North Carolina · Nonprofit
Smart Bus Inc
Smart Bus Inc (North Carolina) receives grants from 2 organizations whose IRS filings report $261,470 to it, the largest being JOHN REX ENDOWMENT ($242,500). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $212k
- Funders on record
- 2
- Grants received
- $261k
- Net assets
- $20k
What Smart Bus Inc does
Mission
SMART BUS strengthens the economic educational and overall well-being of women and children through the arts therapeutic support mentorship and community partnerships.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Emergency Housing Therapy and Human Trafficking Education SMART BUS under the SMART Transitions program provided emergency housing licensed therapeutic services and supportive assistance for homeless women and families including those fleeing abuse violence exploitation and unsafe circumstances. Services focused on safety emotional well-being housing stability referrals and connections to community resources. The organization also created and completed Baited and Betrayed an educational film addressing human trafficking grooming online safety and exploitation. The film was developed for use with a human trafficking prevention curriculum in schools and other educational settings to help youth recognize warning signs understand risks and promote prevention and safety.
$204,192 spent71% of program spendingSTEAM Youth Arts Therapy and Human Trafficking Prevention Education SMART BUS provided STEAM education youth arts literacy filmmaking mentorship and summer enrichment programs designed to strengthen academic achievement creativity leadership and overall well-being. Programs included licensed therapist services and therapeutic support. SMART BUS also completed the human trafficking prevention film Baited and Betrayed.
$45,000 spent16% of program spendingEducational Partnerships Documentary and Community History SMART BUS partnered with Wake County Public School System and community organizations to provide educational and arts-based programming for youth. The organization completed Preserving Our Voices a documentary project supported by a North Carolina Humanities grant that engaged students and community members in preserving and sharing stories related to school segregation integration and community history
$40,000 spent14% of program spendingOther program services, not described on the e-filed return.
$0 spent0% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $289,192.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2023, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2023, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2023 to 2024, from $14k to $129k (+821%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2025 96%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
100% of Smart Bus Inc’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (83% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 3 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Chief executive
LaToya Wilson
Executive Director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2021 → 2023: the base held at 1 funder, grant income rose $3k → $50k.
From the IRS filings of Smart Bus Inc’s funders (the co-funder graph). Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
Smart Bus Inc leans on a few funders — its largest provides 93% of grant income and the top three 100%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2021 100% · 2022 100% · 2023 100% — broadly stable.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Where its funders are
100% of Smart Bus Inc's grant income comes from North Carolina funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
Smart Bus Inc has grown faster than three-quarters of the 3,482 youth development nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,482 youth development nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Government funding Smart Bus Inc receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $975k on record.
- Department of Justice$975k
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like Smart Bus Inc
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In North Carolina
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
87% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
99%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for Smart Bus Inc: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds Smart Bus Inc?
- Smart Bus Inc (North Carolina) receives grants from 2 organizations whose IRS filings report $261,470 to it, the largest being JOHN REX ENDOWMENT ($242,500). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does Smart Bus Inc have?
- IRS filings report 2 organizations giving $261,470 in grants to Smart Bus Inc, 1 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Smart Bus Inc?
- JOHN REX ENDOWMENT is the largest funder on record, with $242,500 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Smart Bus Inc find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in North Carolina. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
Play a game about who funds Smart Bus →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2023–2025), and the filings of 2 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing