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Smithburg Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Smithburg 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.

$253k
Granted FY2024still arriving
24
Grants FY2024still arriving
7
States reached
$35k
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, FY2017 to 2024.

Arts & Culture$498kHealth$348kEducation$229kEnvironment$183kHuman Services$139kYouth Development$113kRecreation & Sports$85kFood & Nutrition$80kOther$0
02FY2024 · 24 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k13 grants · $56k
  • $10k–50k11 grants · $197k
$5,000
Median grant
7
States reached
$4.2M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
ST ISAAC JOGUES ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH$35,000
STEPPENWOLF THEATRE COMPANY$25,000
BOYS & GIRLS CLUB - SUMMER GALA$25,000
CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN$22,500
MAYO CLINIC$15,000
NORTHWESTERN HOSPITAL$15,000
COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT$15,000
ASPEN ART MUSEUM$12,500
THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO$12,000
DEPAUL - GOLF$10,000
RESTORATION MINISTRIES$10,000
ERIKSON INSTITUTE$5,000
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY$5,000
THE JOFFREY BALLET$5,000
WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT$5,000
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, $48k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, 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%THE SHARE FOUNDATION: $3k → 15%MISERICORDIA FOUNDATION: $8k → 14%CHILDREN'S HOME AID: $13k → 14%CHILDREN'S HOME AID: $10k → 14%CHILDREN'S HOME AID: $10k → 14%CHILDREN'S HOME AID: $5k → 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

NH
MN
IL
MI
IN
OH
CA
CO
MO
VA
KS
DC
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.

91%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.6M · 35 repeat orgs$170k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +41% since the first grant, against +7% for those funded once.

35 repeat relationships: 16 still active in FY2024, 19 since wound down; 7 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

35
28

Total granted

$1.6M
$144k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+41%
+7%

Still filing today

66%
50%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 89% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $26k 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
Arts & CultureEducationHuman ServicesPhilanthropyYouth DevelopmentAnimalsOther
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

  • ST
    STEPPENWOLF THEATRE COMPANY
    7× · 2017–2024 · $205k · revenue +59%
  • CH
    CHICAGO HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY
    8× · 2017–2024 · $183k · revenue +37%
  • BS
    Big Shoulders Fund
    6× · 2017–2024 · $130k · revenue +67%

Funded once

  • NM
    NORTHWESTERN MEMORIAL FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2020 · $20k
  • AH
    AMITA HEALTH
    one grant, 2021 · $10k
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2017 · $10k
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
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The mission of mit is to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century.

Education
2
Columbia College Chicago

The organization's mission is to educate students for creative occupations in diverse fields of arts and media.

Education
3
Boston Architectural College

The bac is committed to provide excellence in design education grounded in practice and accessible to diverse communities.

—
4
Saint Xavier University

Saint xavier university, a catholic institution inspired by the heritage of the sisters of mercy, educates persons to search for truth, think critically, communicate effectively and serve wisely and compassionately in support of human…

Education
5
United States Naval Institute

Provide an independent forum for those who dare to read, think, speak, and write to advance the professional, literary, and scientific understanding of sea power and other issues critical to global security.

—
6
Trustees of Boston University

Organization's mission: boston university is an international, comprehensive, private research university, committed to educating students to be reflective, resourceful individuals ready to live, adapt, and lead in an interconnected world.…

—
7
The Trustees of Princeton University

Research, education and general - princeton university is a private not-for-profit, non-sectarian institution of higher learning with approximately 5,700 undergraduate and 3,300 graduate students. 2,500 students graduated in the 2024-2025…

Education
8
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
9
University of New Haven

The University of New Haven is a student-centered comprehensive university with an emphasis on excellence in liberal arts and professional education. Our mission is to prepare our students to lead purposeful and fulfilling lives in a…

Education
10
University of Chicago

The mission of the university of chicago has been to sustain at the highest level of excellence, the communication of knowledge, the creation of knowledge and the fostering of a dynamic community of scholars and students.

Education
11
President and Fellows of Harvard College

Undergraduate, graduate, and professional education and research across a broad array of academic domains.

Education
12
Marine Biological Laboratory

The Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) is a world-renowned center for biological discovery and training that is notably affiliated with more than 60 Nobel Prize winners. Research is conducted by full-time faculty as well as hundreds of the…

Science & Tech
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Aspen Institute Inc; the most unlike its peers is Max McGraw Wildlife Foundation. 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

42 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. 42 of the 71 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)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
42/42
Grantees still filing
32/42
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

RESTORATION MINISTRIES INC: $80,000 · OtherRESTORATION MINISTRIES INCCATHOLIC CHURCH EXTENSION SOCIETY OF US OF AMER: $79,500 · OtherCATHOLIC CHURCH EXTENSION SOCIETY OF US OF AMERST ISAAC JOGUES ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH: $71,000 · OtherST ISAAC JOGUES ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCHBOYS & GIRLS CLUB - SUMMER GALA: $45,000 · OtherBOYS & GIRLS CLUB - SUMMER GALANORTHWESTERN MEMORIAL HOSPITAL: $40,000 · OtherNORTHWESTERN HOSPITAL: $35,000 · OtherNORTHWESTERN MEDICINE: $32,500 · OtherDEPAUL - GOLF: $30,000 · OtherTHE ASPEN INSTITUTE INC: $30,000 · OtherNorthwestern University: $47,500 · OtherNorthwestern UniversityPAWS CHICAGO: $34,750 · OtherPROSTATE CANCER FOUNDATION: $30,500 · Other+33 more: $264,500 · Other+33 moreSTEPPENWOLF THEATRE COMPANY: $205,000 · Arts & CultureSTEPPENWOLF THEATRE COMP…ASPEN ART MUSEUM: $110,875 · Arts & CultureASPEN ART MUSEUMTHE JOFFREY BALLET: $67,000 · Arts & CultureTHE JOFFREY BALLETMEDIA RESEARCH CENTER: $15,000 · Arts & Culture+4 more: $11,500 · Arts & CultureBig Shoulders Fund: $130,000 · EducationBig Shoulders…THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO: $23,000 · EducationTHE ART INSTI…Miami University Foundation: $20,000 · EducationMiami Univers…PHILLIPS EXETER ACADEMY: $20,000 · EducationPHILLIPS EXET…UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN FRANCISCO FOUNDATION: $15,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF…Erikson Institute: $11,000 · Education+2 more: $10,000 · EducationCHICAGO HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY: $182,500 · EnvironmentCHICAGO HOR…MAYO CLINIC: $85,000 · HealthALEXIAN BROTHERS HEALTH SYSTEM: $30,000 · HealthBREAKTHROUGH T1D: $4,000 · HealthBOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF CHICAGO: $62,750 · Youth DevelopmentBARRINGTON CHILDRENS CHARITIES: $2,500 · Youth DevelopmentCHILDREN'S HOME & AID SOCIETY OF ILL: $38,000 · Human ServicesMISERICORDIA FOUNDATION: $7,500 · Human ServicesWOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT INC: $5,000 · Human ServicesSHARE FOUNDATION INC: $2,500 · Human Services
Other$820,250Arts & Culture$409,375Education$229,000Environment$182,500Health$119,000Youth Development$65,250Human Services$53,000

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 budgetSTEPPENWOLF THEATRE COMPANY: $205,000 over 7y, 0.2% of budgetCHICAGO HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY: $182,500 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetBig Shoulders Fund: $130,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetASPEN ART MUSEUM: $110,875 over 8y, 0.3% of budgetMAYO CLINIC: $85,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetRESTORATION MINISTRIES INC: $80,000 over 8y, 0.4% of budgetTHE JOFFREY BALLET: $67,000 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetBOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF CHICAGO: $62,750 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetNorthwestern University: $47,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetCHILDREN'S HOME & AID SOCIETY OF ILL: $38,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetPAWS CHICAGO: $34,750 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetPROSTATE CANCER FOUNDATION: $30,500 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ASPEN INSTITUTE INC: $30,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetALEXIAN BROTHERS HEALTH SYSTEM: $30,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetUROLOGICAL RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $27,000 over 7y, 1.4% of budgetTHE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO: $23,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY RESEARCH: $22,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetMiami University Foundation: $20,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetPHILLIPS EXETER ACADEMY: $20,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetCOMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT NFP: $20,000 over 2y, 3.5% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN FRANCISCO FOUNDATION: $15,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMEDIA RESEARCH CENTER: $15,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetMax McGraw Wildlife Foundation: $14,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetErikson Institute: $11,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMISERICORDIA FOUNDATION: $7,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSHEDD AQUARIUM SOCIETY: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDEPAUL UNIVERSITY: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNAVY SEAL FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGAMMA BETA FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 7.5% of budgetBREAKTHROUGH T1D: $4,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBARRINGTON CHILDRENS CHARITIES: $2,500 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetFRIENDS OF BERRIEN COUNTY TRAILS: $2,500 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetVictory Gardens Theater: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLOVE LIKE SEAN FOUNDATION: $2,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetMUSIC INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCHICAGO CARES INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPixie Parents Inc: $500 over 1y, 0.5% 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 STEPPENWOLF THEATRE COMPANY ↗
  • Who funds CHICAGO HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds Big Shoulders Fund ↗
  • Who funds ASPEN ART MUSEUM ↗
  • Who funds MAYO CLINIC ↗
  • Who funds RESTORATION MINISTRIES INC ↗
  • Who funds THE JOFFREY BALLET ↗
  • Who funds BOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF CHICAGO ↗
  • Who funds Northwestern University ↗
  • Who funds CHILDREN'S HOME & AID SOCIETY OF ILL ↗
  • Who funds PAWS CHICAGO ↗
  • Who funds PROSTATE CANCER FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds THE ASPEN INSTITUTE INC ↗
  • Who funds ALEXIAN BROTHERS HEALTH SYSTEM ↗
  • Who funds UROLOGICAL RESEARCH FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO ↗
  • Who funds AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY RESEARCH ↗
  • Who funds Miami University Foundation ↗
  • Who funds PHILLIPS EXETER ACADEMY ↗
  • Who funds COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT NFP ↗
  • Who funds UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN FRANCISCO FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds MEDIA RESEARCH CENTER ↗
  • Who funds Max McGraw Wildlife Foundation ↗
  • Who funds Erikson Institute ↗

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 Chicago Community…AbbVie FoundationGs Donor Advised Phil…Morgan Stanley Global…National Philanthropi…The Bank of America C…Vanguard Charitable E…Natl Christian Charit…Fidelity Investments …Donor Advised Charita…American Online Givin…Amazonsmile Foundation
The Chicago Community TrustIL16.2× affinity7 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Chicago Community Trust · AbbVie Foundation · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · National Philanthropic Trust · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Natl Christian Charitable Fdn Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Amazonsmile 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 Smithburg Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Smithburg 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%5%10%15%20%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • Wounded Warrior Project Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
6report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–20%
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 71 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 Smithburg 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