Skip to content
The Wilson L Smith Family Foundation the Smith Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Wilson L Smith Family Foundation the Smith 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.

$1.5M
Granted FY2025still arriving
5
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$1.0M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0191% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2024.

Education$1.4MArts & Culture$542kAnimals$401kHuman Services$236kReligion$220kFood & Nutrition$205kPublic Benefit$111kYouth Development$89kOther$0
02FY2025 · 5 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k2 grants · $2k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $14k
  • $250k+2 grants · $1.5M
$13,670
Median grant
1
States reached
$33M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
UNIVERSITY NC EDUCATION FOUNDATION$1,000,000
UNIVERSITY NC EDUCATION FOUNDATION$500,000
Individual grant recipient$13,670
DENTAL FOUNDATION OF NC$1,000
FAITHFUL FRIENDS ANIMAL SANCTUARY$1,000
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 (FY20–23, $107k) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, 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%THE BADDOUR CENTER: $5k → 19%THE BADDOUR CENTER: $5k → 19%THE BADDOUR CENTER: $5k → 19%THE BADDOUR CENTER: $5k → 19%ROWAN HELPING MINISTRIES: $87k → 15%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.

61%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$6.2M · 10 repeat orgs$4.0M to everyone else

10 repeat relationships: 2 still active in FY2025, 8 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

10
28

Total granted

$6.2M
$2.5M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+11%
+39%

Still filing today

50%
46%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 1% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $1.5M went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’20’21’22’23’24’25
EducationArts & CultureAnimalsReligionHuman ServicesOther
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

  • BS
    BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA CENTRAL NC COUNCIL #416
    2× · 2020–2021 · $35k · revenue +28%
  • THE BADDOUR CENTER INC
    4× · 2020–2023 · $20k · revenue +4%
  • SP
    SAMARITAN'S PURSE
    3× · 2021–2023 · $5k · revenue +83%

Funded once

  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF NC EDUCATIONAL FD
    one grant, 2023 · $1.0M
  • NT
    NC TRANSPORTATION MUSEUM FOUNDATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $335k · revenue +67%
  • MO
    MEALS ON WHEELS
    one grant, 2020 · $205k
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
Rowan Economic Development Council

Promoting economic and industrial development in rowan county, north carolina

—
2
Northeastern Seminary

Northeastern seminary strives to be a vibrant source for christian theological formation whose students are formed in a biblical vision of gracious christianity and impact wholeness to the world in an expansive array of vocations and…

Education
3
Rockingham County Historical Society Museum and Archives

The preservation of the heritage and history of Rockingham County, North Carolina

—
4
Roanoke Area Ministries

To serve the indigent.

—
5
Rowan County Chamber of Commerce

Promote the industrial, commercial, agricultural, economic, civic and social welfare of the people of salisbury and rowan county north carolina

Community Improvement
6
Rowan Public Library Foundation Inc

To provide monetary support to the rowan county public library.

Human Services
7
Community Care Clinic of Rowan County Inc

Provides medical, dental and pharmaceutical care to uninsured or underserved rowan county residents using paid and volunteer medical professionals and skilled support staff.

Health
8
Rowan County Youth Services Bureau Inc

Provide prevention & intervention services targeting at-risk youth in rowan county

—
9
Salisbury-Rowan Community Action Agency

Salisbury-rowan community action agency is committed to providing education, child care, and other services to the underprivileged residents of salisbury, north carolina and two surrounding counties.

Human Services
10
Rowan Growth Partners

To provide relief of poverty, unemployment and underemployment for persons in rowan county caused in part by the substantial job loss related to the downfall of textile manufacturing and other manufacturing industries

Community Improvement
11
Roxboro Community School Inc

Operation of a public charter school

Education
12
Rolesville Rural Fire Department

To provide fire services to the citizens of rolesville nc

Public Safety & Disaster
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Smart Start Rowan Inc; the most unlike its peers is Samaritan's Purse. 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

20 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. 20 of the 41 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.

4
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
19/20
Grantees still filing
14/20
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Individual grant recipient: $5,486,491 · OtherIndividual grant recipientUNIVERSITY NC EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $1,500,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY NC EDUCATION FOUNDATIONUNIVERSITY OF NC EDUCATIONAL FD: $1,000,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF NC EDUCATIONAL FD+22 more: $1,015,550 · Other+22 moreNC TRANSPORTATION MUSEUM FOUNDATION: $335,064 · Arts & CultureWATERWORKS VISUAL ARTS CENTER INC: $96,880 · Arts & CultureROWAN MUSEUM INC: $71,750 · Arts & CultureHISTORIC SALISBURY FOUNDATION INC: $38,770 · Arts & CultureFAITHFUL FRIENDS ANIMAL SANCTUARY INC: $346,880 · AnimalsHUMANE SOCIETY OF ROWAN COUNTY: $50,204 · Animals+1 more: $5,150 · AnimalsGordon-Conwell Theological Seminary Inc: $110,100 · EducationHOOD THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY: $10,750 · Education+2 more: $2,050 · EducationROWAN HELPING MINISTRIES: $86,641 · Human ServicesTHE BADDOUR CENTER INC: $20,000 · Human ServicesSAMARITAN'S PURSE: $5,000 · ReligionWEST ROWAN BIBLE TEACHERS ASSOCIATION: $1,500 · ReligionRenaissance Charitable Foundation Inc: $878 · Philanthropy
Other$9,002,041Arts & Culture$542,464Animals$402,234Education$122,900Human Services$106,641Religion$6,500Philanthropy$878

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 budgetFAITHFUL FRIENDS ANIMAL SANCTUARY INC: $346,880 over 2y, 84% of budgetNC TRANSPORTATION MUSEUM FOUNDATION: $335,064 over 1y, 7.0% of budgetGordon-Conwell Theological Seminary Inc: $110,100 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetWATERWORKS VISUAL ARTS CENTER INC: $96,880 over 1y, 44% of budgetROWAN HELPING MINISTRIES: $86,641 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetROWAN MUSEUM INC: $71,750 over 1y, 36% of budgetHUMANE SOCIETY OF ROWAN COUNTY: $50,204 over 1y, 38% of budgetHISTORIC SALISBURY FOUNDATION INC: $38,770 over 1y, 11% of budgetBOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA CENTRAL NC COUNCIL #416: $35,000 over 2y, 1.6% of budgetTHE BADDOUR CENTER INC: $20,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetRUFTY-HOLMES SENIOR CENTER INC: $17,525 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetHOOD THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY: $10,750 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetSHELTER GUARDIANS INC: $5,150 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetSAMARITAN'S PURSE: $5,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetWEST ROWAN BIBLE TEACHERS ASSOCIATION: $1,500 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetSMART START ROWAN INC: $1,050 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetROWAN PARTNERS FOR EDUCATION INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetRenaissance Charitable Foundation Inc: $878 over 2y, 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.

Foundation for the Ca…Margaret C Woodson Fo…The Hurley-Trammell F…The Cannon Foundation…Duke Energy FoundationRowan County United W…Rowan Regional Medica…Joe L & Hester Sims F…The Wallace Family Fo…Mariam & Robert Hayes…Raymond James Charita…National Philanthropi…
Foundation for the CarolinasNC33.1× affinity15 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Foundation for the Carolinas · Margaret C Woodson Foundation Inc · The Hurley-Trammell Foundation · The Cannon Foundation Inc · Duke Energy Foundation · Rowan County United Way Inc · Rowan Regional Medical Center Inc · Joe L & Hester Sims Family Foundation · The Wallace Family Foundation Inc · Mariam & Robert Hayes Charitable Trust · Raymond James Charitable Endowment Fund · National Philanthropic Trust

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%6%23%51%90%funder's share of their income ↑0%5%10%15%20%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    6report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–20%
    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 Wilson L Smith Family Foundation the Smith Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to The Wilson L Smith Family Foundation the Smith 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 41 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 Wilson L Smith Family Foundation the Smith’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