Skip to content
Simmons Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Simmons Family 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.

$1.1M
Granted FY2025still arriving
21
Grants FY2025still arriving
9
States reached
$250k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0194% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2018 to 2024.

Education$3.6MPublic Benefit$3.2MCivil Rights$515kHealth$458kFood & Nutrition$223kRecreation & Sports$201kHousing & Shelter$101kPhilanthropy$89kOther$0
02FY2025 · 21 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k7 grants · $33k
  • $10k–50k8 grants · $180k
  • $50k–250k4 grants · $400k
  • $250k+2 grants · $500k
$20,500
Median grant
9
States reached
$24M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA- CRIMSON TIDE FOUNDATION$250,000
ZETA CHARTER SCHOOLS$250,000
CALIBER FOUNDATION$151,500
CHRISTOPHER REEVE FOUNDATION$98,700
CROSSNORE SCHOOL-FOSTER HOME$75,000
FOOD BANK OF CENTRAL AND EASTERN NC$75,000
UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA- TIDE PRIDE$33,970
FAIRWAYS FOR FREEDOM INC$28,000
CAMP SCHREIBER FOUNDATION$25,000
HOOKER COUNTY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC$25,000
GOODSHEPERD-HOMELESS SUPPORT$20,500
PAWS 4 PEOPLE FOUNDATION$20,000
TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATION$17,850
AYN RAND INSTITUTE$10,000
CATHOLIC NEAR EAST WELFARE ASSOCIATION$6,218
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 (FY18–25, $77k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%METROPOLITAN MINISTRIES: $5k → 13%MANNA HARVEST: $513 → 14%METROPOLITAN MINISTRIES: $5k → 13%PAWS 4 PEOPLE FOUNDATION: $20k → 12%METROPOLITAN MINISTRIES: $5k → 13%WOMAN'S IMPACT FUND: $1k → 10%PAWS 4 PEOPLE FOUNDATION: $20k → 12%PAWS 4 PEOPLE FOUNDATION: $15k → 12%PAWS 4 PEOPLE FOUNDATION: $5k → 12%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

IL
NY
MA
OH
PA
NJ
CT
RI
CA
CO
MO
WV
VA
TN
NC
SC
DC
OK
AL
TX
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.

95%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$9.4M · 32 repeat orgs$472k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +34% since the first grant, against +30% for those funded once.

32 repeat relationships: 18 still active in FY2025, 14 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

32
45

Total granted

$9.4M
$441k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+34%
+30%

Still filing today

63%
51%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 97% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $31k went to new ones.

50%100%’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
EducationAnimalsHuman ServicesHealthYouth DevelopmentPhilanthropyOther
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

  • TL
    THE LINSLY SCHOOL INCORPORATED
    7× · 2018–2024 · $2.2M · revenue +72%
  • ZC
    ZETA CHARTER SCHOOLS INC
    4× · 2022–2025 · $1.0M · revenue +302%
  • CR
    CHRISTOPHER REEVE FOUNDATION
    5× · 2021–2025 · $396k · revenue +34%

Funded once

  • PF
    PPD FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2020 · $100k
  • CC
    CLEVELAND CLINIC FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2022 · $100k
  • SF
    SIMMONS FAMILY DONOR ADVISED FUND - FIDELITY
    one grant, 2019 · $75k
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
American Kennel Club Canine Health Foundation

The mission of the akc canine health foundation, inc. is to fund, advance, and communicate canine health research and science through knowledge and discovery.

Animals
2
Unc Health Foundation Inc

At unc health foundation, we inspire philanthropic support for unc health and unc school of medicine that transforms healthcare and provides hope to the people of north carolina and communities around the world.

Education
3
Nuvance Health

Improve the health of every person in our community through the efficient delivery of excellent, innovative and compassionate care.

Health
4
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
5
Health Quest Systems Inc

Improve the health of every person in our community through the efficient delivery of excellent, innovative and compassionate care.

—
6
The Cancer Foundation Inc

The cancer foundation's mission is to alleviate the financial burden of cancer.

Health
7
Western Connecticut Health Network Inc

Improve the health of every person in our community through the efficient delivery of excellent, innovative and compassionate care.

—
8
Northeast College of Health Sciences

Northeast college of health sciences (the college) is committed to academic excellence, leadership, and professional best practices in the health sciences.

Education
9
Humane Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

The primary mission of the humane society is to end animal cruelty, neglect and overpopulation in south carolina.

Animals
10
Central Pennsylvania Food Bank

Our mission is to solve hunger in central pennsylvania by ensuring that everyone struggling with hunger has access to enough wholesome food every day. we will achieve this bold goal with the help of our generous donors, volunteers and…

Food & Nutrition
11
Ndh Foundation

The mission of ndh foundation is to raise funds, reinvest and administer these funds and make distributions to northern dutchess hospital and other not-for-profit affiliates.

Health
12
National Forest Foundation

The national forest foundation (nff), chartered by congress, turns america's love of nature into meaningful action for 193-million acre national forest system through on the ground program work and grant making activities, and accepts and…

Recreation & Sports
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Educational Foundation Inc; the most unlike its peers is Eden Village of Wilmington. 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

50 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. 50 of the 83 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)
49/50
Grantees still filing
38/50
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA- CRIMSON TIDE FOUNDATION: $3,293,897 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA- CRIMSON TIDE FOUNDATIONTHE CALIBER FOUNDATION: $612,500 · OtherTHE CALIBER FOUNDATIONCROSSNORE SCHOOL-FOSTER HOME: $312,500 · OtherCROSSNORE SCHOOL-FOSTER HOME+57 more: $1,024,743 · Other+57 moreTHE LINSLY SCHOOL INCORPORATED: $2,245,000 · EducationTHE LINSLY SCHOOL INCORPORATEDZETA CHARTER SCHOOLS INC: $1,000,000 · EducationZETA CHARTER SCHOOLS INCFOLDS OF HONOR FOUNDATION: $135,000 · Education+4 more: $59,406 · EducationCHRISTOPHER REEVE FOUNDATION: $396,100 · HealthFAIRWAYS FOR FREEDOM INC: $28,000 · Health+3 more: $2,500 · HealthCongaree Foundation: $200,000 · Youth DevelopmentCAMP SCHREIBER FOUNDATION: $95,000 · Youth Development+1 more: $250 · Youth DevelopmentFOOD BANK OF CENTRAL & EASTERN NC INC: $287,080 · Food & Nutrition+1 more: $500 · Food & NutritionTHE AYN RAND INSTITUTE THE CENTER FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF OBJECTIVISM: $92,500 · Arts & CultureNicklaus Children's Health Care Foundation: $57,509 · PhilanthropyHOOKER CTY COMMUNITY FOUNDATIONINC: $25,000 · Philanthropy+3 more: $2,756 · Philanthropy
Other$5,243,640Education$3,439,406Health$426,600Youth Development$295,250Food & Nutrition$287,580Arts & Culture$92,500Philanthropy$85,265

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 budgetTHE LINSLY SCHOOL INCORPORATED: $2,245,000 over 7y, 4.0% of budgetZETA CHARTER SCHOOLS INC: $1,000,000 over 4y, 1.8% of budgetCHRISTOPHER REEVE FOUNDATION: $396,100 over 5y, 0.5% of budgetFOOD BANK OF CENTRAL & EASTERN NC INC: $287,080 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetCongaree Foundation: $200,000 over 2y, 5.0% of budgetCarnegie Mellon University: $156,373 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFOLDS OF HONOR FOUNDATION: $135,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetCAMP SCHREIBER FOUNDATION: $95,000 over 4y, 6.4% of budgetTHE AYN RAND INSTITUTE THE CENTER FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF OBJECTIVISM: $92,500 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetPAWS4PEOPLE INC: $60,000 over 4y, 0.9% of budgetNicklaus Children's Health Care Foundation: $57,509 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetEden Village of Wilmington: $40,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetMIDDLESEX SCHOOL: $34,600 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetTHE EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION INC: $29,350 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetSTEPHEN SILLER TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATION: $22,050 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNHNTX INC: $18,990 over 3y, 3.3% of budgetMETROPOLITAN MINISTRIES INC: $15,553 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetWEST ALABAMA FOOD BANK INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMDRC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSARATOGA WARHORSE FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetK9S FOR WARRIORS INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSt John Central Academy: $2,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetFLORIDA SHERIFFS ASSOCIATION INC: $2,100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetThe Landfall Foundation Inc: $2,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetGood Friends: $1,550 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetWomens Impact Fund: $1,200 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetNCGA FOUNDATION: $1,053 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNEW HANOVER REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER FOUNDATION INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL ALLIANCE FOR EATING DISORDERS INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNEW YORK ROAD RUNNERS INC: $530 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUNDERDOG ANIMAL RESCUE: $515 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetMANNA HARVEST INC: $513 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetDESTINY FOR DOGS INC: $500 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetNORTH CAROLINA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBLOOD CANCER UNITED INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetThe Soup Kitchen Inc: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGOOD FRIENDS OF WILMINGTON: $500 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetHARLEM LACROSSE AND LEADERSHIP CORPORATION: $263 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCOLUMBUS FOUNDATION: $256 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE KEEP A BREAST FOUNDATION: $256 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetYOUNG LIFE: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNETWORK FOR GOOD: $200 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMISSION OF HOPE: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPAWS PLACE INC: $60 over 1y, 0.0% 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 THE LINSLY SCHOOL INCORPORATED ↗
  • Who funds ZETA CHARTER SCHOOLS INC ↗
  • Who funds THE CALIBER FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds CHRISTOPHER REEVE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds FOOD BANK OF CENTRAL & EASTERN NC INC ↗
  • Who funds Congaree Foundation ↗
  • Who funds Carnegie Mellon University ↗
  • Who funds FOLDS OF HONOR FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds CAMP SCHREIBER FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds THE AYN RAND INSTITUTE THE CENTER FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF OBJECTIVISM ↗
  • Who funds PAWS4PEOPLE INC ↗
  • Who funds Nicklaus Children's Health Care Foundation ↗
  • Who funds Eden Village of Wilmington ↗
  • Who funds MIDDLESEX SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds THE EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds FAIRWAYS FOR FREEDOM INC ↗
  • Who funds HOOKER CTY COMMUNITY FOUNDATIONINC ↗
  • Who funds STEPHEN SILLER TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds NHNTX INC ↗
  • Who funds METROPOLITAN MINISTRIES INC ↗
  • Who funds WEST ALABAMA FOOD BANK INC ↗
  • Who funds MDRC ↗

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.

Duke Energy FoundationThe Cynthia & George …Dan Cameron Family Fo…Ge Aerospace Foundati…Leslie L Alexander Fo…Foundation for the Ca…The Ayco Charitable F…American Endowment Fo…The Bank of America C…Jpmorgan Chase Founda…The Pfizer Foundation…Raymond James Charita…
Duke Energy FoundationNC18.8× affinity10 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Duke Energy Foundation · The Cynthia & George Mitchell Foundation · Dan Cameron Family Foundation Inc · Ge Aerospace Foundation · Leslie L Alexander Foundation Inc · Foundation for the Carolinas · The Ayco Charitable Foundation · American Endowment Foundation · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Jpmorgan Chase Foundation · The Pfizer Foundation Inc · Raymond James Charitable Endowment Fund

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 · 70%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from government →median 4%
  • Christopher Reeve Foundation: 49% of income from government
  • Florida Sheriffs Association Inc: 4% of income from government
  • Metropolitan Ministries Inc: 0% of income from government
  • K9S for Warriors Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
7get no government money at all
9report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–90%
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 83 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 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