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Smikis Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Smikis 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.

$803k
Granted FY2024still arriving
17
Grants FY2024still arriving
1
States reached
$200k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0199% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Education$2.0MEnvironment$2.0MYouth Development$760kPhilanthropy$615kInternational$506kHousing & Shelter$320kEmployment$260kHealth$143kOther$0
02FY2024 · 17 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k2 grants · $13k
  • $10k–50k9 grants · $220k
  • $50k–250k6 grants · $570k
$30,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$14M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
BELWIN$200,000
CONSTELLATION FUND$100,000
GREAT MN SCHOOLS (MN COMEBACK)$100,000
AGATE HOUSING AND SERVICES$70,000
PEOPLE INCOPORATED$50,000
MINNESOTA CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL ADVOCACY$50,000
MINNESOTA LAND TRUST$45,000
TWIN CITIES RISE$30,000
TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND$30,000
ED ALLIES (FKA MINNCAN)$25,000
PROJECT SUCCESS$25,000
COLLEGE POSSIBLE$25,000
SUMMIT ACADEMY$15,000
CENTER FOR VICTIMS OF TORTURE$15,000
GLOBAL RIGHTS FOR WOMEN$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 (FY17–23, $290k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%PROJECT FOR PRIDE IN LIVING: $25k → 11%PROJECT FOR PRIDE IN LIVING: $20k → 11%PROJECT FOR PRIDE IN LIVING: $20k → 11%PROJECT FOR PRIDE IN LIVING: $20k → 11%PROJECT FOR PRIDE IN LIVING: $20k → 11%PROJECT FOR PRIDE IN LIVING: $20k → 11%PROJECT FOR PRIDE IN LIVING: $15k → 11%YOUTH FRONTIERS: $35k → 11%YOUTH FRONTIERS: $30k → 11%YOUTH FRONTIERS: $30k → 11%YOUTH FRONTIERS: $30k → 11%FAMILY PARTNERSHIP: $5k → 11%FAMILY PARTNERSHIP: $5k → 11%YOUTH FRONTIERS: $15k → 11%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.

98%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$6.5M · 58 repeat orgs$158k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +48% since the first grant, against +30% for those funded once.

58 repeat relationships: 16 still active in FY2024, 42 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

58
11

Total granted

$6.5M
$133k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+48%
+30%

Still filing today

71%
55%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 97% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $25k 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
EducationEnvironmentHuman ServicesInternationalPhilanthropyHealthOther
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

  • BC
    BELWIN CONSERVANCY
    8× · 2017–2024 · $900k · revenue +100%
  • TC
    The Constellation Fund
    5× · 2020–2024 · $530k · revenue +48%
  • PS
    PROJECT SUCCESS
    8× · 2017–2024 · $415k · revenue +130%

Funded once

  • VA
    VENTURE ACADEMIESgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $25k · revenue +66%
  • TI
    TEFSA INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL
    one grant, 2017 · $25k
  • DS
    DUNWOODY SCHOOL OF TECHNOLOGY
    one grant, 2022 · $20k
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
Minnesota Business Partnership

The minnesota business partnership's mission is to maintain a high quality of life for all minnesotans by ensuring that the state's economy remains strong, globally competitive and its prospects for growth bright by working with elected…

—
2
Minnesota Council on Foundations

MCF is a vibrant philanthropic community connecting, strengthening and mobilizing the power of philanthropy to advance prosperity and equity.

—
3
Youthprise

Youthprise is a nonprofit intermediary that invests in the future of Minnesota by investing in youth. Youthprise's mission is to increase equity with and for Minnesota's indigenous, low-income, and racially diverse youth.

Education
4
Great Mn Schools

We believe that great schools are the cornerstone of a just and thriving community. ensuring that every child is able to attend a school that works is our moral and social imperative - our children deserve no less.

Education
5
St Paul Transportation Management Organization

Move minnesota leads the movement for an equitable and sustainable transportation system that puts people first. we are passionate about connecting communities, ending the climate crisis, expanding access to jobs and resources, and…

Environment
6
Minnesota Chamber of Commerce and Industry

The minnesota chamber of commerce proactively leads the business community statewide to: advance pro-business, responsible minnesota public policy that creates jobs and grows the econony; provde member services to address evolving business…

—
7
Minnesota Medical Association

To be the leading voice of medicine to make minnesota the healthiest state and the best place to practice.

—
8
Minnesota Council of Nonprofits Inc

The Minnesota Council of Nonprofits informs, promotes, connects and strengthens individual nonprofits and the nonprofit sector.

Philanthropy
9
The Minneapolis Foundation

The foundation cultivates generosity by taking action on the greatest civic, social, and economic needs partnering with nonprofits, facilitating grantmaking, driving research and advocacy, and providing services to donors seeking to make a…

Philanthropy
10
Minnesota State University Student Association Inc

Led by minnesota state university students, we are the inclusive voice for all future, current, and former students. we actively work to represent and support minnesota state university students and advocate at a campus, state, and federal…

Education
11
Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce

Creating powerful advocacy to enhance economic vitality in the minneapolis-st. paul region.

—
12
Minnesota Comeback

Driven by an unwavering moral imperative that every child, regardless of its race, income or zip code, deserves the same high-quality education, mn comeback has become a growing movement of philanthropists, community leaders and education…

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Summit Academy Oic; the most unlike its peers is The Center for Victims of Torture. 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

49 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. 49 of the 70 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)
10
Early backer (in before they grew)
47/49
Grantees still filing
37/49
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

BELWIN CONSERVANCY: $900,000 · OtherBELWIN CONSERVANCYGREAT MN SCHOOLS (MN COMEBACK): $430,000 · OtherGREAT MN SCHOOLS (MN COMEBACK)MN COMEBACK -MINNEAPOLIS FDN - EDUCATION TRANSFORMATION INITIATIVE FUND: $200,000 · OtherMN COMEBACK -MINNEAPOLIS FDN - EDUCATION TRANSFOR…Individual grant recipient: $182,500 · OtherIndividual grant recipientNORTHEAST COLLEGE PREPATORY SCHOOL: $180,000 · OtherNORTHEAST COLLEGE PREPATORY SCHOOLTRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND: $165,000 · OtherTRUST FOR PUBLIC LANDAGATE HOUSING & SERVICES INC: $120,000 · Other+31 more: $720,500 · Other+31 morePROJECT SUCCESS: $415,000 · EducationPROJECT SUCCESSCOLLEGE POSSIBLE INC: $200,000 · EducationCOLLEGE POSSIBLE INCGLOBAL ACADEMY: $155,000 · EducationGLOBAL ACADEMYSUMMIT ACADEMY OIC: $135,000 · EducationSUMMIT ACADEMY OICEd Allies: $94,000 · EducationEd AlliesBolder Options: $82,500 · EducationBolder OptionsHIAWATHA ACADEMIES: $75,000 · EducationGROVES ACADEMY: $75,000 · Education+11 more: $303,000 · Education+11 moreMINNESOTA LAND TRUST: $360,000 · EnvironmentMINNESOTA L…MINNESOTA CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL ADVOCACY: $235,000 · EnvironmentMINNESOTA C…CONSERVATION MINNESOTA: $65,000 · EnvironmentCONSERVATIO…LAND TRUST ALLIANCE INC: $35,000 · Environment+1 more: $14,000 · EnvironmentThe Constellation Fund: $530,000 · PhilanthropyThe Conste…MICROGRANTS: $85,000 · PhilanthropyMICROGRANT…THE CENTER FOR VICTIMS OF TORTURE: $400,000 · International+1 more: $6,000 · InternationalYOUTH FRONTIERS INC: $140,000 · Human ServicesPROJECT FOR PRIDE IN LIVING INC: $140,000 · Human ServicesThe Family Partnership: $10,000 · Human ServicesTwin Cities Rise: $250,000 · Employment
Other$2,898,000Education$1,534,500Environment$709,000Philanthropy$615,000International$406,000Human Services$290,000Employment$250,000

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 budgetBELWIN CONSERVANCY: $900,000 over 8y, 6.6% of budgetThe Constellation Fund: $530,000 over 5y, 2.0% of budgetPROJECT SUCCESS: $415,000 over 8y, 4.9% of budgetTHE CENTER FOR VICTIMS OF TORTURE: $400,000 over 7y, 0.5% of budgetMINNESOTA LAND TRUST: $360,000 over 8y, 1.1% of budgetTwin Cities Rise: $250,000 over 7y, 1.2% of budgetMINNESOTA CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL ADVOCACY: $235,000 over 6y, 1.8% of budgetCOLLEGE POSSIBLE INC: $200,000 over 7y, 0.3% of budgetGLOBAL ACADEMY: $155,000 over 4y, 1.0% of budgetYOUTH FRONTIERS INC: $140,000 over 5y, 0.8% of budgetPROJECT FOR PRIDE IN LIVING INC: $140,000 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetSUMMIT ACADEMY OIC: $135,000 over 7y, 0.5% of budgetAGATE HOUSING & SERVICES INC: $120,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetEd Allies: $94,000 over 5y, 3.7% of budgetGLOBAL RIGHTS FOR WOMEN: $85,000 over 8y, 1.8% of budgetMICROGRANTS: $85,000 over 6y, 1.6% of budgetBolder Options: $82,500 over 6y, 1.5% of budgetHIAWATHA ACADEMIES: $75,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetGROVES ACADEMY: $75,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetCONSERVATION MINNESOTA: $65,000 over 4y, 1.5% of budgetNORTHSIDE ACHIEVEMENT ZONE: $60,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetPOSITIVE COACHING ALLIANCE: $40,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetEDUCATORS FOR EXCELLENCE INC: $40,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetMinneapolis Recreation Development Inc Love One Another: $35,000 over 4y, 2.9% of budgetLAND TRUST ALLIANCE INC: $35,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetBEACON INTERFAITH HOUSING COLLABORATIVE: $35,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetTeach for America Inc: $30,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCHILDREN & NATURE NETWORK: $30,000 over 6y, 0.3% of budgetKIPP Minnesota: $30,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetOne2One: $30,000 over 3y, 3.5% of budgetBreakthrough Twin Cities: $30,000 over 3y, 1.1% of budgetPRODEO ACADEMY CHARTER SCHOOL #4213: $30,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetVENTURE ACADEMIES: $25,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetALLIANCE HOUSING INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetSTUDENTS TODAY LEADERS FOREVER: $17,000 over 2y, 1.4% of budgetOUR TURN INC: $15,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetWILDERNESS INQUIRY INC: $14,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetTree Trust: $10,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetThe Family Partnership: $10,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetMASTERY SCHOOL INC: $10,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTREEHOUSE INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetYouth Farm and Market Project: $9,000 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetNonviolent Peaceforce: $6,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetFIREFLY SISTERHOOD: $6,000 over 2y, 1.8% of budgetPEOPLE INCORPORATED: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCOMPASSION & CHOICES: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHOPE COMMUNITY INC: $4,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetINNERCITY TENNIS FOUNDATION: $4,000 over 4y, 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 BELWIN CONSERVANCY ↗
  • Who funds The Constellation Fund ↗
  • Who funds PROJECT SUCCESS ↗
  • Who funds THE CENTER FOR VICTIMS OF TORTURE ↗
  • Who funds MINNESOTA LAND TRUST ↗
  • Who funds Twin Cities Rise ↗
  • Who funds MINNESOTA CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL ADVOCACY ↗
  • Who funds COLLEGE POSSIBLE INC ↗
  • Who funds GLOBAL ACADEMY ↗
  • Who funds YOUTH FRONTIERS INC ↗
  • Who funds PROJECT FOR PRIDE IN LIVING INC ↗
  • Who funds SUMMIT ACADEMY OIC ↗
  • Who funds AGATE HOUSING & SERVICES INC ↗
  • Who funds Ed Allies ↗
  • Who funds GLOBAL RIGHTS FOR WOMEN ↗
  • Who funds MICROGRANTS ↗
  • Who funds Bolder Options ↗
  • Who funds HIAWATHA ACADEMIES ↗
  • Who funds GROVES ACADEMY ↗
  • Who funds CONSERVATION MINNESOTA ↗
  • Who funds NORTHSIDE ACHIEVEMENT ZONE ↗
  • Who funds POSITIVE COACHING ALLIANCE ↗
  • Who funds EDUCATORS FOR EXCELLENCE INC ↗
  • Who funds Minneapolis Recreation Development Inc Love One Another ↗
  • Who funds LAND TRUST ALLIANCE INC ↗
  • Who funds BEACON INTERFAITH HOUSING COLLABORATIVE ↗
  • Who funds Teach for America Inc ↗
  • Who funds CHILDREN & NATURE NETWORK ↗
  • Who funds KIPP Minnesota ↗
  • Who funds One2One ↗
  • Who funds Breakthrough Twin Cities ↗
  • Who funds PRODEO ACADEMY CHARTER SCHOOL #4213 ↗

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.

The Minneapolis Found…Saint Paul & Minnesot…Mortenson Family Foun…The Richard M Schulze…Mightycause Charitabl…Otto Bremer TrustMinnesota Community F…The McKnight Foundati…Pohlad Family Foundat…David Winton Bell Fou…The Walser FoundationCh Robinson Worldwide…
The Minneapolis FoundationMN61.8× affinity34 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Minneapolis Foundation · Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation · Mortenson Family Foundation · The Richard M Schulze Family Foundation · Mightycause Charitable Foundation · Otto Bremer Trust · Minnesota Community Foundation · The McKnight Foundation · Pohlad Family Foundation · David Winton Bell Foundation · The Walser Foundation · Ch Robinson Worldwide 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 Smikis Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Smikis Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    19report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    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 Smikis Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Smikis 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 70 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 Smikis’ 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