Smilow Foundation
Wilmington, DE · EIN 06-6299809. Reported 66 grants totalling $10.6M to 55 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. Smilow 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 $5,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $500 and $10,000; the smallest was $150 and the largest $3,000,000. 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 Cobbs Creek Restoration & Community | Conshohocken, PA | $3,000,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| The Cobbs Creek Restoration and Community Foundation | Conshohocken, PA | $3,000,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Yale University | New Haven, CT | $2,022,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Norwalk Hospital Foundation Inc | Norwalk, NY | $2,000,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Bridgeport Hospital Foundation Inc | Bridgeport, CT | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Westport Country Playhouse | Westport, CT | $76,800 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Weta | Arlington, VA | $70,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| University of Pennsylvania | Philadelphia, PA | $50,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Temple Israel | Westport, CT | $44,288 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Frederick Gunn School | Washington, CT | $40,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Brown University | Providence, RI | $20,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Fairfield University | Fairfield, CT | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| The East Lake Foundation | Atlanta, GA | $15,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania | Philadelphia, PA | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Temple Israel | Minneapolis, MN | $13,360 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Aspen Institute | Washington, DC | $12,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| America's Vetdogs | Smithtown, NY | $10,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Lake Forest College | Lake Forest, IL | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Nyu Langone Medical Center | New York, NY | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Mad Foundation Inc | Brooklyn, NY | $8,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Earthplace | Westport, CT | $7,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Homes With Hope | Houston, TX | $6,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| The Grammy Museum | Los Angeles, CA | $6,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Aspetuck Land Trust | Westport, CT | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Boys & Girls Clubs of America | Hartford, CT | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Eisenhower Medical Center | Rancho Mirage, CA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Frederick Gun School | Washington, CT | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Homes With Hope | Westport, CT | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Jackson Hole One Fly | Jackson, WY | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Jackson Hole One Fly Foundation | Jackson, WY | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| New York Philharmonic | Syosset, NY | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| The Desert Community Foundation | Palm Desert, CA | $1,500 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Nyu Langone Health | New York, NY | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Republic Schools Inc | Nashville, TN | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Southport Fire Department | Southport, NC | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| United States Holocaust Memorial Museum | Washington, DC | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Yellow Tulip Project | St Portland, ME | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Westport Library Assoc | Westport, CT | $800 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| American Cancer Soceity | Kennesaw, GA | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Alzheimers Association | Chicago, IL | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| American Stroke Association | Dallas, TX | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Breast Cancer Research Foundation | New York, NY | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Congregation Kneseth Israel | Annapolis, MD | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Doctors Without Borders USA Inc | New York, NY | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Michael J Fox Foundation | New York, NY | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center | New York, NY | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| New Heights Youth Inc | New York, NY | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| National Parks Conservation Association | Washington, DC | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| St Michael's Home | Portland, ME | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| The Shelter | Honolulu, HI | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Ukraine Aid International | Westpory, CT | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| United Service Organizations Inc | Washington, DC | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Harvard Business School | Boston, MA | $250 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Special Olympics Connecticut | Hamden, CT | $250 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Doc Wayne Youth Services Inc | Boston, MA | $150 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
10 of 55 (18%) 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 12%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is less consistent than most. 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 kind of organizations it funds
By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 38 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 17 | $60,788 | $500 |
| 2022 | 14 | $3,041,510 | $750 |
| 2023 | 17 | $122,000 | $6,000 |
| 2024 | 18 | $7,379,600 | $11,250 |
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.
Already committed for future years
Form 990-PF has a separate schedule for grants approved but not yet paid. Smilow Foundation has 4 of them, worth $22.5M. This is the one part of the filing that looks forward rather than back -- and it also tells you how much of the next year's budget is already spoken for.
| Organization | Location | Approved |
|---|---|---|
| The Cobbs Creek Restoration and Community Foundation | West Conshohocken, PA | $15.0M |
| Norwalk Hospital Foundation Inc | Norwalk, CT | $5,000,000 |
| Yale University | New Haven, CT | $2,000,000 |
| Bridgeport Hospital Foundation Inc | Bridgeport, CT | $500,000 |
Where its money goes
Foundations concentrate geographically far more than their mission statements suggest. 57% of this one's giving went to organizations in Pennsylvania. 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 $5,000. 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 Pennsylvania.
- 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.
Related guides
Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from Smilow 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: 200 Bellevue Parkway Suite 250, Wilmington, DE, 19809. 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 06-6299809 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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