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· Public charity

Southern Smoke Foundation

To provide support and assistance for those in the food and beverage community and their suppliers who are in crisis.

$1.8M
Granted FY2025still arriving
10
Grants FY2025still arriving
8
States reached
$105k
Largest
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.

Health$1.0MPublic Safety & Disaster$751kEmployment$127kEducation$80kFood & Nutrition$350
02FY2025 · 10 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 10 grants below total $303,566, the rows itemized in this filing. The $1,796,850 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $1,493,284 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 · $6k
  • $10k–50k8 grants · $192k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $105k
$24,800
Median grant
8
States reached
$5.8M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Cal Lutheran$105,386
University of South Carolina$47,379
New York University$35,030
University of Maine$26,681
Yeshiva$24,800
Roberts Wesleyan University$16,380
Florida Institute of Technology Inc$16,202
Michigan School of Psychology$15,260
Northern Illinois University$10,448
Austin Community College$6,000
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 15%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 94% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%Boston University: $20k → 16%VICTIMS OF NAPA AND SONOMA COUNTY FIRE RELIEF: $6k → 12%Roberts Wesleyan University: $16k → 14%New York University: $35k → 17%University of North Texas: $52k → 8%Austin Community College: $6k → 10%VICTIMS OF HURRICANE HARVEY: $501k → 16%University of South Carolina: $47k → 16%Houston No Kid Hungry: $350 → 14%Florida Institute of Technology Inc: $16k → 10%Michigan School of Psychology: $15k → 8%Roots Fund Incorporated: $80k → 11%East Tennessee State University: $21k → 14%Northern Illinois University: $15k → 13%GULF SEAFOOD FOUNDATION - HELPING HANDS EFFORT PROGRAM: $10k → 17%LSU: $37k → 19%University of Maine: $27k → 15%Yeshiva: $50k → 17%LEGACY COMMUNITY HEALTH: $10k → 16%University of South Carolina: $11k → 16%The George Washington University: $132k → 14%Northern Illinois University: $10k → 13%LSU: $35k → 19%University of Maine: $8k → 15%New York University: $23k → 17%NATIONAL MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS SOCIETY HOUSTON CHAPTER: $200k → 16%Yeshiva: $25k → 17%National Multiple Sclerosis Society: $100k → 16%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

ME
IL
MI
NY
MA
CT
CA
TN
NC
SC
DC
LA
TX
FL
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.

15%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$297k · 5 repeat orgs$1.7M to everyone else

5 repeat relationships: 4 still active in FY2025, 1 since wound down; 6 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

5
51

Total granted

$297k
$1.5M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+16%
+62%

Still filing today

40%
10%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 44% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $170k went to new ones.

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

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

’17’18’19’21’23’24’25
EducationHealthOther
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

  • YU
    YESHIVA UNIVERSITY
    2× · 2023–2025 · $75k · revenue +16%
  • LS
    LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY
    2× · 2023–2024 · $72k
  • US
    USC School of Medicine Greenville
    2× · 2024–2025 · $58k

Funded once

  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2017 · $501k
  • NM
    NATIONAL MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS SOCIETY HOUSTON CHAPTER
    one grant, 2018 · $200k
  • TG
    The George Washington University
    one grant, 2024 · $132k · revenue +7%
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
Western New England University

Western new england university, a comprehensive private institution with a tradition of excellence in teaching and scholarship and a commitment to service, awards undergraduate, master's, and doctoral degrees in various departments from…

Education
2
Drexel University

Drexel university fulfills its founder's vision of preparing each new generation of students for productive professional and civic lives while also focusing its collective expertise on solving society's greatest problems. drexel is an…

Education
3
Lewis & Clark College

Lewis & clark is a premier private higher education institution offering an exceptional education in an inclusive environment. by fostering critical thinking, innovation, creativity, civic engagement, and leadership, both inside and…

Education
4
University of Southern California

The central mission of the university of southern california is the development of human beings and society as a whole through the cultivation and enrichment of the human mind and spirit. the principal means by which our mission is…

Education
5
University of Miami

See Form 990, Part I, Line 1, Description of Organization Mission.

Education
6
The Central European University

Ceu is committed to promoting the values of open society and self-reflective critical thinking. it aims at excellence in the mastery of established knowledge, courage to pursue the creation of new knowledge in the humanities, the social…

International
7
Washington University

The washington university is a co-educational, nondenominational university with a long and distinguished history of teaching, research and (cont'd on schedule o)

Education
8
Marquette University

As a Catholic, Jesuit university our mission is to search for truth, discover shareknowledge, foster personal professional excellence, promote a life of faith and developleadership expressed in service to others. See Schedule O.

Education
9
Trustees of Boston College

Mission strengthened by more than a century and a half of dedication to academic excellence, boston college commits itself to the highest standards of teaching and research in undergraduate, graduate and professional programs and to the…

Education
10
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
11
Georgian Court University

Georgian court university (gcu), provides a comprehensive liberal arts education and is open to students of all faiths, delivers a curriculum that promotes scholarship, service, and personal development.

Education
12
American University

To advance knowledge, foster intellectual curiosity, build community, and empower lives of purpose, service, and leadership.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Florida Institute of Technology Inc; the most unlike its peers is Austin Community College 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

12 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 12 of the 62 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)
12/12
Grantees still filing
8/12
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Individual grant recipient: $501,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientNATIONAL MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS SOCIETY HOUSTON CHAPTER: $200,000 · OtherNATIONAL MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS SOCIETY HOUSTON CHAPTERAPPLICANTS OF SOUTHERN SMOKE EMERGE: $126,815 · OtherAPPLICANTS OF SOUTHERN SMOKE EMERGENational Multiple Sclerosis Society: $100,000 · OtherNational Multiple Sclerosis SocietyLOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY: $71,843 · OtherUSC School of Medicine Greenville: $58,289 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS: $52,200 · Other+45 more: $351,728 · Other+45 moreThe George Washington University: $131,600 · EducationThe George Washington Univer…CALIFORNIA LUTHERAN UNIVERSITY: $105,386 · EducationCALIFORNIA LUTHERAN UNIVERSI…ROOTS FUND INC: $80,000 · EducationROOTS FUND INCYESHIVA UNIVERSITY: $74,800 · EducationYESHIVA UNIVERSITYNew York University: $57,530 · EducationNew York University+4 more: $54,026 · Education+4 moreLEGACY COMMUNITY HEALTH SERVICES INC: $10,000 · Health
Other$1,461,875Education$503,342Health$10,000

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetThe George Washington University: $131,600 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCALIFORNIA LUTHERAN UNIVERSITY: $105,386 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetROOTS FUND INC: $80,000 over 1y, 19% of budgetYESHIVA UNIVERSITY: $74,800 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNew York University: $57,530 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY: $20,287 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetROBERTS WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY: $16,380 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFLORIDA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY INC: $16,202 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $15,444 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetMICHIGAN SCHOOL OF PSYCHOLOGY: $15,260 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetLEGACY COMMUNITY HEALTH SERVICES INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAustin Community College Foundation: $6,000 over 1y, 0.1% 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 The George Washington University ↗
  • Who funds CALIFORNIA LUTHERAN UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds ROOTS FUND INC ↗
  • Who funds YESHIVA UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds New York University ↗
  • Who funds TRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds ROBERTS WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds FLORIDA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY INC ↗
  • Who funds NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds MICHIGAN SCHOOL OF PSYCHOLOGY ↗
  • Who funds LEGACY COMMUNITY HEALTH SERVICES INC ↗

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.

Tulsa Community FoundationOK12.9× affinity4 shared granteesties to 4 of 4Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Tulsa Community Foundation · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving 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 Smoke Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Southern Smoke Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%1%5%11%20%funder's share of their income ↑0%4%8%11%15%share of the org’s income from government →median 12%
  • Trustees of Boston University: 12% of income from government
  • Florida Institute of Technology Inc: 5% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get 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 · 0–15%
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 62 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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