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Plinth

· Private foundation

Smothers Bruni 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.

$178k
Granted FY2025still arriving
31
Grants FY2025still arriving
7
States reached
$25k
Largest
01What you fund
0199% classified

What you funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year — across FY20172025.

Arts & Culture$210kEducation$91kHuman Services$89kReligion$64kAnimals$45kMembership Benefit$25kPublic Benefit$25kCrime & Legal$15kOther$0
02FY2025 · 31 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k28 grants · $123k
  • $10k–50k3 grants · $55k
$5,000
Median grant
7
States reached
$1.3M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Battle of Flowers Association$25,000
Franciscan Friars of Hebbronville Inc$20,000
Bryn Mawr College$10,000
New York City Ballet Inc$7,500
New York City Ballet Inc$5,000
Dartmoor Pony Registry of America Inc$5,000
Alamo Heights United Methodist Church$5,000
Consejo Real De Reyes Feos Anteriores Inc$5,000
Free & Fair Litigation Group$5,000
Individual grant recipient$5,000
Champions Educational Foundation$5,000
Equus Survival Trust$5,000
Bryn Mawr College$5,000
Equal Justice Initiative$5,000
Saving Shelter Strays Inc$5,000
02The need
03

Do your dollars go where the need is?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, then read against the area’s typical level.

show:

Your human-services grants (FY21–23, $66k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of your grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%Mommies In Need Inc: $22k → 14%Mommies In Need Inc: $20k → 14%Mommies In Need Inc: $19k → 14%Boysville Inc: $5k → 16%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount

Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty linein the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP; grantee ZIP can differ from where services are delivered.

US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are actually delivered. Need from public data — U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA — shown as context about the area, never attributed to your giving.

03Your edge
repeat funding

Who you back again

Which organizations you funded more than once, and which you funded a single time. Each grantee is matched to its own filings.

82%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$490k · 24 repeat orgs$106k to everyone else

And the relationships you keep tend to grow: grantees you re-up on have seen median revenue of +18% since the first grant, against +17% for the ones you funded once.

24 repeat relationships — 21 still active in FY2025, 3 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

24
12

Total granted

$490k
$85k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+18%
+17%

Still filing today

63%
50%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 88% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $22k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’21’22’23’24’25
Arts & CultureEducationAnimalsHuman ServicesReligionHealthOther

First-time = a grantee’s first year in your filing window; renewed = funded in an earlier year too. As a portfolio matures the renewed share naturally climbs — once funded, an org stays “renewable” — so the signal is the years that buck it (a new-grantee intake wave). 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

  • MI
    MOMMIES IN NEED
    3× · 2021–2023 · $61k · revenue +90%
  • MC
    MAGIK CHILDRENS THEATRE OF SAN ANTONIO DBA THE MAGIK THEATRE
    5× · 2021–2025 · $45k · revenue +42%
  • NY
    NEW YORK CITY BALLET INC
    2× · 2023–2025 · $25k · revenue +32%

Funded once

  • AP
    Annie's Place dba Mommies In Need
    one grant, 2024 · $23k
  • BT
    BALLET THEATRE FOUNDATION INC
    one grant, 2023 · $10k · revenue +14%
  • MA
    MCNAY ART MUSEUM
    one grant, 2022 · $10k · revenue -22%

Repeat = funded in two or more distinct years; growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Your field

The map has a center of gravity: the average direction from the rest of the sector toward the organizations the foundation funds — the shape of its giving. Scoring every nonprofit along that direction surfaces the ones that look most like the portfolio. These are the closest matchesthat aren’t grantees — a resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Texas Ballet Theater Inc

Texas ballet theater creates, presents, and tours world class ballet, from classical to cutting edge, and promotes its appreciation, accessibility, and technical mastery among students, pre-professionals, and audiences of all ages.

Arts & Culture
2
Midland Festival Ballet

Midland festival ballet is a 501(c)3 nonprofit whose mission is to promote and present the art of classical ballet through education, performance, and outreach.

Arts & Culture
3
Kimbell Art Foundation
Arts & Culture
4
Valor Texas Education Foundation

Valor's mission is to educate the whole person in authentic communities for a full human life. Through our K-12 tuition-free classical charter schools and the Valor Institute, we build communities dedicated to wisdom, virtue, and…

Education
5
San Antonio Academy of Texas

See schedule osan antonio academy of texas offers prekindergarten through eighth grade boys an exceptional academic program that features small classes, a family-like atmosphere, the development of a positive self image and a foundation…

6
American Baroque Opera Company

American baroque opera company operates in the state of texas for the primary purpose of furthering the appreciaton of music, particularly opera, for the general public. american baroque opera company performs select operas throughout the…

Arts & Culture
7
Witte Museum

The witte museum inspires people to shape the future of texas through transformative and relevant experiences in nature, science and culture.

Arts & Culture
8
Bosque School

To create transformative learning experiences that empower a diverse community of students to lead lives of intellectual curiosity, personal integrity, and compassionate contribution to a more just world.

Education
9
The Awty International School

See Schedule OThe purpose of Awty International School (Awty) is to create an environment where students experience excellence every day to make their mark on the world alongside their community, in a spirit of curiosity, courage and…

10
The Museum of Fine Arts Houston

The museum of fine arts, houston serves as a welcoming and inclusive place for all people, connecting the communities of houston with diverse histories of art spanning 6,000 years and six continents. through our permanent collections,…

Arts & Culture
11
The Tobin Theatre Arts Fund
Arts & Culture
12
The Shakespeare Festival of Dallas dba Shakespeare Dallas

Using Shakespeare's works as a cornerstone, Shakespeare Dallas serves the Southwest region with fun and accessible indoor and outdoor theatre, integrated school programs, and cultural enrichment for people of all ages and backgrounds.

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Saint Marys Hall Inc and the most unlike its peers is Champions Educational Foundation. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.

Your grantees are a median of 30 years old; the field is 12. You back the established end — and your money leans older still.

THE FIELDby orgYOUR GRANTEESby number26%13%<5yr16%3%5–10yr20%23%10–20yr16%19%20–35yr10%10%35–55yr13%32%55yr+
THE FIELDby orgYOUR MONEYby value26%14%<5yr16%1%5–10yr20%40%10–20yr16%21%20–35yr10%9%35–55yr13%16%55yr+

The field is 26% startups (under 5 years old) — 13% of your grantees by number, and just 14% of your money.

Closures · last 5 years

The orgs you fund almost never close 0.0% lost their exemption, against 15% of the field you don’t fund.

orgs you fund
0.0%0/31
the rest of the field
15%
20,233/136,773

Age = years since IRS exemption (a founding proxy). “Closed” = auto-revocation for 3 years of non-filing — a floor on closure, not proof, and bigger established orgs lapse least. Association, not causation.

04the grantee network

24 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each one resolved to its own IRS returns and tracked year by year — your grant beside their revenue from every source. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

Counted here: distinct organizations you funded across 20172025, not grant rows in a single year — so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 24 of the 41 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile; the rest are funded organizations whose filings we could not track year by year.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
23/24
Grantees still filing
16/24
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

BATTLE OF FLOWERS ASSOCIATION — $100,000 · Arts & CultureBATTLE OF FLOWERS ASSOCIATIONMAGIK CHILDRENS THEATRE OF SAN ANTONIO DBA THE MAGIK THEATRE — $45,000 · Arts & CultureMAGIK CHILDRENS THEATRE OF SAN ANTONIO…NEW YORK CITY BALLET INC — $25,000 · Arts & CultureNEW YORK CITY BALLET INCSCHOOL OF AMERICAN BALLET INC — $12,500 · Arts & CultureSCHOOL OF AMERICAN BALLET INCBALLET THEATRE FOUNDATION INC — $10,000 · Arts & CultureMCNAY ART MUSEUM — $10,000 · Arts & CultureJDRF Southern Texas Chapter — $25,000 · OtherJDRF Southern Texas ChapterFREE AND FAIR LITIGATION GROUP INC — $25,000 · OtherFREE AND FAIR LITIGATION GROUP INCAnnie's Place dba Mommies In Need — $23,000 · OtherAnnie's Place dba Mommies In NeedALAMO HEIGHTS UNITED METHODIST CHURCH — $15,000 · OtherALAMO HEIGHTS UNITED METHODIST CHU…DARTMOOR PONY REGISTRY OF AMERICA INC — $10,000 · OtherDARTMOOR PONY REGISTRY OF AMERICA …EQUUS SURVIVAL TRUST — $10,000 · OtherEQUUS SURVIVAL TRUSTThe Stewpot — $7,000 · OtherPipe Creek Volunteer Fire Department Inc — $7,500 · Other+14 more — $59,500 · Other+14 moreMOMMIES IN NEED — $61,000 · Human ServicesMOMMIES IN N…BOYSVILLE INC — $5,000 · Human ServicesBOYSVILLE IN…CONSEJO REAL DE REYES FEOS ANTERIORES INC — $25,000 · EducationCONSEJO REAL…BRYN MAWR COLLEGE — $25,000 · EducationBRYN MAWR CO…SAN ANTONIO LIVESTOCK EXPOSITION EDUCATIONAL FUND INC — $10,000 · EducationSAN ANTONIO …SAINT MARYS HALL INC — $5,000 · EducationSAINT MARYS …FRANCISCAN FRIARS OF HEBBRONVILLE INC — $35,000 · ReligionRothko Chapel — $5,000 · ReligionSAVING SHELTER STRAYS INC — $10,000 · AnimalsANIMAL DEFENSE LEAGUE OF TEXAS — $5,000 · AnimalsA Doggie 4 You — $5,000 · AnimalsHooker Ranch Slaughter Horse Rescue — $5,000 · AnimalsEQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE — $15,000 · Civil Rights
Arts & Culture$202,500Other$182,000Human Services$66,000Education$65,000Religion$40,000Animals$25,000Civil Rights$15,000

Each org by its size and your share of it — top-left is where you’re load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ your share of their budgetBATTLE OF FLOWERS ASSOCIATION — $100,000 over 5y, 2.7% of budgetMOMMIES IN NEED — $61,000 over 3y, 2.3% of budgetMAGIK CHILDRENS THEATRE OF SAN ANTONIO DBA THE MAGIK THEATRE — $45,000 over 5y, 0.5% of budgetFRANCISCAN FRIARS OF HEBBRONVILLE INC — $35,000 over 2y, 7.1% of budgetNEW YORK CITY BALLET INC — $25,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFREE AND FAIR LITIGATION GROUP INC — $25,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetCONSEJO REAL DE REYES FEOS ANTERIORES INC — $25,000 over 5y, 1.7% of budgetBRYN MAWR COLLEGE — $25,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetEQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE — $15,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSCHOOL OF AMERICAN BALLET INC — $12,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetBALLET THEATRE FOUNDATION INC — $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSAVING SHELTER STRAYS INC — $10,000 over 2y, 5.4% of budgetMCNAY ART MUSEUM — $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSAN ANTONIO LIVESTOCK EXPOSITION EDUCATIONAL FUND INC — $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetPipe Creek Volunteer Fire Department Inc — $7,500 over 3y, 1.1% of budgetANIMAL DEFENSE LEAGUE OF TEXAS — $5,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetA Doggie 4 You — $5,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetBOYSVILLE INC — $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetRothko Chapel — $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetHooker Ranch Slaughter Horse Rescue — $5,000 over 2y, 1.3% of budgetTriple H Equitherapy Center — $5,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetSAINT MARYS HALL INC — $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budget
Go grantee by grantee — a decade per org, and how each moved after you funded them

A decade per grantee — revenue shaded, your grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

The grantmakers whose grantees overlap with yours far more than size alone predicts. Each orbits closer the stronger the alignment; the arcs between them show where they also fund each other. Here it reads as a tightly interlocked camp — most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

San Antonio Area FoundationTX17.1× affinity6 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: San Antonio Area Foundation · Faye L & William L Cowden Charitable Foundation · The Brown Foundation Inc · Texas Instruments Foundation · Amy Shelton McNutt Charitable Trust · Marcia & Otto Koehler Foundation · Nancy Smith Hurd Foundation · Greater Houston Community Foundation · United Way Worldwide · Shell USA Company Foundation · Jpmorgan Chase Foundation · The Blackbaud Giving Fund

Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. A research starting point: overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

Government reliance of your grantees

Every dot is one organization Smothers Bruni Foundation funds. Left–right is the share of its income from government; up–down is the share from you. Bigger dots raise more. Filter to federal or a single department — and drag the year to watch it move.

2024
202122232425
no gov · 00%1%3%6%10%your 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
    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 · 0–5%
    typical government reliance, FY2025

    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 your grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first — a floor, not 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 12–24 months.

    On method. Every financial figure here is read directly from IRS e-file XML — your own 990/990-PF and the multi-year returns of the 41 grantees we resolved across every year we hold, several hundred filings in all (a different count from the grant rows on the cover, which are one fiscal year)— each linked to its source. Grantee achievements and outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III); we read these as association with sustained funding — the foundation is one of several forces — suppress low-confidence name matches rather than guess, and say so where a figure rests on a single grant or filing. Not everything on this page is a filed figure, and the difference matters. Filed is what you reported on your 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. How we build these →

    Generated from your IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    More from the funding graph