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The Simmons Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Simmons 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.

$515k
Granted FY2024still arriving
33
Grants FY2024still arriving
13
States reached
$75k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0196% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Youth Development$510kEducation$402kReligion$375kArts & Culture$307kHuman Services$180kHealth$54kCommunity Improvement$40kInternational$35kOther$0
02FY2024 · 33 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k18 grants · $68k
  • $10k–50k11 grants · $197k
  • $50k–250k4 grants · $250k
$6,500
Median grant
13
States reached
$11M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
ATLANTA CLASSICAL ACADEMY$75,000
L'ARCHE ATLANTA$75,000
MOREHOUSE COLLEGE$50,000
PACE ACADEMY$50,000
WARNER VILLAGE$45,000
THEATRICAL OUTFIT$25,000
WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH$22,000
COLORADO HOSTING ASYLUM NETWORK$20,000
Individual grant recipient$20,000
AKOLA ACADEMY$15,000
HAY ADAMS GIVING FUND$10,000
FOUNDATION FOR A COURSE IN MIRACLES$10,000
DENVER INSTITUTE FOR FAITH & WORK$10,000
EXPERIENCE REALITY$10,000
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS$10,000
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 (FY19–24, $185k) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, 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%AKOLA ACADEMY: $15k → 14%L'ARCHE ATLANTA: $75k → 14%WARNER VILLAGE: $45k → 12%L'ARCHE ATLANTA: $50k → 13%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

NY
MA
NV
CA
CO
VA
NM
TN
NC
SC
DC
OK
LA
AL
GA
TX
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.

79%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.6M · 14 repeat orgs$415k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +18% since the first grant, against +3% for those funded once.

14 repeat relationships: 8 still active in FY2024, 6 since wound down; 24 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

14
15

Total granted

$1.6M
$106k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+18%
+3%

Still filing today

57%
33%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 40% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $309k 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
EducationHuman ServicesArts & CultureReligionRecreation & SportsInternationalOther
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

  • PA
    PACE ACADEMY INC
    5× · 2020–2024 · $250k · revenue +15%
  • FO
    FRIENDS OF LARCHE ATLANTA INC
    2× · 2019–2024 · $125k · revenue +20% · 36% of their budget
  • MC
    MEYER CENTER FOR SPECIAL CHILDREN
    3× · 2022–2024 · $32k · revenue +19%

Funded once

  • CF
    CHATTANOOGA FC FOUNDATION INCgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $20k · revenue +78%
  • P1
    PROVERBS 1210 ANIMAL RESCUE AND ADOPTION
    one grant, 2023 · $10k · revenue -4%
  • CF
    COMMUNITY FOUNDATION FOR GREATER
    one grant, 2019 · $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
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
2
Lehigh University

The university's goal in the coming decade is to advance learning through the integration of teaching, research and service to others. the core of this goal is to prepare graduates to engage with the world and lead lives of meaning. to do…

Education
3
George Fox University

George fox university, a christ centered community, prepares students spiritually, academically, and professionally to think with clarity, act with integrity, and serve with passion.

Education
4
Greensboro College

Greensboro College provides a liberal arts education grounded in the traditions of the United Methodist Church and fosters the intellectual, social, and spiritual development of all students while supporting their individual needs.

Education
5
Barton College

Founded in 1902, barton college is a four-year, private, liberal arts college located in wilson, n.c. the barton experience focuses on academic excellence within a wide range of professional and liberal arts programs leading to…

Education
6
DePauw University

Depauw university develops leaders the world needs through an uncommon commitment to the liberal arts. depauw's diverse and inclusive learning and living experience, distinctive in its rigorous intellectual engagement and its global and…

Education
7
Boston Architectural College

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

—
8
Sarah Lawrence College

At sarah lawrence college, our mission is to graduate citizens of the world who are diverse in every definition of the word, who take intellectual and creative risks, and who are able to focus exceptional intellectual discipline (continued…

Education
9
Augustana College

Rooted in the liberal arts & sciences & lutheran expression of the christian faith, & is committed to offering a challenging education that develops qualities of mind, spirit, & body necessary for a rewarding life of leadership & service…

Education
10
Golden Gate University

Golden gate university prepares individuals to lead and serve by providing high quality, practice-based educational programs in law, taxation, business and related professions - as a nonprofit institution - in an innovative and challenging…

Education
11
Columbia College Chicago

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

Education
12
Denver Botanic Gardens Inc

The mission of denver botanic gardens is to connect people with plants, especially plants from the rocky mountain region and similar regions around the world, providing delight and enlightenment to everyone.

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Santa Fe Opera; the most unlike its peers is Wake Forest University. 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

32 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. 32 of the 54 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
31/32
Grantees still filing
16/32
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

ATLANTA YOUTH ACADEMY: $300,000 · OtherATLANTA YOUTH ACADEMYNORTH AVENUE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH: $255,187 · OtherNORTH AVENUE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHREACH OUT YOUTH SOLUTIONS: $200,000 · OtherREACH OUT YOUTH SOLUTIONSATLANTA CLASSICAL ACADEMY: $75,000 · OtherATLANTA CLASSICAL ACADEMYWESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH: $57,000 · Other+29 more: $231,019 · Other+29 morePACE ACADEMY INC: $250,000 · EducationPACE ACADEMY INCMOREHOUSE COLLEGE: $50,000 · EducationMOREHOUSE COLLEGE+5 more: $21,973 · Education+5 moreThe Theatrical Outfit Inc: $260,000 · Arts & CultureThe Theatrical O…PEACE CENTER FOUNDATION: $10,000 · Arts & Culture+2 more: $11,500 · Arts & CultureFRIENDS OF LARCHE ATLANTA INC: $125,000 · Human ServicesFRIENDS OF…WARREN VILLAGE INC: $45,000 · Human ServicesWARREN VIL…AKOLA ACADEMY: $15,000 · Human ServicesAKOLA ACAD…+1 more: $5,000 · Human ServicesEXPERIENCE REALITY INC: $20,000 · ReligionThe Denver Institute: $10,000 · ReligionEast-West Ministries International: $5,000 · ReligionCOLORADO HOSTING ASYLUM NETWORK: $20,000 · InternationalCHATTANOOGA FC FOUNDATION INC: $20,000 · Recreation & Sports
Other$1,118,206Education$321,973Arts & Culture$281,500Human Services$190,000Religion$35,000International$20,000Recreation & Sports$20,000

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 budgetThe Theatrical Outfit Inc: $260,000 over 6y, 1.9% of budgetPACE ACADEMY INC: $250,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetFRIENDS OF LARCHE ATLANTA INC: $125,000 over 2y, 36% of budgetMOREHOUSE COLLEGE: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWARREN VILLAGE INC: $45,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetMEYER CENTER FOR SPECIAL CHILDREN: $31,905 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetTHE ATLANTA RESOURCE FOUNDATION INC: $31,500 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetEXPERIENCE REALITY INC: $20,000 over 2y, 8.7% of budgetCOLORADO HOSTING ASYLUM NETWORK: $20,000 over 1y, 6.8% of budgetCHATTANOOGA FC FOUNDATION INC: $20,000 over 1y, 2.0% of budgetAKOLA ACADEMY: $15,000 over 1y, 8.7% of budgetPROVERBS 1210 ANIMAL RESCUE AND ADOPTION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetThe Denver Institute: $10,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetPEACE CENTER FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFOUNDATION FOR A COURSE IN MIRACLES: $10,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetSCHOOL OF LOST BORDERS: $8,500 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetTHE SANTA FE OPERA: $6,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE SANTA FE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA & CHORUS INC: $5,500 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetYOUTHWORKS: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetFOOTHILLS TRAIL CONSERVANCY INC: $5,000 over 1y, 2.1% of budgetGREENVILLE'S GIFT: $5,000 over 1y, 2.6% of budgetVanderbilt University: $4,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetRockley Family Foundation: $4,473 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetWAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY: $3,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetVAIL VALLEY FOUNDATION: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNEIGHBORHOOD CANCER CONNECTION: $1,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetDUKE UNIVERSITY: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBREAKTHROUGH T1D: $540 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGREENVILLE LITTLE LEAGUE: $500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetHOGS FOR THE CAUSE INC: $500 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.

Daniel-Mickel Foundat…The Community Foundat…Chubb Charitable Foun…Ge Aerospace Foundati…Arthur J Gallagher Fo…American Endowment Fo…Natl Christian Charit…Duke Energy FoundationRaymond James Charita…Renaissance Charitabl…Vanguard Charitable E…The Blackbaud Giving …
Daniel-Mickel FoundationSC13.6× affinity4 shared granteesties to 10 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Daniel-Mickel Foundation · The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta Inc · Chubb Charitable Foundation · Ge Aerospace Foundation · Arthur J Gallagher Foundation · American Endowment Foundation · Natl Christian Charitable Fdn Inc · Duke Energy Foundation · Raymond James Charitable Endowment Fund · Renaissance Charitable Foundation Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · The Blackbaud Giving Fund

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 Simmons Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Simmons Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%3%10%23%40%funder's share of their income ↑0%15%30%45%60%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    7report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–60%
    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.
    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to The Simmons Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to The Simmons Foundation through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.

    Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.

    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 54 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 Simmons’ 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