Funders › South Carolina

Dick Smith Foundation Inc

Columbia, SC · EIN 57-0878887. Reported 94 grants totalling $818,900 to 52 recipients across tax years 2020-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$3,125median grant
$818,900granted, 2020-2024
52recipients, as named on its returns
53%of grantees funded again the next year
$759,361assets, latest filing

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. Dick Smith Foundation Inc did not check that box on its most recent filing, which puts it in the minority that is at least open to being approached.

This is the foundation's own statement to the IRS, not our judgement, and it says nothing about whether they have a form, a deadline, or an appetite for new grantees. Treat it as the reason this foundation is worth your research time, not as an invitation. Many small foundations of this kind have no website and no application process -- a letter of inquiry is the normal first step.

How big are its grants?

The median grant is $3,125. Half of everything it gave fell between $2,000 and $12,000; the smallest was $250 and the largest $59,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
18 grants
$1,000 - $5,000
43 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
5 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
19 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
5 grants
$50,000 - $100,000
4 grants

Every organization it funded

This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Recipients are grouped by name and state as they were written on the returns, so an organization entered under two different names appears twice. Years funded is the number of separate tax years in which that name received money.

OrganizationLocationTotal receivedGrantsYears fundedLast
Camp ColeColumbia, SC$242,000552024
Family ShelterColumbia, SC$122,000552024
Baptist Convention of New EnglandNorthborough, MA$72,000442024
Homeless No MoreColumbia, SC$65,000222021
Jubilee AcademyColumbia, SC$60,000552024
University of South Carolina ColumbiaColumbia, SC$23,000442024
University of South Carolina Educational FoundationColumbia, SC$20,000112020
Christian Ministries International IncColumbia, SC$19,200552024
American Leprosey MissionsGreenville, SC$18,000112020
Baptist Convention of NewNorthborough, MA$18,000112022
Peace Center FoundationGreenville, SC$15,000112024
Prisma Health Midlands FoundationColumbia, SC$15,000112024
Tracy's CampPinewood, SC$14,750552024
Campus Crusade for ChristOrlando, FL$10,500332022
Prisma Health-Upstate FoundationGreenville, SC$10,000112024
The Margaret HomeRochester, NY$10,000222021
Campus Crusade for Christ InternationalOrlando, FL$7,200222024
Global Frontier MissionsClarkson, GA$6,500222021
Clemson UniversityClemson, SC$6,000332024
Mission Development MinistryAnderson, SC$6,000112020
Richland County Sheriff's FoundationColumbia, SC$4,500112024
Anderson UniversityAnderson, SC$4,000222024
Francis Marion UniversityFlorence, SC$4,000222022
Harvard UniversityCambridge, MA$4,000112020
Longwood UniversityFarmville, VA$4,000222023
Queens University of CharlotteCharlotte, NC$4,000222021
University of Mount OliveMount Olive, NC$4,000222021
University of South CarolinaColumbia, SC$4,000112022
University of Texas at AustinAustin, TX$4,000222021
Midlands Technical CollegeColumbia, SC$3,000112021
Clemson University Student FeesClemson, SC$2,000112023
Columbia CollegeColumbia, SC$2,000112023
The University of Southern MississippiHattiesburg, MS$2,000112021
Trident Technical CollegeCharleston, SC$2,000112021
University of North Carolina CharlotteCharlotte, NC$2,000112023
American Cancer SocietyColumbia, SC$1,250222021
Oliver Gospel MissionColumbia, SC$1,000112022
St Jude's Children's HospitalMemphis, TN$1,000222023
Alzheimer's Association AME ChurchColumbia, SC$500112021
Camp Sertoma of ScAnderson, SC$500112020
Connie Maxwell Children's HomeGreenwood, SC$500112021
First Baptist ChurchColumbia, SC$500112021
First Church of NazareneSumter, SC$500112020
Gideons InternationalNashville, TN$500112020
Greenbrier UMCWinnsboro, SC$500112020
Greenville Humane SocietyGreenville, SC$500112020
Otlanta Baptist ChurchOtlanta, SC$500112022
St Pauls Lutheran ChurchColumbia, SC$500112021
Fairlawn United MethodistColumbia, SC$250112023
Greenbrier United Methodist ChurchWinnsboro, SC$250112022
Hopewell United MethodistClinton, SC$250112023
Sandy Level Baptist ChurchBlythewood, SC$250112021

21 of 52 (40%) received money in more than one year over the 5 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 53%, across 4 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is less consistent than most. This measures how often it paid the same organizations again. It says nothing about whether it would consider a new one.

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.

What kind of organizations it funds

By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 27 grants where we could match the recipient to a registered organization. The categories are the IRS's. The match, made from the name and address on the return, is ours.

Education
8 grants
Human Services
6 grants
Philanthropy & Grantmaking
5 grants
Religion
3 grants
Housing & Shelter
2 grants
Animal Welfare
1 grant
Arts & Culture
1 grant
Health Care
1 grant

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202025$206,940$3,600
202125$174,640$2,000
202214$127,690$3,300
202316$132,690$2,625
202414$176,940$11,000

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

82% of its giving went to organizations in South Carolina. If your organization is based elsewhere, look in the recipient list for grants to your area before writing.

South Carolina
$669K
Massachusetts
$94K
Florida
$18K
North Carolina
$10K
New York
$10K
Georgia
$6K
Virginia
$4K
Texas
$4K

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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 a sign of overlapping priorities and nothing more: they do not show that any of these funders would consider a new organization. Each page says what its filings show.

Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc15 shared recipientsFidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund13 shared recipientsCentral Carolina Community10 shared recipientsMorgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc10 shared recipientsNational Philanthropic Trust10 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc10 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $3,125. A request many times that size asks for something it has rarely or never given.
  2. Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in South Carolina.
  3. 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.
  4. 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

Foundations funding education in MassachusettsEvery funder in this groupFoundations funding human services in MassachusettsEvery funder in this group

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Dick Smith Foundation Inc's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 5 returns (tax years 2020-2024). Grant figures are from its returns. Matching recipients to registered organizations, their IRS classifications, the retention rate and the funders that support the same organizations are our own calculations, described in how we build this.

Address of record on the latest return: 9940 Two Notch Road, Columbia, SC, 29223. 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 57-0878887 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this

This is history, not an open call. Foundation returns are published about a year after the tax year ends. Nothing on this page is a deadline. It is a record of who this foundation has actually funded.

Is something here wrong about your foundation? Email [email protected] and we will correct it.