Lynne Ruffin-Smith Charitable Foundation
Wilmington, DE · EIN 45-0521059. Reported 63 grants totalling $2,626,351 to 33 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.
Does this foundation accept applications?
Yes -- on its own tax return. Form 990-PF asks every private foundation whether it makes grants only to organizations it selects itself. Of the 91,758 foundations in our data that made a grant and answered, 78% said yes -- and applying to those is wasted effort. Lynne Ruffin-Smith Charitable Foundation did not check that box on its most recent filing, which puts it in the minority that is at least open to being approached.
How big are its grants?
The median grant is $20,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $10,000 and $52,500; the smallest was $2,500 and the largest $310,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.
Every organization it funded
This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Years funded is the number of separate tax years in which the organization received money -- more than one means a real relationship rather than a one-off.
| Organization | Location | Total received | Grants | Years funded | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Lou Ruvo Brain Institute | Las Vegas, NV | $741,565 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| The Lou Ruvo Brain Institute Larry Ruvo Chairman | Las Vegas, NV | $310,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada | Las Vegas, NV | $185,391 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Wichita Art Museum | Wichita, KS | $164,652 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| St Rose Dominican Health Foundation | Henderson, NV | $152,500 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| St Rose Dominical Health Foundation | Henderson, NV | $109,652 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Make-a-Wish Foundation of Southern Nevada | Las Vegas, NV | $92,696 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| The Shade Tree Incorporated | N Las Vegas, NV | $92,696 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada C/O Sara Meyer Vp of Development | Las Vegas, NV | $75,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Keck Medicine of USC | Los Angeles, CA | $59,010 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Disabled American Veterans Charitable Service Trust | Erlanger, KY | $58,750 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Wichita Art Museum Kourtney Carson Director of Development | Wichita, KS | $55,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Nathan Adelson Hospice Foundation | Las Vegas, NV | $53,762 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Vegas PBS | Las Vegas, NV | $53,762 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Southern Nevada Law Enforcement Memorial Foundation | Las Vegas, NV | $47,821 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Olympia Companies Southern Highlands Charitable Foundation | Las Vegas, NV | $36,881 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Dav Charitable Service Trust | Erlanger, KY | $35,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Make-a-Wish Foundation of Southern Nevad | Las Vegas, NV | $35,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| The Shade Tree Incorporated Tiffany Qualls Director | North Las Vegas, NV | $35,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Disabled American Veterans | Post Falls, ID | $33,946 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Bishop Gorman High School - Diocese of Las Vegas | Las Vegas, NV | $24,381 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Core Powered By the Rogers Foundation | Las Vegas, NV | $21,881 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Keck Medicine of USC Attn Kadee Mccorkle | Los Angeles, CA | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Music Theater Wichita Carter Tholl Development Manager | Wichita, KS | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Southern Nevada Law Enforcement Memorial Attn Lisa Waller President | Las Vegas, NV | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Vegas PBS Kathleen Frantz Major Gifts | Las Vegas, NV | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Girl Scouts of Southern Nevada | Las Vegas, NV | $17,005 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Bishop Gorman High School Ms Bridget Michlik Dir of Advancement | Las Vegas, NV | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Core Academy Attnjeff Jones Executive Director | Las Vegas, NV | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Girl Scouts of Southern Nevada C/O Liz Ortenburgerceo | Las Vegas, NV | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Nathan Adelson Hospice Foundation Stephanie Forbes Mngr | Las Vegas, NV | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Olympia Companies Southern Highlands Cha Ritable Foundation | Las Vegas, NV | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Music Theatre Wichita | Wichita, KS | $5,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
17 of 33 (52%) received money in more than one year over the 4 years we hold.
Measured the way we measure every foundation -- what share of one year's grantees are funded again the next -- this one retains 93%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is unusually consistent. A high number means its list is close to settled and a newcomer has to displace someone; a low one means it is still moving money around, which is where an opening is.
What the money was for
Taken verbatim from the purpose field of its filings. This is the closest thing to a statement of what this foundation cares about, in its own words.
- The Lou Ruvo Brain Institute
TO FURTHER THE EXEMPT PURPOSE OF THE ORGANZIATION - St Rose Dominican Health Foundation
SUPPORT TO IMPROVE COMMUNITY HEALTH AND WELLNESS. - Wichita Art Museum
SUPPORTING CONNECTION WITH THE ARTS. - Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada
SUPPORT FOR OFFERING FOOD, SHELTER, HOUSING, AND COMPREHENSIVE SERVICES TO SOUTHERN NEVADA. - Disabled American Veterans Charitable Service Trust
SUPPORTING ILL AND INJURED VETERANS. - Make-a-Wish Foundation of Southern Nevada
SUPPORTING CREATING LIFE-CHANGING WISHES FOR CHILDREN WITH CRITICAL ILLNESSES.
What kind of organizations it funds
By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 36 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 15 | $680,101 | $23,762 |
| 2022 | 16 | $650,000 | $20,000 |
| 2023 | 16 | $523,750 | $15,000 |
| 2024 | 16 | $772,500 | $20,000 |
Tax years, not calendar years, and the most recent year is usually incomplete -- filings arrive about a year late, so a low final year means late paperwork rather than a foundation winding down.
Where its money goes
Foundations concentrate geographically far more than their mission statements suggest. 83% of this one's giving went to organizations in Nevada. If you are outside its footprint, that matters more than how well your programme fits.
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Funders that support the same organizations
These funders gave to organizations this one also funded -- some private foundations, some community foundations and other grantmaking charities. Shared grantees are the strongest available signal that two funders have overlapping priorities, and a funder already backing your peers is a far warmer prospect than one that merely lists your cause.
How to approach this foundation
- Check you are its size. The median grant is $20,000. Asking for ten times that is the most common way small organizations waste a submission.
- Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in Nevada.
- Read the recipient list above for organizations like yours. If nothing on it resembles your work, that is a real answer, and a cheap one to get.
- Look up the current filing before writing. The 990-PF names the foundation's officers and, where one exists, its application procedure. We link it below.
Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from Lynne Ruffin-Smith Charitable Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2021-2024). Nothing here is scraped, inferred, or estimated.
Address of record on the latest return: 2 Righter Parkway Suite 300A, Wilmington, DE, 19803. This is the address the foundation gave the IRS; many small foundations file through an accountant or a bank trust department, so it may not be where post to a programme officer should go.
EIN 45-0521059 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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