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· Private foundation

The Eric and Wendy Schmidt Fund for Strategic Innovation

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.

$244M
Granted FY2024still arriving
379
Grants FY2024still arriving
30
States reached
$13M
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, FY2018 to 2024.

Science & Tech$279MEducation$177MSocial Science$56MEnvironment$36MPhilanthropy$30MInternational$21MPublic Benefit$20MHealth$18MOther$0
02FY2024 · 379 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k58 grants · $334k
  • $10k–50k68 grants · $1.3M
  • $50k–250k108 grants · $11M
  • $250k+145 grants · $231M
$100,000
Median grant
30
States reached
$1.6B
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
THE RHODES TRUST$12,500,000
KYUTAI$10,442,000
FUTURE HOUSE INC$10,000,000
BARACK OBAMA FOUNDATION$10,000,000
THE RHODES TRUST$8,069,204
CONVERGENT RESEARCH INC$8,000,000
CONVERGENT RESEARCH INC$8,000,000
THE RHODES TRUST$7,038,587
DIGITAL HARBOR FOUNDATION INC$6,094,431
MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY$6,000,000
THE RHODES TRUST$5,937,909
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY$4,826,269
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY$4,500,000
CONVERGENT RESEARCH INC$4,000,000
THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA$3,065,404
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.

US giving: 64% of grant dollars ($451M). The need read here covers only this US portion; the 36% that went abroad ($250M) is mapped below.

show:

Its human-services grants (FY18–24, $4.2M) 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%SPURS GIVE: $285k → 16%RENEW LLC: $15k → 12%VEHICLES FOR CHANGE INC: $594k → 11%MANIFOLD FOR CHARITY: $20k → 10%VEHICLES FOR CHANGE INC: $396k → 11%TIDES CENTER: $330k → 10%SOCIAL FINANCE INC: $333k → 16%SOCIAL FINANCE INC: $333k → 16%SOCIAL FINANCE INC: $333k → 16%HYPOTHESIS PROJECT: $20k → 10%MERIT AMERICA: $500k → 14%MERIT AMERICA: $1.0M → 14%MERIT AMERICA: $29k → 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

AK
VT
WA
ID
MT
ND
MN
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
OR
SD
IN
OH
PA
NJ
CT
RI
CA
UT
CO
MO
KY
VA
MD
DE
AZ
NM
KS
TN
NC
DC
HI
LA
GA
TX
FL

Beyond the US: 36% of all-years giving ($250M)

26 countries, by the recipient’s country on the filing.

grant dollars sentlessmore
United Kingdom$173M · 93 grants
France$32M · 10 grants
Canada$11M · 22 grants
Switzerland$8.6M · 3 grants
Italy$5.5M · 3 grants
Israel$4.6M · 13 grants
South Africa$3.8M · 15 grants
Mauritius$3.3M · 3 grants
Singapore$3.1M · 4 grants
Netherlands$1.3M · 2 grants
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. International giving is mapped by the recipient’s country from the same 990 filings; comparable need data isn’t available at that grain.
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 10% of The Eric and Wendy Schmidt Fund for Strategic Innovation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address.

The Eric and Wendy Schmidt Fund for Strategic Innovationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address · 38% 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.

79%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$509M · 177 repeat orgs$133M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +45% since the first grant, against +15% for those funded once.

177 repeat relationships: 99 still active in FY2024, 78 since wound down; 162 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

177
256

Total granted

$509M
$82M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+45%
+15%

Still filing today

45%
47%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 77% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $51M went to new ones.

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

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

’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
EducationScience & TechInternationalArts & CultureEnvironmentCommunity ImprovementOther
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

  • CR
    CONVERGENT RESEARCH INC
    3× · 2022–2024 · $67M · revenue +543% · 81% of their budget
  • DH
    DIGITAL HARBOR FOUNDATION
    2× · 2023–2024 · $9.6M · revenue +93%
  • CI
    CAMBRIDGE IN AMERICA
    3× · 2022–2024 · $8.9M · revenue +37%

Funded once

  • EO
    EUROPEAN ORGANIZATION FOR NUCLEAR RESEARCH
    one grant, 2023 · $8.5M
  • FB
    FONDAZIONE BOLOGNA UNIVERSITY BUSINESS SCHOOL
    one grant, 2022 · $3.0M
  • CM
    CHANCELLOR MASTERS & SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD
    one grant, 2023 · $2.7M · revenue +10%
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
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.

—
2
Boston Architectural College

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

—
3
Associated Universities Inc

Associated universities inc (aui) collaborates with the scientific community and research sponsors to plan, build, and operate cutting-edge facilities. we cultivate excellence, deliver value, enhance education, and engage the public.

Science & Tech
4
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
5
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
6
Orcid Inc

Orcid provides an identifier for individuals to use with their name as they engage in research, scholarship, and innovation activities. we provide open tools that enable transparent and trustworthy connections between researchers, their…

Education
7
Open Markets Institute

The open markets institute works to help people relearn how to use competition policy to build stronger democracies, more just and equitable societies, more innovative and sustainable economies, and a more secure and peaceful world.

Education
8
National Opinion Research Center

See schedule onorc at the university of chicago conducts research and data science on critical societal issues to guide decision-making and the development of programs and public policy. our experts identify relationships and trends, and…

Social Science
9
AI4ALL

Ai4all's mission is to ensure that the next generation of ai leaders reflects humanity. ai4all is transforming the pipeline of ai practitioners who will shape ai for the benefit of humanity.

Youth Development
10
Peter G Peterson Institute for International Economics

The peterson institute for international economics (piie) is an independent nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization dedicated to strengthening prosperity and human welfare in the global economy through expert analysis and practical…

Social Science
11
University of Virginia Investment Management Company

The university of virginia investment management company (uvimco) is organized to invest funds on behalf of the rector and visitors of the university of virginia (the university or uva) and university-associated organizations (uaos).

Education
12
The Union of Concerned Scientists Inc

The union of concerned scientists puts rigorous, independent science into action, developing solutions and advocating for a healthy, safe, and just future.

International
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Science and Technology Futures Inc; the most unlike its peers is Recidiviz Inc. 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

289 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. 289 of the 615 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.

33
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
46
Early backer (in before they grew)
283/289
Grantees still filing
180/289
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE RHODES TRUST: $131,470,633 · OtherTHE RHODES TRUSTKYUTAI: $21,477,000 · OtherKYUTAI+138 more: $216,894,700 · Other+138 moreCALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY: $26,019,467 · EducationCALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF…Massachusetts Institute of Technology: $19,721,789 · EducationMassachusetts Institute…DIGITAL HARBOR FOUNDATION: $9,594,431 · EducationDIGITAL HARBOR FOUNDATI…THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY: $8,886,225 · EducationTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES O…University of Chicago: $8,869,834 · EducationUniversity of ChicagoNew York University: $8,558,275 · EducationNew York UniversityUNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON FOUNDATION: $6,557,486 · EducationARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION FOR A NEW AMERICAN UNIVERSITY: $5,830,000 · Education+26 more: $44,765,350 · Education+26 moreCONVERGENT RESEARCH INC: $67,028,169 · Science & TechCONVERGENT RESEA…FUTURE HOUSE INC: $19,200,000 · Science & TechFUTURE HOUSE INCSCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FUTURES INC: $4,330,000 · Science & Tech+6 more: $8,030,218 · Science & Tech+6 moreCAMBRIDGE IN AMERICA: $8,932,701 · InternationalINSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION INC: $8,096,620 · InternationalATLANTIC COUNCIL OF THE UNITED STATES INC: $1,250,000 · InternationalGLOBAL FUND FOR WOMEN INC: $1,000,000 · InternationalPRECISION DEVELOPMENT INC: $1,000,000 · International+3 more: $1,200,000 · InternationalTHE BARACK OBAMA FOUNDATION: $10,000,000 · Arts & CultureKQED INC: $1,500,000 · Arts & CultureTHE MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART LOS ANGELES: $1,000,000 · Arts & CultureNEW VENTURE FUND: $3,965,000 · EnvironmentHOMEWORLD COLLECTIVE INC: $2,350,000 · EnvironmentACTIVATE GLOBAL INC: $2,125,000 · EnvironmentTHE ENERGY FOR GROWTH HUB INC: $998,306 · EnvironmentROCKEFELLER PHILANTHROPY ADVISORS INC: $7,857,511 · PhilanthropySOCIAL GOOD LABS INCORPORATED: $500,000 · Philanthropy
Other$369,842,333Education$138,802,857Science & Tech$98,588,387International$21,479,321Arts & Culture$12,500,000Environment$9,438,306Philanthropy$8,357,511

Showing the 200 largest grantees by grant value.

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 budgetCONVERGENT RESEARCH INC: $67,028,169 over 3y, 81% of budgetCALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY: $26,019,467 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetMassachusetts Institute of Technology: $19,721,789 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetFUTURE HOUSE INC: $19,200,000 over 2y, 46% of budgetTHE BARACK OBAMA FOUNDATION: $10,000,000 over 1y, 4.8% of budgetDIGITAL HARBOR FOUNDATION: $9,594,431 over 2y, 13% of budgetCAMBRIDGE IN AMERICA: $8,932,701 over 3y, 14% of budgetTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY: $8,886,225 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetUniversity of Chicago: $8,869,834 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetNew York University: $8,558,275 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetINSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION INC: $8,096,620 over 2y, 1.5% of budgetROCKEFELLER PHILANTHROPY ADVISORS INC: $7,857,511 over 4y, 0.9% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON FOUNDATION: $6,557,486 over 2y, 1.8% of budgetARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION FOR A NEW AMERICAN UNIVERSITY: $5,830,000 over 7y, 1.0% of budgetPresident and Fellows of Harvard College: $4,573,951 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetSCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FUTURES INC: $4,330,000 over 3y, 42% of budgetJOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY: $4,208,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetNEW VENTURE FUND: $3,965,000 over 6y, 0.3% of budgetCarnegie Mellon University: $3,911,711 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetThe Trustees of Princeton University: $3,819,262 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetOHIO STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $3,500,000 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetGANNA WALSKA LOTUSLAND: $3,500,000 over 1y, 25% of budgetMONTEREY BAY AQUARIUM FOUNDATION: $3,000,000 over 2y, 1.6% of budgetSWANITI INITIATIVE: $3,000,000 over 2y, 32% of budgetCornell University: $2,917,163 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetCHANCELLOR MASTERS & SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD: $2,670,963 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER: $2,504,259 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetUC SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION: $2,473,614 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetHOMEWORLD COLLECTIVE INC: $2,350,000 over 2y, 35% of budgetACTIVATE GLOBAL INC: $2,125,000 over 2y, 30% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL H ARTS & SCIENCES FOUNDATION: $2,043,250 over 1y, 7.5% of budgetNATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES: $2,039,998 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK: $2,000,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetWORCESTER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE: $2,000,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT MOUNT SINAI: $1,950,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetUS DIGITAL RESPONSE: $1,929,613 over 3y, 14% of budgetBATTELLE MEMORIAL INSTITUTE: $1,888,490 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSCIENCE FOR AMERICA INC: $1,800,000 over 1y, 11% of budgetMISSION ASSET FUND: $1,750,000 over 1y, 4.2% of budgetEVERY CURE INC: $1,693,890 over 2y, 34% of budgetNORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY: $1,600,618 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetMERIT AMERICA: $1,529,000 over 3y, 18% of budgetUNITED WAY OF DANE COUNTY INC: $1,500,000 over 2y, 3.9% of budgetKQED INC: $1,500,000 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetUPWARDLY GLOBAL: $1,500,000 over 2y, 4.7% of budgetCLIMB HIRE INC: $1,496,000 over 2y, 21% of budgetNATIONAL CENTER FOR CIVIC INNOVATION IN: $1,450,000 over 3y, 5.5% of budgetUniversity of Arizona Foundation: $1,448,254 over 1y, 0.6% 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 CONVERGENT RESEARCH INC ↗
  • Who funds CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY ↗
  • Who funds Massachusetts Institute of Technology ↗
  • Who funds FUTURE HOUSE INC ↗
  • Who funds THE BARACK OBAMA FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds DIGITAL HARBOR FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds CAMBRIDGE IN AMERICA ↗
  • Who funds THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds University of Chicago ↗
  • Who funds New York University ↗
  • Who funds INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION INC ↗
  • Who funds ROCKEFELLER PHILANTHROPY ADVISORS INC ↗
  • Who funds UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION FOR A NEW AMERICAN UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds President and Fellows of Harvard College ↗
  • Who funds SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FUTURES INC ↗
  • Who funds JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds NEW VENTURE FUND ↗
  • Who funds Carnegie Mellon University ↗
  • Who funds The Trustees of Princeton University ↗
  • Who funds OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds GANNA WALSKA LOTUSLAND ↗
  • Who funds MONTEREY BAY AQUARIUM FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds SWANITI INITIATIVE ↗
  • Who funds Cornell University ↗

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.

Gates FoundationWA38.6× affinity28 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Gates Foundation · The William & Flora Hewlett Foundation · Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Carnegie Corporation of New York · New Venture Fund · The Ford Foundation · The Rockefeller Foundation · Alfred P Sloan Foundation · The Schmidt Family Foundation · Impactassetsinc · Tides Foundation · John D and Catherine T Macarthur 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 The Eric and Wendy Schmidt Fund for Strategic Innovation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Eric and Wendy Schmidt Fund for Strategic Innovation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 120%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 11%
  • Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution: 63% of income from government
  • Center On Rural Innovation Inc: 37% of income from government
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology: 35% of income from government
  • Vehicles for Change Inc: 16% of income from government
  • Baltimore Corps Inc: 15% of income from government
  • Trustees of Boston University: 12% of income from government
  • Johns Hopkins University: 12% of income from government
  • Social Finance Inc: 12% of income from government
  • The Trustees of Princeton University: 11% of income from government
  • Jobs for the Future Inc: 11% of income from government
  • Worcester Polytechnic Institute: 8% of income from government
  • Citizen Schools Inc: 8% of income from government
  • Institute for Advanced Study - Louis Bamberger & Mrs Felix Fuld Foundation: 7% of income from government
  • President and Fellows of Harvard College: 7% of income from government
  • Northeastern University: 7% of income from government
  • Digital Harbor Foundation: 2% of income from government
  • Igem Foundation Inc: 1% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
12get no government money at all
26report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
1rely on government for over half their income
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 615 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

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