How much does The John H & Cynthia Lee Smet Foundation give?

The John H & Cynthia Lee Smet Foundation reported 24 grants totaling $1,358,769 in its FY2025 IRS filing. It funded between 7 and 27 organizations a year over FY2019 to FY2024.

What does The John H & Cynthia Lee Smet Foundation fund?

By grant dollars over FY2019 to FY2025, its largest causes are Education (30%), Housing & Shelter (17%), Religion (17%).

Who are The John H & Cynthia Lee Smet Foundation's largest grantees?

By total granted over FY2019 to FY2025: Our Lady Queen of Angels Housing Alliance ($1.1M), California Science Center Foundation ($899k), Pueblo Nuevo Education and Development G ($538k).

Does The John H & Cynthia Lee Smet Foundation fund new organizations?

In FY2024, 44% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.

Does The John H & Cynthia Lee Smet Foundation accept unsolicited applications?

Its most recent filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and does not take unsolicited requests. Check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

Which funders back the same organizations as The John H & Cynthia Lee Smet Foundation?

Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include California Community Foundation, Pipkin Charitable Foundation, The Ralph M Parsons Foundation.

Where is The John H & Cynthia Lee Smet Foundation based?

The John H & Cynthia Lee Smet Foundation is based in CA.

Foundation Dossiers

California · Private foundation

The John H & Cynthia Lee Smet Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$1.4M
Granted FY2025(still arriving): 24
Grants FY2025: 27
Organizations funded FY2024: 44%
First-time grantees FY2024

Read the full brief

Median grant, FY2025: $30,000
Largest grant, FY2025: $334,000
Organizations funded a year: 7 to 27; FY2019 to FY2024
States reached, FY2025: 3
Total assets, FY2025: $298M
Applications: Preselected organizations only; Per its most recent filing; check its own site

How open it is to new grantees

In FY2024, 44% of the organizations The John H & Cynthia Lee Smet Foundation funded were first-time grantees, receiving 21% of its grant dollars.

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 79% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $303k went to new ones.

RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

EducationPhilanthropyArts & CultureReligionYouth DevelopmentCivil RightsOther

How this is measured

First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

The numbers by year

Fiscal year	Organizations funded	To those organizations	First-time grantees
FY2025still arriving	24	$1.4M	21%
FY2024	27	$1.4M	44%
FY2023	7	$856k	29%
FY2022	16	$438k	25%
FY2021	27	$590k	33%
FY2020	26	$950k	42%
FY2019	23	$415k	n/a

98% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2019 to 2024.

Education$1.4MHousing & Shelter$823kReligion$794kScience & Tech$743kPhilanthropy$194kHealth$181kArts & Culture$156kRecreation & Sports$52kOther$0

Where its grants go

Grant dollars by states, across the years we hold.

Which US states its grants reach

Top grantees

Largest recipients by total granted, FY2019 to FY2025, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.

Grantee	Total granted	Years	Share of their budget
Our Lady Queen of Angels Housing Alliance	$1,127,000	3	19%
California Science Center Foundation	$898,517	7	1%
Pueblo Nuevo Education and Development G	$537,788	7	2%
Teach for America Inc	$226,565	7	0%
Mission Together Church	$200,000	2	n/a
Catholic Schools Collaborative	$175,000	2	10%
Lincoln County Foundation	$175,000	2	9%
Jefferson Scholars Foundation	$165,421	3	0%
Roman Archbishop of Los Angeles a Corporation Sole	$150,000	3	n/a
Vistamar School	$117,575	5	0%

Show all 44 grantees

All grantees of The John H & Cynthia Lee Smet Foundation by total granted
Grantee	Total granted	Years	Share of their budget
Our Lady Queen of Angels Housing Alliance	$1,127,000	3	19%
California Science Center Foundation	$898,517	7	1%
Pueblo Nuevo Education and Development G	$537,788	7	2%
Teach for America Inc	$226,565	7	0%
Mission Together Church	$200,000	2	n/a
Catholic Schools Collaborative	$175,000	2	10%
Lincoln County Foundation	$175,000	2	9%
Jefferson Scholars Foundation	$165,421	3	0%
Roman Archbishop of Los Angeles a Corporation Sole	$150,000	3	n/a
Vistamar School	$117,575	5	0%
The Natural History Museum Santa Maria California	$100,000	4	75%
Cornell University	$88,500	3	0%
Hermosa Beach Education Foundation	$60,000	6	1%
Reach Academy for Young Men	$40,000	2	9%
Union Station Homeless Services	$30,000	3	0%
Wiseburn Education Foundation	$30,000	1	11%
National Catholic Educational Association	$30,000	1	n/a
Catholic Association of Latino Leaders Inc	$25,980	3	6%
From The Heart Productions	$25,000	1	0%
Learning Rights Law Center	$22,060	4	0%
Da Vinci Schools	$20,000	2	0%
Students Run America	$20,000	2	0%
Southern California Public Radio	$10,600	3	0%
Fundacion Scholas Occurrentes - USA	$10,000	1	3%
Center Theatre Group of Los Angeles	$10,000	1	0%
The Posse Foundation Inc	$10,000	1	0%
Homeboy Industries	$10,000	1	0%
Los Angeles Regional Food Bank	$10,000	2	0%
The Play Equity Fund	$10,000	1	0%
St Johns Seminary in California Jackie Rotter	$7,120	1	n/a
The Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation	$6,000	1	0%
Henry E Huntington Library and Art Gallery	$5,000	1	0%
Great Public Schools Now	$5,000	1	0%
Leadership Manhattan Beach	$5,000	1	n/a
St Bernard's Catholic School St Bernard's Academy	$5,000	1	0%
University of San Diego	$4,400	3	0%
Los Angeles Challenge Corporation	$4,000	5	1%
The Library Foundation of Los Angeles	$2,591	1	0%
Manhattan Beach Education Foundation	$2,500	1	0%
Mbx Foundation Inc	$2,500	1	0%
Swim With Mike Foundation	$2,000	1	0%
The Philanthropy Roundtable	$2,000	2	0%
Harbor Interfaith Services Inc	$500	1	0%
Girl Scouts Heart of Central California	$90	1	0%

What it could do for these grantees

Plus 22 recipients with no EIN on record ($1.7M), not named here.

The John H & Cynthia Lee Smet Foundation supplied at least a quarter of the budget for 1 of its grantees at some point. The chart plots its 39 largest grantees; load-bearing ones sit top left.

Tap a dot to name the grantee.

How this is measured

Share of budget is the funder’s grant in a year over the grantee’s total revenue that year, at its highest across the years we hold; revenue is from all sources. Only grantees confirmed against their own filings, whose grants do not exceed their revenue, are plotted: the largest 39.

Nonprofits that may fit its grantmaking

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

California Community FoundationCA32.3× affinity17 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: California Community Foundation · Pipkin Charitable Foundation · The Ralph M Parsons Foundation · The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation · The Annenberg Foundation · Specialty Family Foundation · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · Catholic Community Foundation of Los Angeles · Western Asset Management Company Charitable Foundation · The Ahmanson Foundation · The Northrop Grumman Foundation · The Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation

How this is measured

Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

Compare The John H & Cynthia Lee Smet Foundation with peer funders

About The John H & Cynthia Lee Smet Foundation

How much does The John H & Cynthia Lee Smet Foundation give?: The John H & Cynthia Lee Smet Foundation reported 24 grants totaling $1,358,769 in its FY2025 IRS filing. It funded between 7 and 27 organizations a year over FY2019 to FY2024.
What does The John H & Cynthia Lee Smet Foundation fund?: By grant dollars over FY2019 to FY2025, its largest causes are Education (30%), Housing & Shelter (17%), Religion (17%).
Who are The John H & Cynthia Lee Smet Foundation's largest grantees?: By total granted over FY2019 to FY2025: Our Lady Queen of Angels Housing Alliance ($1.1M), California Science Center Foundation ($899k), Pueblo Nuevo Education and Development G ($538k).
Does The John H & Cynthia Lee Smet Foundation fund new organizations?: In FY2024, 44% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
Does The John H & Cynthia Lee Smet Foundation accept unsolicited applications?: Its most recent filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and does not take unsolicited requests. Check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.
Which funders back the same organizations as The John H & Cynthia Lee Smet Foundation?: Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include California Community Foundation, Pipkin Charitable Foundation, The Ralph M Parsons Foundation.
Where is The John H & Cynthia Lee Smet Foundation based?: The John H & Cynthia Lee Smet Foundation is based in CA.