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Passes our checks

Bradys Smile

EIN 26-2485472 · Fairfield, CT

Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.

LegitimacyPassesRegistration and standingFinancial healthGood84 out of 100GovernanceNot ratedThe short tax form does not cover thisImpact evidenceDescribes programsHow well its results are evidenced

What it says it does

Brady's Smile, Inc. was organized exclusively for charitable purposes. Specifically, Brady's Smile, Inc. will promote, improve, protect and sustain the health, emotional well-being and social development of children in need, including children suffering from illness or disability, children at risk and under served children. It is our goal to help in the following ways: 1) Help make life easier in the newborn and pediatric intensive care facilities for patients and their families; 2) Provide financial assistance to defray medical expenses; and 3) Establish and grant scholarships to educational institutions benefiting children in need. In 2025, Brady's Smile's programs serve patients mainly in pediatric and newborn Intensive Care Units ("ICU") in 41 pediatric hospitals across 18 states.

Income
$67,265
Spending
$72,666
Reserves
20 months of spending
Largest source of income
donations and private grants, 100%

Source: Form 990EZ for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate

Financial health

Good: 84 out of 100. Higher than 68% of charities in its peer group (human services, under $250k).

  • Reserves

    35 of 35

    Spendable reserves would cover 20.0 months of spending.

  • Debt

    20 of 20

    It owes 4% of what it owns.

  • Living within its means

    4 of 15

    Spending exceeded income by 8% of income.

Source: Form 990EZ for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate

Governance

This organization files the short tax form, which does not ask about boards, policies or audits. That is normal for a small charity and is not a mark against it.

Source: Form 990EZ for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate

Impact evidence

Describes programs. Its tax return describes what it does but we have found no measurable results in it.

Programs described in its return (7)
  1. $25,852 spent. Our Comfort Bags program provides basic essentials to caregivers and toys to babies and children who are in the ICU of children's hospitals. Our bags include items such as toiletries, a pen, paper, snacks, stuffed animals and toys. In 2025, we also added a new "Arts and Crafts" bag for the Emergency Departments which includes playdoh, coloring book, crayons, slime and a craft. Our comfort bag program also includes special holiday bags as well. We provide holiday bags for Valentine's Day, Easter, Halloween and stockings for Christmas. During 2025, Brady's Smile distributed 1,947 comfort bags to families in the hospital.
  2. $11,065 spent. Our Meals program provides breakfast, lunch and/or dinner to children and their parents while in the hospital. We have also expanded to include free breakfast items, cups of coffee and delivery from restaurants. We found that many people appreciated free coffee and breakfast items. During 2025, Brady's Smile served 8,850 meals, cups of coffee or breakfast to people in the hospitals.
  3. $10,421 spent. Our Brady Blankets program provides homemade fleece blankets to babies and children during their time in the hospital. During 2025, Brady's Smile distributed 1,052 blankets to children in the ICU.
  4. $7,950 spent. This year is our tenth year in a partnership with Bridgeport Hospital to help provide toys and other services to their 'Toy Closet.' We consider this to be similar to our comfort bag program, but this program provides toys to babies in the NICU/PICU as needed throughout their stay, as well as inpatient children who complete various procedures during their stay. In 2025, we provided 655 toys/books for children/babies at Bridgeport Hospital in CT.
  5. $3,381 spent. This year is our fourth year of distributing "Teen Totes." This program is very similar to our Comfort Bag program but focuses on the needs of teens in the hospital. Each tote runs approximately $25-30 and includes items such as yoga mats, wireless ear buds, slime, journals, gel pens, candy, puzzles, make up and chapstick, cozy socks, soft 'balls' for them to throw in their rooms plus more. In 2025, we provided 154 Teen Totes to our partnering hospitals.
  6. $1,310 spent. Our PICU and NICU Wishlist program is where we purchase things the child life department or nurses are directly requesting for the smallest patients. This year the request included grief bags which included grief books, tissues, heart stones and more for families who lost their child at Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital. In 2025, we granted 12 wishes to our partnering children's hospitals.
  7. $250 spent. This year our Smiles in a Box program helped provide enhanced 'comfort bags' to children who were not in our partnering children's hospitals. This included helping 1 family out with items they needed to help assist their critically ill children. We distributed items like gas cards and holiday gifts and dinners to help families during this hardship.

Source: Form 990EZ for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate

Legitimacy checks

  1. Is it registered with the IRS? Passed.

    Listed in the IRS master file of tax-exempt organizations as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.

    Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.

  2. Has the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status? Passed.

    Not on the IRS automatic revocation list.

    Source: Automatic revocation of exemption list, Internal Revenue Service, file dated November 6, 2026.

  3. Are donations tax-deductible? Passed.

    On the IRS list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.

    Source: Publication 78 data: organizations eligible for tax-deductible contributions, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.

  4. Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.

    Most recent return on file covers the year ending December 2025.

    Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.

  5. How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.

    Recognized by the IRS since September 2008.

    Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.

  6. Is it in good standing with state regulators? Passed.

    Not on California's list of charities barred from soliciting. Other states are not yet checked.

    Source: May Not Operate or Solicit for Charitable Purposes list, California Attorney General, Registry of Charities and Fundraisers, file dated November 4, 2026.

Ratings and checks are our reading of public records, using the published method. They are not a statement about anyone's honesty. If you work for this organization, you can send corrections or results, confirm you want gifts through Veridonate, or ask to be removed from giving.