one grant, 2021 · $45k
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
House of Hope

Treating substance use disorders, rebuilding lives, strengthening families, and empowering women.

—
2
Utah Geological Foundation
—
3
Urban Indian Center of Salt Lake

To serve The People by honoring Native cultures, strengthening health and wellness programs, and cultivating community. We envision all Native peoples living balanced, prosperous, and healthy lives in diverse communities for Seven…

—
4
Utah Humanities Council

Utah Humanities collaborates with libraries, museums, historical societies, schools, colleges, and cultural and civic groups; provides capacity-building opportunities for volunteers and professionals in the cultural sector; presents…

Arts & Culture
5
Utah's Promise

Utah's promise (up) is committed to 100% of kids and families thriving. we unify leaders, partners, communities and systems to achieve that promise.

Philanthropy
6
Utah Public Health Association

The Utah Public Health Association (UPHA) is a statewide membership organization dedicated to improving the health of Utah communities by supporting and representing the public health workforce. UPHA advances public health through…

Health
7
Autism Foundation of Utah
Health
8
Utah Valley Chamber of Commerce

Stimulate local business establishment, growth, and development by facilitating business to business and business to community relationships throughout Utah County.

—
9
Family Promise - Salt Lake

We help families experiencing homelessness find lasting independence and security.

Housing & Shelter
10
Utah Public Lands Alliance
Education
11
Utah Shakespeare Festival Foundation
Arts & Culture
12
Salt Lake Community Action Program

The mission of salt lake community action is to empower individuals, strengthen families, and build communities through education and self-sufficiency programs.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is National Ability Center; the most unlike its peers is Spy Hop Productions. 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 44 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)
6
Early backer (in before they grew)
25/26
Grantees still filing
20/26
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

SHELTER THE HOMELESS INC: $500,147 · OtherSHELTER THE HOMELESS INCPRIMARY CHILDREN'S MEDICAL CENTER F: $421,294 · OtherPRIMARY CHILDREN'S MEDICAL CENTER FDavis Education Foundation: $240,000 · OtherDavis Education FoundationPIONEER THEATRE COMPANY: $234,935 · OtherPIONEER THEATRE COMPANYUNIVERSITY OF UTAH: $207,099 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF UTAHINTERMOUNTAIN FOUNDATION PRIMARY CH: $200,000 · OtherINTERMOUNTAIN FOUNDATION PRIMARY CHUTAH STATE UNIVERSITY: $190,354 · OtherUTAH STATE UNIVERSITYTREEHOUSE CHILDREN'S MUSEUM: $160,000 · OtherTHE CHILDREN'S CENTER UTAH: $160,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF UTAH WOMEN'S RESOURCE: $119,941 · OtherVOLUNTEERS OF AMERICA UTAH: $110,000 · OtherCATHOLIC COMMUNITY SERVICES OF UTAH: $110,000 · Other+14 more: $599,433 · Other+14 moreINTERMOUNTAIN HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION INC: $769,965 · HealthINTERMOUNTAIN H…+2 more: $35,000 · HealthPEOPLE HELPING PEOPLE: $185,000 · Human ServicesPEOPLE HELPIN…UTAH YOUTH VILLAGE: $175,484 · Human ServicesUTAH YOUTH VI…American Indian Services: $150,000 · Human ServicesAmerican Indi…THE ROAD HOME: $120,000 · Human ServicesTHE ROAD HOMESOUTH VALLEY SANCTUARY INC: $35,000 · Human ServicesUtah Parent Center Inc: $27,000 · Human Services+1 more: $8,000 · Human ServicesUTAH SYMPHONY & OPERA: $210,437 · Arts & CultureUTAH SYMPH…BALLET WEST: $175,225 · Arts & CultureBALLET WES…DISCOVERY GATEWAY CHILDREN'S MUSEUM: $130,000 · Arts & CultureDISCOVERY …THE MUNDI PROJECT: $40,000 · Arts & CultureTHE MUNDI …COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF JACKSON HOLE: $438,684 · PhilanthropyBig Brothers Big Sisters of Utah: $110,000 · EducationWESTMINSTER UNIVERSITY: $50,402 · EducationSPY HOP PRODUCTIONS: $60,000 · Youth Development
Other$3,253,203Health$804,965Human Services$700,484Arts & Culture$555,662Philanthropy$438,684Education$160,402Youth Development$60,000

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 budgetINTERMOUNTAIN HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION INC: $769,965 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetSHELTER THE HOMELESS INC: $500,147 over 3y, 3.2% of budgetCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF JACKSON HOLE: $438,684 over 8y, 0.2% of budgetDavis Education Foundation: $240,000 over 7y, 0.7% of budgetUTAH SYMPHONY & OPERA: $210,437 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetPEOPLE HELPING PEOPLE: $185,000 over 8y, 5.5% of budgetUTAH YOUTH VILLAGE: $175,484 over 7y, 0.2% of budgetBALLET WEST: $175,225 over 8y, 0.2% of budgetTREEHOUSE CHILDREN'S MUSEUM: $160,000 over 6y, 8.1% of budgetTHE CHILDREN'S CENTER UTAH: $160,000 over 6y, 1.5% of budgetAmerican Indian Services: $150,000 over 8y, 0.6% of budgetDISCOVERY GATEWAY CHILDREN'S MUSEUM: $130,000 over 7y, 0.9% of budgetTHE ROAD HOME: $120,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetVOLUNTEERS OF AMERICA UTAH: $110,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetBig Brothers Big Sisters of Utah: $110,000 over 7y, 0.8% of budgetSPY HOP PRODUCTIONS: $60,000 over 6y, 0.5% of budgetWESTMINSTER UNIVERSITY: $50,402 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL ABILITY CENTER: $40,354 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetTHE MUNDI PROJECT: $40,000 over 5y, 4.5% of budgetSOUTH VALLEY SANCTUARY INC: $35,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetUtah Parent Center Inc: $27,000 over 2y, 1.2% of budgetHUNTSMAN CANCER FOUNDATION: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetWGU Advancement: $20,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetWasatch Homeless Health Care: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetLittle Lambs Foundation for Kids Inc: $8,000 over 2y, 0.7% 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 INTERMOUNTAIN HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds SHELTER THE HOMELESS INC ↗
  • Who funds COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF JACKSON HOLE ↗
  • Who funds Davis Education Foundation ↗
  • Who funds UTAH SYMPHONY & OPERA ↗
  • Who funds PEOPLE HELPING PEOPLE ↗
  • Who funds UTAH YOUTH VILLAGE ↗
  • Who funds BALLET WEST ↗
  • Who funds TREEHOUSE CHILDREN'S MUSEUM ↗
  • Who funds THE CHILDREN'S CENTER UTAH ↗
  • Who funds American Indian Services ↗
  • Who funds DISCOVERY GATEWAY CHILDREN'S MUSEUM ↗
  • Who funds THE ROAD HOME ↗
  • Who funds VOLUNTEERS OF AMERICA UTAH ↗
  • Who funds Big Brothers Big Sisters of Utah ↗
  • Who funds SPY HOP PRODUCTIONS ↗
  • Who funds WESTMINSTER UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds NATIONAL ABILITY CENTER ↗
  • Who funds THE MUNDI PROJECT ↗
  • Who funds SOUTH VALLEY SANCTUARY INC ↗
  • Who funds Utah Parent Center Inc ↗
  • Who funds HUNTSMAN CANCER FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds WGU Advancement ↗

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.

Sorenson Legacy Found…George S and Dolores …Dominion Energy Chari…Marriner S Eccles Fou…McCarthey Family Foun…Lawrence & Janet Dee …Larry H Miller and Ga…The Community Foundat…Castle Foundation Co …C Scott & Dorothy E W…Pacificorp Foundation…Henry W & Leslie M Es…
Sorenson Legacy FoundationUT40.5× affinity17 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Sorenson Legacy Foundation · George S and Dolores Dore Eccles Foundation · Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation · Marriner S Eccles Foundation · McCarthey Family Foundation · Lawrence & Janet Dee Foundation · Larry H Miller and Gail Miller Family Foundation · The Community Foundation of Utah · Castle Foundation Co Greg Phillips · C Scott & Dorothy E Watkins Charitable Foundation · Pacificorp Foundation Aka Pacific Power Foundation Aka Rocky Mountain Power Foundati · Henry W & Leslie M Eskuche Charitable 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 Simmons Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Simmons Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%13%25%38%50%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    12report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–50%
    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 Simmons Family Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Simmons 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 44 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 Simmons Family’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