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The Small Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Small 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.

$10k
Granted FY2025still arriving
1
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$10k
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.

Arts & Culture$121kReligion$107kEducation$12kPublic Benefit$10kEnvironment$5kPhilanthropy$1kHealth$350
02FY2025 · 1 grant

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$10,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$123k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
The Royal Poinciana Chapel$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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 97% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%Millbrook School: $3k → 9%NEW YORK YACT CLUB FOUNDATION: $175 → 17%Maharaj Institute of Immune Regenerative Medicine: $150 → 11%Indian Mountain School: $500 → 9%BROWN UNIVERSITY: $2k → 14%The Cathedral opf St Philip: $3k → 13%Cure: $100 → 14%The Gathering Place: $5k → 14%MILLBROOK SCHOOL: $2k → 9%The Society of the Four Arts: $50k → 11%INDIAN MOUNTAIN SCHOOL: $250 → 9%Brown University: $1k → 14%THE CATHEDRAL OF ST PHILIP: $2k → 13%Cure: $100 → 14%The Gathering Place: $3k → 14%MILLBROOK SCHOOL: $1k → 9%Royal Poinciana Chapel: $12k → 11%Brown University: $1k → 14%The Cathedral opf St Philip: $2k → 13%Coastal Georgia Historical Society: $1k → 14%Millbrook School: $1k → 9%THE ROYAL POINCIANA CHAPEL: $11k → 11%The Westminster Fund: $1k → 13%The Royal Poinciana Chapel: $10k → 11%THE WESTMINSTER SCHOOLS: $1k → 13%THE ROYAL POINCIANA CHAPEL: $10k → 11%THE SOCIETY OF THE FOUR ARTS: $10k → 11%The Society of the Four Arts: $10k → 11%THE ROYAL POINCIANA CHAPEL: $10k → 11%THE SOCIETY OF THE FOUR ARTS: $10k → 11%THE SOCIETY OF THE FOUR ARTS: $10k → 11%THE SOCIETY OF THE FOUR ARTS: $10k → 11%The Society of the Four Arts: $10k → 11%The Royal Poinciana Chapel: $10k → 11%The Society of the Four Arts: $10k → 11%The Royal Poinciana Chapel: $10k → 11%THE ROYAL POINCIANA CHAPEL: $10k → 11%Royal Poinciana Chapel: $10k → 11%PALM BEACH CIVIC ASSOCIATION INC: $5k → 11%GARDEN CLUB OF PALM BEACH: $5k → 11%PALM BEACH CIVIC ASSOCIATION INC: $3k → 11%Palm Beach Civic Association: $1k → 11%TOWN OF PALM BEACH UNITED WAY: $1k → 11%Palm Beach Civic Association: $500 → 11%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.

95%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$241k · 8 repeat orgs$11k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +115% since the first grant, against +54% for those funded once.

8 repeat relationships: 1 still active in FY2025, 7 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

8
9

Total granted

$241k
$11k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+115%
+54%

Still filing today

63%
67%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 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
EducationArts & CultureCommunity ImprovementReligionEnvironmentPhilanthropyOther
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

  • TS
    The Society of the Four Arts Inc
    8× · 2017–2024 · $120k · revenue +720%
  • PB
    Palm Beach Civic Association Inc
    4× · 2017–2021 · $9k · revenue +115%
  • TG
    THE GATHERING PLACE INC
    2× · 2017–2018 · $8k · revenue +173%

Funded once

  • TG
    THE GARDEN CLUB OF PALM BEACH INCgraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $5k · revenue +47%
  • TC
    THE CATHEDRAL OF ST PHILIP
    one grant, 2019 · $2k
  • CG
    Coastal Georgia Historical Society
    one grant, 2017 · $1k · revenue -36%
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
The Pierpont Morgan Library

The Morgan Library & Museum celebrates and shares the history and process of human creativity from antiquity to the present day through the preservation, study, and interpretation of a dynamic and growing collection.

Education
2
The Trustees of Princeton University

Research, education and general - princeton university is a private not-for-profit, non-sectarian institution of higher learning with approximately 5,700 undergraduate and 3,300 graduate students. 2,500 students graduated in the 2024-2025…

Education
3
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
4
Boston Architectural College

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

—
5
New York Botanical Garden

The new york botanical garden is a museum of plants and a scientific research center devoted to the study of plants and their uses. it is the garden's mission to improve public understanding of the natural world, horticulture, and the…

Environment
6
The Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach Inc

The Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach advocates, educates, and invests in the community to protect the architectural, botanical, and cultural heritage of Palm Beach.

Arts & Culture
7
Marine Biological Laboratory

The Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) is a world-renowned center for biological discovery and training that is notably affiliated with more than 60 Nobel Prize winners. Research is conducted by full-time faculty as well as hundreds of the…

Science & Tech
8
Columbia College Chicago

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

Education
9
Wake Forest University

Wake Forest University, a 501(c)(3) institution of higher education, is dedicated to the pursuit of excellence in the liberal arts and in graduate and professional education. The organization is comprised of seven constituent parts: Wake…

Education
10
President and Trustees of Bates College

Bates is a college of the liberal arts and sciences, and is a coeducational, nonsectarian, residential college with special commitments to academic rigor, and to assuring in all of its efforts the dignity of each individual, and access to…

Education
11
Saint Andrew's School of Boca Raton Inc

Saint andrew's school is an independent school founded in the episcopal tradition. our mission is to build a community of learners, provide excellence in education, and nurture each student in mind, body, and spirit.

Education
12
St Mary's University

St. marys university, as a catholic marianist university, fosters the formation of people in faith and educates leaders for the common good through community, integrated liberal arts and professional education, and academic excellence.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Society of the Four Arts Inc; the most unlike its peers is University of Miami. 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, 2017–2025.

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. 12 of the 18 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)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
12/12
Grantees still filing
10/12
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

The Society of the Four Arts Inc: $120,000 · Arts & CultureThe Society of the Four Arts Inc+1 more: $1,000 · Arts & CultureTHE ROYAL POINCIANA CHAPEL INC: $93,000 · OtherTHE ROYAL POINCIANA CHAPEL INCThe Cathedral opf St Philip: $4,500 · Other+4 more: $2,850 · OtherPalm Beach Civic Association Inc: $9,000 · Community ImprovementBROWN UNIVERSITY: $3,500 · Community Improvement+1 more: $175 · Community ImprovementMILLBROOK SCHOOL: $6,000 · EducationThe Westminster Schools Inc: $1,000 · EducationINDIAN MOUNTAIN SCHOOL INC: $750 · EducationUniversity of Miami: $650 · EducationTHE GATHERING PLACE INC: $7,500 · ReligionTHE GARDEN CLUB OF PALM BEACH INC: $5,000 · EnvironmentTown of Palm Beach United Way Inc: $1,000 · Philanthropy
Arts & Culture$121,000Other$100,350Community Improvement$12,675Education$8,400Religion$7,500Environment$5,000Philanthropy$1,000

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 Society of the Four Arts Inc: $120,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetPalm Beach Civic Association Inc: $9,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetTHE GATHERING PLACE INC: $7,500 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetMILLBROOK SCHOOL: $6,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHE GARDEN CLUB OF PALM BEACH INC: $5,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetBROWN UNIVERSITY: $3,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCoastal Georgia Historical Society: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetThe Westminster Schools Inc: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetINDIAN MOUNTAIN SCHOOL INC: $750 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetUniversity of Miami: $650 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNEW YORK YACHT CLUB FOUNDATION: $175 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.

Morgan Stanley Global…Vanguard Charitable E…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …
Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust IncIN10× affinity4 shared granteesties to 3 of 3Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift 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 Small Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Small Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 40%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%4%8%11%15%share of the org’s income from government →median 5%
  • University of Miami: 5% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
4get 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 18 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 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