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Smiling Life Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Smiling Life 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.

$51k
Granted FY2025still arriving
7
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$20k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2025.

Health$86kAnimals$68kInternational$60kEducation$32kPublic Safety & Disaster$15kYouth Development$12kPhilanthropy$5kRecreation & Sports$5k
02FY2025 · 7 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k5 grants · $21k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $30k
$5,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$946k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Children's Hospital Of Colorado$20,000
Humane Society of Boulder$10,000
Jarrow School Inc$7,000
Cyclists 4 Community$5,000
Girls With Books$5,000
Best Buddies International$2,500
Denver County School District$1,500
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 (FY20–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 66% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%Center for Victims of Torture: $10k → 14%Best Buddies International: $3k → 15%Battle Mountain Touchdown: $3k → 7%Children's Hospital Of Colorado: $20k → 10%Alexander Dawson School: $5k → 12%Denver County School District: $2k → 12%Empowerment Through Education: $5k → 14%CENTER FOR VICTIMS OF TORTURE: $10k → 14%Battle Mountain Touchdown: $3k → 7%Children's Hospital Colorado Founda: $15k → 10%Miracles Therapeutic Riding Center: $3k → 12%Opportunity International: $5k → 14%Center for Victims of Torture: $10k → 14%BATTLE MOUNTAIN TOUCHDOWN CLUB: $3k → 7%Children's Hospital Colorado: $15k → 10%The Vertile Foundation Inc: $4k → 12%OPPORTUNITY INTERNATIONAL: $4k → 14%Battle Mountain Touchdown Club: $3k → 7%Children's Hospital Colorado: $10k → 10%The Vertile Foundation Inc: $4k → 12%Opportunity International: $4k → 14%CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF COLORADO: $10k → 10%The Vertile Foundation: $4k → 12%Childrens Hospital of Colorado: $8k → 10%VERTILE FOUNDATION INC: $2k → 12%The Vertile Foundation Inc: $2k → 12%Jarrow School Inc: $7k → 12%Jarrow School Inc: $3k → 12%Jarrow School Inc: $3k → 12%Jarrow School Inc: $3k → 12%JARROW SCHOOL INC: $2k → 12%Humane Society of Boulder: $15k → 12%Boulder Humane Society: $15k → 12%HUMANE SOCIETY OF BOULDER: $10k → 12%Humane Society of Boulder: $10k → 12%Humane Society of Boulder: $10k → 12%Humane Society of Boulder: $8k → 12%Cyclists 4 Community: $5k → 12%CYCLISTS 4 COMMUNITY: $5k → 12%Cyclists 4 Community: $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.
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.
04

Where the work is directed

The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.

About 5% of Smiling Life Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address. By recipient address, 82% of the giving stays in CO; by stated purpose, 76%.

Smiling Life Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address · 4.1% directed abroad (not shown)
How this is measured
Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the funder’s own 990 grant descriptions.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

83%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$234k · 10 repeat orgs$47k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +30% since the first grant, against +26% for those funded once.

10 repeat relationships: 5 still active in FY2025, 5 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

10
5

Total granted

$234k
$43k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+30%
+26%

Still filing today

80%
40%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 92% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $4k went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24’25
InternationalHealthEducationAnimalsPublic Safety & DisasterOther
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

  • CH
    Children's Hospital Colorado
    5× · 2021–2025 · $63k · revenue +30%
  • TH
    THE HUMANE SOCIETY OF BOULDER VALLEY INC
    5× · 2021–2025 · $53k · revenue +9%
  • TC
    THE CENTER FOR VICTIMS OF TORTURE
    3× · 2022–2024 · $30k · revenue +4%

Funded once

  • CH
    Children's Hospital Colorado Foundationgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $15k · revenue +26%
  • BH
    Boulder Humane Society
    one grant, 2020 · $15k
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2020 · $5k
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
Children's Heartlink

We save children's lives by transforming pediatric heart care in underserved parts of the world.

—
2
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

The children's hospital of philadelphia, the oldest hospital in the united states dedicated exclusively to pediatrics, strives to be the world leader in the advancement of health care for children by integrating excellent patient care,…

Health
3
Children's Health Care

We champion the health needs of children and families. we are committed to improving children's health by providing the highest-quality, family centered care, advanced through research and education.

Health
4
Project Orbis International Inc

Orbis builds strong and sustainable eye care systems globally that put treatment and prevention within reach

International
5
Children's Hospital Corporation

Provider of pediatric healthcare, education, research & community service

Health
6
Children's Hospital & Research Center At Oakland

The mission of children's hospital & research center at oakland is to protect and advance the health and well-being of children through clinical care, teaching and research.

Health
7
Colorado Therapeutic Riding Center

To change the lives of people with disabilities by promoting their physical, psychological and social well-being through equine-assisted activities.

—
8
Joy International

JOY International is dedicated to the prevention of child trafficking and to the freedom, healing, and empowerment of trafficked children, teens, and young adults worldwide.

Human Services
9
Variety Children's Hospital

To inspire hope and promote lifelong health by providing the best care to every child.

Health
10
Vail Clinic Inc % Vhh Accounting Department

Elevating health across our mountain communities.

Health
11
Gift of Life International Inc

To further the cause of world peace and understanding by facilitating free medical services, primarily to children suffering from heart defects and other similar or allied illnesses regardless of race, gender, creed, or national origin,…

Health
12
A Shared Vision Partners in Pediatric Blindness and Visual Imp

A Shared Vision educates, inspires, and empowers families to nurture the development of their young children who are blind or visually impaired. We provide early intervention vision services in families' homes and community settings…

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Opportunity International Inc D/B/a Opportunity International-Us; the most unlike its peers is Miracles Therapeutic Riding Center. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
05the grantee network

11 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. 11 of the 17 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)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
11/11
Grantees still filing
10/11
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Children's Hospital Colorado: $62,500 · HealthChildren's Hospital ColoradoChildren's Hospital Colorado Foundation: $15,000 · HealthChildren's Hospital Colorado Fou…Miracles Therapeutic Riding Center: $3,000 · HealthTHE CENTER FOR VICTIMS OF TORTURE: $30,000 · InternationalTHE CENTER FOR VICTIMS O…THE VERTILE FOUNDATION: $15,000 · InternationalTHE VERTILE FOUNDATIONOPPORTUNITY INTERNATIONAL INC D/B/A OPPORTUNITY INTERNATIONAL-US: $12,500 · InternationalOPPORTUNITY INTERNATIONA…Best Buddies International Inc: $2,500 · InternationalTHE HUMANE SOCIETY OF BOULDER VALLEY INC: $52,500 · AnimalsTHE HUMANE SOCIETY OF…Girls With Books: $20,000 · EducationGirls With Boo…JARROW SCHOOL INCORPORATED: $16,500 · EducationJARROW SCHOOL …Boulder Humane Society: $15,000 · OtherBoulder Humane…Individual grant recipient: $5,000 · OtherIndividual gra…Alexander Dawson School: $5,000 · OtherAlexander Daws…Individual grant recipient: $5,000 · OtherIndividual gra…BATTLE MOUNTAIN TOUCHDOWN CLUB: $5,000 · OtherBATTLE MOUNTAI…Denver County School District: $1,500 · OtherCYCLISTS 4 COMMUNITY: $15,000 · Public Safety & Disaster
Health$80,500International$60,000Animals$52,500Education$36,500Other$36,500Public Safety & Disaster$15,000

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 budgetChildren's Hospital Colorado: $62,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetTHE HUMANE SOCIETY OF BOULDER VALLEY INC: $52,500 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetTHE CENTER FOR VICTIMS OF TORTURE: $30,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetGirls With Books: $20,000 over 4y, 5.3% of budgetJARROW SCHOOL INCORPORATED: $16,500 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetTHE VERTILE FOUNDATION: $15,000 over 5y, 2.8% of budgetCYCLISTS 4 COMMUNITY: $15,000 over 3y, 4.0% of budgetChildren's Hospital Colorado Foundation: $15,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetOPPORTUNITY INTERNATIONAL INC D/B/A OPPORTUNITY INTERNATIONAL-US: $12,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetMiracles Therapeutic Riding Center: $3,000 over 1y, 2.0% 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.

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.

Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …
Donor Advised Charitable Giving IncCO6.5× affinity4 shared granteesties to 1 of 1Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift 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 Smiling Life Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Smiling Life 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%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →median 4%
  • Best Buddies International Inc: 4% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
1report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–75%
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 17 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

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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