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Smiling Eyes Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Smiling Eyes 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.

$500
Granted FY2021
1
Grants FY2021
1
States reached
$500
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its 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, FY2017 to 2021.

Civil Rights$15kCrime & Legal$8kHealth$8kArts & Culture$3kEnvironment$3kEducation$930Other$0
02FY2021 · 1 grant

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$500
Median grant
1
States reached
$998
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
DOWN SYNDROME FOUNDATION$500
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 (FY17–21) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 85% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%DOWN SYNDROME FOUNDATION: $500 → 11%BUCKS COUNTY WORLD LANGUAGE ACADEMY: $930 → 6%NROC: $3k → 12%FOUNDATION FOR PRADER-WILLI RESEARCH: $1k → 14%LEUKEMIA AND LYMPHOMA SOCIETY: $1k → 9%LAMBDA LEGAL: $3k → 17%TEXAS CIVIL RIGHTS PROJECT: $3k → 10%THE REFUGEE AND IMMIGRANT CENTER FOR EDUCATION AND LEGAL SERVICES: $3k → 16%PLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA: $3k → 14%EQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE: $5k → 18%FREE TO BREATHE: $1k → 10%NAACP: $3k → 19%MALDEF: $3k → 14%PRO PUBLICA: $3k → 17%PLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA: $1k → 14%SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER: $3k → 18%CREW: $3k → 14%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

MN
WI
NY
PA
CA
MD
DC
AL
TX
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 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
Women's Law Project

Women's law project creates a more just and equitable society by advancing the rights and status of all women throughout their lives. to this end, we engage in high-impact litigation, advocacy, and education. the core values of women's law…

Civil Rights
2
Washington Office On Latin America

To advance human rights and social justice in the americas.

International
3
Latinojustice Prldef

Latinojustice prldef (ljp) uses and challenges laws to create a more just and equitable society. we transform harmful systems, empower our communities, fight for racial justice, and grow the next generation of lideres. ljp works in the…

Crime & Legal
4
Aclu Foundation of Texas Inc

The ACLU Foundation of Texas is the unyielding guardian and promoter of freedom, justice, equality and dignity of all people, particularly for those who are still fighting to secure the full exercise of their civil rights and liberties.…

Civil Rights
5
American Civil Liberties Union of Texas Inc

The ACLU of Texas works with communities, at the State Capitol, and in the courts to protect and advance civil rights and civil liberties for every Texan, no exceptions.

—
6
Immigration Equality

Immigration equality promotes justice and equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and hiv-positive immigrants through direct legal services, policy advocacy, and impact litigation.

Civil Rights
7
American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Louisiana

To support the work of the amercian civil liberties union of louisiana through litigation, public education and limited lobbying in support of civil liberties.

Civil Rights
8
The International Institute On Race Equality and Human Rights

The international institute on race, equality and human rights contributes to the promotion and defense of human rights, through training, technical assistance, advocacy, and strategic litigation conducted at the regional and international…

International
9
Open Markets Institute

The open markets institute works to help people relearn how to use competition policy to build stronger democracies, more just and equitable societies, more innovative and sustainable economies, and a more secure and peaceful world.

Education
10
Asociacion Interamericana Para La Defensa Del Ambiente

To strenghten people's ability to guarantee their individual and collective right to a healthy environment, via the development, implementation, and effective enforcement of national and international law.

Crime & Legal
11
American Civil Liberties Union Fund of the District of Columbia

Preservation of civil liberties through litigation and public education.

—
12
Federation for American Immigration Reform

The federation for american immigration reform's (fair) mission is to educate the public about the economic, sociological, environmental, demographic and other effects of mass immigration to the united states.

International
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Southern Poverty Law Center Inc; the most unlike its peers is Blood Cancer United 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

13 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. 13 of the 16 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)
1
Early backer (in before they grew)
11/13
Grantees still filing
7/13
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

EQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE: $5,000 · Civil RightsEQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVELAMBDA LEGAL DEFENSE & EDUCATION FUND INC: $3,000 · Civil RightsLAMBDA LEGAL DEFENSE & EDUCATION FUND I…MALDEF - MEXICAN AMERICAN LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATIONAL FUND: $3,000 · Civil RightsMALDEF - MEXICAN AMERICAN LEGAL DEFENSE…REFUGEE & IMMIGRANT CENTER FOR EDUCATION & LEGAL SERVICES: $3,000 · Civil RightsREFUGEE & IMMIGRANT CENTER FOR EDUCATIO…NAACP: $3,000 · OtherNAACPCREW: $3,000 · OtherCREWOFICINA LEGAL DEL PUEBLO UNIDO INC: $3,000 · OtherOFICINA LEGAL DEL PUEBLO UNIDO INCNROC: $3,000 · OtherNROCFREE TO BREATHE: $1,000 · OtherFREE TO BREATHEBUCKS COUNTY WORLD LANGUAGE ACADEMY: $930 · OtherBUCKS COUNTY WORLD LANGUAGE ACADEMYPLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA INC: $4,000 · HealthPLANNED PARENTHOOD…FOUNDATION FOR PRADER-WILLI RESEARCH INC: $1,000 · HealthFOUNDATION FOR PRA…BLOOD CANCER UNITED INC: $1,000 · HealthBLOOD CANCER UNITE…DOWN SYNDROME FOUNDATION: $500 · HealthDOWN SYNDROME FOUN…SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC: $3,000 · Crime & LegalPRO PUBLICA INC: $3,000 · Arts & Culture
Civil Rights$14,000Other$13,930Health$6,500Crime & Legal$3,000Arts & Culture$3,000

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 budgetEQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA INC: $4,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetLAMBDA LEGAL DEFENSE & EDUCATION FUND INC: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMALDEF - MEXICAN AMERICAN LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATIONAL FUND: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetOFICINA LEGAL DEL PUEBLO UNIDO INC: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPRO PUBLICA INC: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetREFUGEE & IMMIGRANT CENTER FOR EDUCATION & LEGAL SERVICES: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFREE TO BREATHE: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFOUNDATION FOR PRADER-WILLI RESEARCH INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBLOOD CANCER UNITED INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBUCKS COUNTY WORLD LANGUAGE ACADEMY: $930 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetDOWN SYNDROME FOUNDATION: $500 over 1y, 2.3% 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 Smiling Eyes Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Smiling Eyes 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%1%3%4%5%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    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 16 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 2021, released 2021. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Possibly out of date. A more recent filing (FY2024) is on record and reports no grant expense, so the figures above are from FY2021, the most recent year this funder made grants.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Smiling Eyes’ 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