Skip to content
The Smith Global Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Smith Global 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.

$334k
Granted FY2025still arriving
11
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$250k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2023 to 2025.

Education$290kFood & Nutrition$217kHealth$199kHuman Services$133kPhilanthropy$102kAnimals$74kPublic Safety & Disaster$32kYouth Development$22kOther$0
02FY2025 · 11 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k6 grants · $22k
  • $10k–50k4 grants · $62k
  • $250k+1 grant · $250k
$7,500
Median grant
2
States reached
$37
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
ST PETER THE APOSTLE CATHOLIC SCHOOL$250,000
THE HUB HOUSTON INC$27,200
THE CHILDREN'S FUND INC$15,000
MAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION$10,000
THE WOMEN'S RESOURCE OF GREATER HOUSTON$10,000
MERCYFIRST$7,500
HOUSTON ARBORETUM & NATURE CENTER$6,000
NATIONAL MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS SOCIETY$5,000
HOUSTON GIRLS HOCKEY ASSOCIATION$1,500
FAITHFUL PAWS PET THERAPY$1,000
THE ROSE$500
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 (FY23–25, $78k) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 90% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%MERCYFIRST: $8k → 6%FRIENDS FOR WISHES: $10k → 17%BOYS AND GIRLS COUNTRY OF HOUSTON INC: $25k → 16%FRIENDS FOR WISHES: $10k → 16%ASSIST THE OFFICER INC: $25k → 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.
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.

24%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$243k · 7 repeat orgs$784k to everyone else

7 repeat relationships: 4 still active in FY2025, 3 since wound down; 7 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

7
18

Total granted

$243k
$503k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

-5%
0%

Still filing today

57%
72%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 16% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $281k went to new ones.

50%100%’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’23’24’25
HealthHuman ServicesRecreation & SportsInternationalEnvironmentCommunity 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

  • TH
    THE HUB HOUSTON INC
    2× · 2024–2025 · $77k · revenue -5%
  • TC
    THE CHILDREN'S FUND INC
    2× · 2024–2025 · $65k · revenue +2%
  • PT
    PTA TEXAS CONGRESS
    2× · 2023–2024 · $40k

Funded once

  • The Houston Food Bank
    one grant, 2024 · $140k · revenue +19%
  • MAUI FOOD BANK INCgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $77k · revenue +138%
  • MH
    MAUI HUMANE SOCIETYgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $69k · revenue +79%
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
Houston Health Foundation

Houston health foundation (hhf) has the mission of creating private/public partnerships for sustainable health and wellness initiatives and programs in our communities.

Philanthropy
2
Trees for Houston

Plant, protect and promote trees all over the greater Houston area.

—
3
Houston Area Community Services

Our mission is to provide high quality and caring services to promote healthy people and communities.

Health
4
Houston Botanic Garden

To enrich life through discovery, education, and the conservation of plants and the natural environment.

Environment
5
Target Hunger Inc

The mission of Target Hunger is to alleviate hunger and its root causes in the Houston neighborhoods we serve. Target Hunger is on the front lines of hunger every day through its food distribution system that includes multiple food…

Human Services
6
Houston Business Coalition On Health

Serving houston employers we create value-based healthcare benefits of the future. (see expanded description).

Health
7
Harris County Medical Society

Our mission is to be the leading advocate for our member physicians, their patients and our community, in promoting the highest standards of ethical medical practice, access to quality medical care, medical education, research, and…

—
8
The Methodist Hospital

To provide high quality, cost-effective health care that delivers the best value to the people we serve in a spiritual environment of caring in association with internationally recognized teaching and research.

Health
9
Family Service Center of Houston and Harris County

The mission of Family Service Center of Houston and Harris County (Family Houston) is to create a stronger community for tomorrow by helping individuals and families meet the challenges they face today. We help others help themselves.

Human Services
10
Memorial Hermann Medical Group

Memorial hermann health system is a nonprofit, values-driven, community-owned health system dedicated to improving health. our vision is to create healthier communities, now and for generations to come. our values are community,…

Health
11
Memorial Hermann Community Benefit Corporation

To implement solutions that promote good health for the individual, the health system and the community. we collaborate with others as well as create signature, evidence-based ways to improve the communities where people live, work, learn…

Social Science
12
Houston Christian Foundation dba National Christian Foundation Houston

As the Houston affiliate of the National Christian Foundation (NCF), our mission is to serve and encourage givers to grow as faithful stewards who give wisely to further the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Mercyfirst; the most unlike its peers is Friends for Wishes. 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

23 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. 23 of the 33 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)
0
Early backer (in before they grew)
23/23
Grantees still filing
7/23
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

ST PETER THE APOSTLE CATHOLIC SCHOOL: $250,000 · OtherST PETER THE APOSTLE CATHOLIC SCHOOLThe Houston Food Bank: $140,000 · OtherThe Houston Food BankTHE CHILDREN'S FUND INC: $65,000 · OtherTHE CHILDREN'S FUND INCPTA TEXAS CONGRESS: $40,000 · OtherPTA TEXAS CONGRESSLEUKEMIA & LYMPHOMA SOCIETY INC: $25,000 · Other+13 more: $66,050 · Other+13 moreTHE HUB HOUSTON INC: $77,200 · HealthTHE HUB HOUSTON…VICTORY HOUSTON INC: $52,000 · HealthVICTORY HOUSTON…The Council on Recovery: $12,000 · HealthThe Council on …NATIONAL MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS SOCIETY: $5,000 · Health+1 more: $2,000 · HealthHAWAII COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $79,617 · PhilanthropyHAWAII COM…The Women's Resource of Greater Houston: $22,060 · PhilanthropyThe Women'…Assist the Officer Inc: $25,000 · Human ServicesBOYS AND GIRLS COUNTRY OF HOUSTON INC: $25,000 · Human ServicesFRIENDS FOR WISHES: $20,000 · Human ServicesMERCYFIRST: $7,500 · Human ServicesMAUI FOOD BANK INC: $77,167 · Food & NutritionMAUI HUMANE SOCIETY: $69,366 · AnimalsWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $32,460 · InternationalUnited States Association for UNHCR: $14,091 · International
Other$586,050Health$148,200Philanthropy$101,677Human Services$77,500Food & Nutrition$77,167Animals$69,366International$46,551

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 Houston Food Bank: $140,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHAWAII COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $79,617 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE HUB HOUSTON INC: $77,200 over 2y, 2.0% of budgetMAUI FOOD BANK INC: $77,167 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetMAUI HUMANE SOCIETY: $69,366 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetTHE CHILDREN'S FUND INC: $65,000 over 2y, 3.7% of budgetVICTORY HOUSTON INC: $52,000 over 1y, 2.9% of budgetWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $32,460 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAssist the Officer Inc: $25,000 over 1y, 5.1% of budgetBOYS AND GIRLS COUNTRY OF HOUSTON INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetThe Women's Resource of Greater Houston: $22,060 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetFRIENDS FOR WISHES: $20,000 over 2y, 4.6% of budgetUnited States Association for UNHCR: $14,091 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetThe Council on Recovery: $12,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetHOUSTON COMMUNITY TOOLBANK INC: $10,313 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetMERCYFIRST: $7,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHouston Arboretum & Nature Center: $6,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNATIONAL MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS SOCIETY: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHOUSTON LIVESTOCK SHOW AND RODEO INC: $4,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBLOOD CANCER UNITED INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE WOODS PROJECT: $2,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetHOUSTON GIRLS HOCKEY ASSOCIATION: $1,500 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetTHE ROSE: $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.

Shell USA Company Fou…Greater Houston Commu…Albert & Ethel Herzst…The William Stamps Fa…MD Anderson FoundationSterling-Turner Found…Tll Temple FoundationHarry S & Isabel C Ca…Strake FoundationThe Zions Bancorporat…The Brown Foundation …Union Pacific Foundat…
Shell USA Company FoundationTX21.1× affinity10 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Shell USA Company Foundation · Greater Houston Community Foundation · Albert & Ethel Herzstein Charitable Foundation · The William Stamps Farish Fund · MD Anderson Foundation · Sterling-Turner Foundation · Tll Temple Foundation · Harry S & Isabel C Cameron Foundation Sentinel Trust Company · Strake Foundation · The Zions Bancorporation Foundation · The Brown Foundation Inc · Union Pacific 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 Smith Global Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Smith Global Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%10%20%30%40%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    4report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–40%
    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 Smith Global Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to The Smith Global 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 33 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

    Play a game based on Smith Global’s 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