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Massachusetts · Nonprofit

THE THOMAS E SMITH FIGHT TO CURE PARALYSIS FOUNDATION

THE THOMAS E SMITH FIGHT TO CURE PARALYSIS FOUNDATION (Massachusetts) receives grants from 9 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,003,939 to it, the largest being BOSTON BRUINS CHARITABLE FOUNDATION INC ($873,666). 6 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2025
$577k
Funders on record
9
Grants received
$1.0M
Net assets
$0
6/9 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 95%
01What it does

What The Thomas E Smith Fight to Cure Paralysis Foundation does

Mission

The thomas e. Smith foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose mission is to better the lives of those affected by and living with paralysis through financial and emotional support, as well as supporting preventive innovations that decrease the risk of spinal cord injuries.

As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.

Program

  1. Stronger together grant program (grant program disbursements): the thomas e. Smith foundation maintains its stronger together grant program, which supports individuals and families affected by and living with paralysis. In 2025 this program distributed $200,374 in grants for various expenses not covered by insurance, such as: physical therapy, home modifications, nursing care, equipment, and research.

    $371,573 spentof which $200,374 as grants
    100% of program spending

The program described on its FY2025 Form 990. Program spending in total: $371,573.

02The organization over time

The organization over time

Each line starts at 100 in 2021, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2021, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended.

100 = 20212021 Revenue 100 ($609k) Expenses 100 ($411k) Net assets 100 ($243k)2022 Revenue 33 ($202k) Expenses 62 ($257k) Net assets 77 ($188k)2023 Revenue 555 ($3.4M) Expenses 129 ($531k) Net assets 1251 ($3.0M)2024 Revenue 98 ($595k) Expenses 303 ($1.2M) Net assets 983 ($2.4M)2025 Revenue 95 ($577k) Expenses 195 ($801k) Net assets 0 ($0)
20212022202320242025
Revenue (95)Expenses (195)Net assets (0)

Balance sheet

Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2022 to 2023, from $188k to $3.0M (+1518%).

$243k
$188k
$3.0M
$2.6M
$0
20212022202320242025
Total assetsTotal liabilities

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.

2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 5 reported years ran a deficit.

$198k
’21
−$55k
’22
$2.9M
’23
−$651k
’24
−$224k
’25
1.6
months of
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

Sarah Merrefield

Executive director/COO

As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.

20212022202320242025
Listed33344
Joined·+0+0+1+0
No longer listed·0000
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 5 funders, grant income rose $250 → $171k.

6 of 9 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 12% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.

From the IRS filings of THE THOMAS E SMITH FIGHT TO CURE PARALYSIS FOUNDATION’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

THE THOMAS E SMITH FIGHT TO CURE PARALYSIS FOUNDATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 87% of grant income and the top three 95%; half comes from just 1 funder.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left

99% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund THE THOMAS E SMITH FIGHT TO CURE PARALYSIS FOUNDATION.

87%
largest funder
95%
top three
~1
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2018 100% · 2019 100% · 2020 100% · 2021 91% · 2022 93% · 2023 83% — diversifying over time.

“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.

How long its funders stay

80% of THE THOMAS E SMITH FIGHT TO CURE PARALYSIS FOUNDATION's funders are still giving 2 years after their first grant; 67% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y

Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.

Where its funders are

100% of THE THOMAS E SMITH FIGHT TO CURE PARALYSIS FOUNDATION's grant income comes from Massachusetts funders.

MA
DE

In-state vs out-of-state, by year

’17
’18
’19
’20
’21
’22
’23
Massachusetts out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $124k arriving through sponsors registered in 5 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. 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.

04Its place in the field

Organizations like THE THOMAS E SMITH FIGHT TO CURE PARALYSIS FOUNDATION

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 Massachusetts

Nationally

05Profile & governance

Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.

Where the money goes

46% of spending goes to programs.

Program 46%Management 35%Fundraising 19%

Governance

3
board members
33%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990✓Audited financials

Public support

93%

Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 1 state

MA

Part of a family of 1 related entity

  • Thomas E Smith Foundation Inc · exempt

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE THOMAS E SMITH FIGHT TO CURE PARALYSIS FOUNDATION: 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.

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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 THE THOMAS E SMITH FIGHT TO CURE PARALYSIS FOUNDATION?
THE THOMAS E SMITH FIGHT TO CURE PARALYSIS FOUNDATION (Massachusetts) receives grants from 9 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,003,939 to it, the largest being BOSTON BRUINS CHARITABLE FOUNDATION INC ($873,666). 6 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does THE THOMAS E SMITH FIGHT TO CURE PARALYSIS FOUNDATION have?
IRS filings report 9 organizations giving $1,003,939 in grants to THE THOMAS E SMITH FIGHT TO CURE PARALYSIS FOUNDATION, 6 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of THE THOMAS E SMITH FIGHT TO CURE PARALYSIS FOUNDATION?
BOSTON BRUINS CHARITABLE FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $873,666 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like THE THOMAS E SMITH FIGHT TO CURE PARALYSIS FOUNDATION find more funders?
Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Massachusetts. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.

These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2021–2025), and the filings of 9 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