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Southern Methodist University at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Public charity

Southern Methodist University

The primary mission of the University is education through research and teaching by creating and imparting knowledge that will shape citizens who contribute to their communities and lead professions in a global society.

$260M
Granted FY2025still arriving
4
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$56k
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 2025.

Recreation & Sports$93kEducation$47kArts & Culture$39kPhilanthropy$34kHealth$26kEmployment$25kReligion$15kScience & Tech$12kOther$0
02FY2025 · 4 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 4 grants below total $84,500, the rows itemized in this filing. The $259,688,818 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $259,604,318 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k1 grant · $9k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $20k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $56k
$10,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$4.6B
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
I AM A GOLFER FOUNDATION$55,500
TEXAS BUSINESS HALL OF FAME FOUNDATION$10,000
SUMNERS FOUNDATION$10,000
THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL FOUNDATION COLLEGE HALL OF FAME INC$9,000
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 86% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%WOMEN ON BOARDS 2020: $8k → 14%GILDER LEHRMAN INSTITUTE OF AMERICA: $22k → 17%TAMEST-Texas Academy of Medicine Engineering Science and Technology: $10k → 10%AMERICAN ADVERTISING FEDERATION DAL: $10k → 11%THE DALLAS HOLOCAUST MUSEUMCENTER: $6k → 14%TEXAS BUSINESS HALL OF FAME FOUNDATION: $10k → 16%UNITED METHODIST OF ARKANSAS: $15k → 17%FORTE FOUNDATION: $15k → 10%BOTANICAL RESEARCH: $12k → 11%The Dallas Holocaust MuseumCenter: $6k → 14%THE DALLAS HOLOCAUST MUSEUMCENTER: $6k → 14%THE DALLAS HOLOCAUST MUSEUMCENTER: $6k → 14%DALLAS ZOO: $8k → 14%SUMNERS FOUNDATION: $10k → 14%Goodwill Industries of Dallas: $10k → 14%Junior Achievement: $8k → 14%AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY: $6k → 14%I AM a Golfer Foundation: $7k → 14%THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL FOUNDATION COLLEGE HALL OF FAME INC: $9k → 14%NATIONAL FOOTBALL FOUNDATION: $8k → 14%The National Football Foundation: $8k → 14%I AM A GOLFER FOUNDATION: $56k → 14%I AM A GOLFER: $31k → 14%THE DALLAS FOUNDATION: $8k → 14%THE DALLAS FOUNDATION: $7k → 14%COMMUNITIES FOUNDATION OF TX: $10k → 14%PEGASUS FOUNDATION: $10k → 14%HEALTHY LATINA LIFESTYLE: $10k → 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.
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.

47%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$140k · 3 repeat orgs$160k to everyone else

3 repeat relationships: 2 still active in FY2025, 1 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

3
13

Total granted

$140k
$140k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

-2%
0%

Still filing today

100%
85%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 76% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $20k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
Arts & CultureEmploymentHealthScience & TechCivil RightsEducationOther
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

  • IA
    I Am A Golfer Foundation
    3× · 2023–2025 · $93k · revenue -2%
  • TN
    THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL FOUNDATION & COLLEGE HALL OF FAME INC
    3× · 2020–2025 · $25k · revenue +22%
  • DH
    Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum
    4× · 2017–2022 · $22k · revenue -73%

Funded once

  • TG
    THE GILDER LEHRMAN INSTITUTE OF AMERICAN HISTORY
    one grant, 2019 · $22k · revenue -27%
  • AC
    ARKANSAS CONFERENCE OF THE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
    one grant, 2021 · $15k
  • TF
    THE FORTE FOUNDATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $15k · revenue +75%
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
National Science and Technology Medals Foundation Inc

The nstmf's mission is to build inclusive stem communities across the united states. fundamental to these communities are the significant, inspirational connections we foster between the individuals who have received national recognition…

—
2
International Women's Forum Inc

The mission of the international women's forum is to advance women's leadership today and tomorrow. iwf takes direct action to achieve our mission in 3 important ways. we connect women leaders through our convenings, providing networking…

Education
3
Kimbell Art Foundation
Arts & Culture
4
American Museum of Natural History

The museum's mission statement is: "to discover, interpret, and disseminate - through scientific research and education - knowledge about human cultures, the natural world, and the universe."

Arts & Culture
5
Institute for Advanced Study - Louis Bamberger & Mrs Felix Fuld Foundation

The institute for advanced study (the institute) is one of the world's leading centers for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. see schedule o.

Science & Tech
6
William Marsh Rice University

As a leading research university with a distinctive commitment to undergraduate education, Rice University aspires to path breaking research, unsurpassed teaching, and contributions to the betterment of our world. It seeks to fulfill this…

Education
7
British American Foundation of Texas

See Schedule O.The British American Foundation of Texas (BAFTX) enables financially challenged, Texas-based students who excel academically to fulfill their exceptional potential by supporting their US college education. We also provide a…

Philanthropy
8
The Goldman Sachs Foundation
Philanthropy
9
American Advertising Federation Inc

American advertising federation, inc. was established to provide leadership and cultivate, promote, and disseminate knowledge and information on issues involving and affecting advertising.

—
10
The Simmons Foundation
Philanthropy
11
Greater Texas Foundation
Education
12
Texas Christian University

Texas christian university is an institution of higher education which includes nine major academic units: liberal arts, science and engineering, business, education, fine arts, communication, honors, nursing and health sciences, and the…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is 5050 Women On Boards Inc; the most unlike its peers is The Sumners 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

19 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. 19 of the 20 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)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
19/19
Grantees still filing
10/19
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

I Am A Golfer Foundation: $92,500 · OtherI Am A Golfer FoundationTHE NATIONAL FOOTBALL FOUNDATION & COLLEGE HALL OF FAME INC: $25,000 · OtherTHE NATIONAL FOOTBALL FOUNDATION & COLLEGE HALL OF FAME INCARKANSAS CONFERENCE OF THE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH: $15,000 · OtherARKANSAS CONFERENCE OF THE UNITED METHODIST CHURCHHEALTHY LATINA LIFESTYLE: $10,000 · OtherPEGASUS FOUNDATION: $10,000 · OtherTexas Business Hall of Fame Foundation: $10,000 · OtherTHE SUMNERS FOUNDATION: $10,000 · Other5050 WOMEN ON BOARDS INC: $7,500 · OtherJUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT OF DALLAS INC: $7,500 · OtherDALLAS ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $7,500 · OtherCOMMUNITIES FOUNDATION OF TEXAS INC: $19,500 · PhilanthropyCOMMUNITIES…THE DALLAS FOUNDATION: $14,000 · PhilanthropyTHE DALLAS …Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum: $22,000 · Arts & CultureDallas Ho…DALLAS STREET CHOIR: $6,700 · Arts & CultureDALLAS ST…THE FORTE FOUNDATION: $15,000 · EmploymentGoodwill Industries of Dallas Inc: $10,000 · EmploymentTHE GILDER LEHRMAN INSTITUTE OF AMERICAN HISTORY: $21,983 · EducationTEXAS ACADEMY OF MEDICINE ENGINEERING SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: $10,000 · HealthAMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY INC: $6,000 · HealthBOTANICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF TEXAS INC: $12,417 · Science & Tech
Other$195,000Philanthropy$33,500Arts & Culture$28,700Employment$25,000Education$21,983Health$16,000Science & Tech$12,417

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 budgetI Am A Golfer Foundation: $92,500 over 3y, 4.0% of budgetTHE NATIONAL FOOTBALL FOUNDATION & COLLEGE HALL OF FAME INC: $25,000 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetDallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum: $22,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetTHE GILDER LEHRMAN INSTITUTE OF AMERICAN HISTORY: $21,983 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCOMMUNITIES FOUNDATION OF TEXAS INC: $19,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE FORTE FOUNDATION: $15,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetTHE DALLAS FOUNDATION: $14,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetBOTANICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF TEXAS INC: $12,417 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetGoodwill Industries of Dallas Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPEGASUS FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetTEXAS ACADEMY OF MEDICINE ENGINEERING SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: $10,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budget5050 WOMEN ON BOARDS INC: $7,500 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetJUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT OF DALLAS INC: $7,500 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetDALLAS ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $7,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY INC: $6,000 over 1y, 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.

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.

Communities Foundatio…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Communities Foundation of Texas IncTX14.4× affinity5 shared granteesties to 2 of 2Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Communities Foundation of Texas Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · 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 Southern Methodist University funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Southern Methodist University. 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 →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    2report 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 20 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 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