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· 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 FY2025still arriving
24
Grants FY2025still arriving
3
States reached
$334k
Largest
01What it funds
0198% 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
02FY2025 · 24 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k7 grants · $21k
  • $10k–50k9 grants · $206k
  • $50k–250k7 grants · $798k
  • $250k+1 grant · $334k
$30,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$298M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
OUR LADY QUEEN OF ANGELS HOUSING ALLIANCE$334,000
USOPF$167,000
CALIFORNIA SCIENCE CENTER$155,717
CATHOLIC SCHOOLS COLLABORATIVE$125,000
THE MISSION TOGETHER CHURCH$100,000
ST MARIA GORETTI CATHOLIC SCHOOL$100,000
LINCOLN COUNTY FOUNDATION$100,000
PUEBLO NUEVO EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT$50,000
VISTAMAR SCHOOL$40,000
REACH ACADEMY FOR YOUNG MEN$30,000
WISEBURN EDUCATION FOUNDATION$30,000
SAINT SEBASTIAN SPORTS PROJECT$30,000
ST ANNE PARISH SCHOOL$25,000
TEACH FOR AMERICA$20,235
CATHOLIC ASSOCIATION OF LATINO LEADERS INC$10,980
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Its human-services grants (FY19–21, $30k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%UNION STATION FOUNDATION: $10k → 14%UNION STATION FOUNDATION: $10k → 14%UNION STATION FOUNDATION: $10k → 14%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.

Which US states its grants reach

NY
OR
CA
CO
VA
MD
NC
DC
FL
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

94%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$5.7M · 33 repeat orgs$346k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +31% since the first grant, against +13% for those funded once.

33 repeat relationships: 19 still active in FY2025, 14 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

33
28

Total granted

$5.7M
$186k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+31%
+13%

Still filing today

67%
57%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 88% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $160k went to new ones.

50%100%’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
EducationArts & CulturePhilanthropyYouth DevelopmentReligionHuman ServicesOther
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.

Backed again, and grew

  • CS
    CALIFORNIA SCIENCE CENTER FOUNDATION
    7× · 2019–2025 · $899k · revenue +22%
  • PN
    PUEBLO NUEVO EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT G
    7× · 2019–2025 · $538k · revenue +41%
  • LC
    LINCOLN COUNTY FOUNDATION
    2× · 2024–2025 · $175k · revenue +23%

Funded once

  • NC
    NATIONAL CATHOLIC EDUCATIONAL ASSOCIATION
    one grant, 2020 · $30k
  • From The Heart Productions
    one grant, 2024 · $25k · revenue 0%
  • SP
    ST PIUS X - ST MATTHIAS ACADEMY
    one grant, 2024 · $18k
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
University of La Verne

The university of la verne offers a distinctive and relevant educational experience to a diverse population of traditional-age, adult, and graduate learners, preparing them for successful careers and a commitment to lifelong learning…

Education
2
The Language Academy of Sacramento

The las mission is to create a learning community where students: utilize bilingualism and biliteracy (spanish and english) to achieve academic excellence and apply skills in real-world situations and diverse settings; develop and exhibit…

Education
3
California State University Los Angeles Foundation

To advance the educational, cultural, scholarly, and creative activities and the role of community service of csula by increasing private funding, responsibly managing donated resources and supporting the university and its diverse and…

Education
4
Los Angeles Pacific University

Los angeles pacific university exists to deliver high quality, accessible christ-centered education to learners everywhere.

Education
5
The International School of San Francisco

Guided by the principles of academic rigor and diversity, the international school of san francisco offers programs of study in french and english to prepare its graduates for a world in which the ability to think critically and to…

Education
6
Communities in Schools of Los Angeles Inc

To surround students with a community of support, empowering them to stay in school and achieve in life. we work with public school systems, establishing relationship with superintendents, principals, educators, and community partners to…

Youth Development
7
California College of the Arts

California college of the arts educates students to shape culture and society through the practice and critical study of art, architecture, design, and writing. benefitting from its san francisco bay area location, the college prepares…

Education
8
Association of California School Administrators

The association serves its members by creating resources that enable california school administrators to develop and apply creative leadership and management skills and in turn, improve the educational process for all students.

—
9
Silicon Schools Fund Inc

The mission of the silicon schools fund is to improve education through supporting the launch of excellent new schools, improving academic instruction in existing schools, and by funding some of the boldest innovations in education…

Education
10
Marin Academy

Marin academy asks every individual to think, question, and create in an environment of encouragement and compassion, and challenges each person to accept the responsibilities posed by education in a democratic society.

Education
11
The San Francisco School

A private school that cultivates and celebrates the intellectual, imaginative, and humanitarian promise of each student in a community that practices mutual respect, embraces diversity, and inspires passion for learning.

—
12
The California Education Partners

California education partners seeds and grows collaborations among california's school systems, so that they innovate, improve, and build internal capacity as learning organizations in order to close gaps and lead high performing,…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Catholic Community Foundation of Los Angeles; the most unlike its peers is Henry E Huntington Library and Art Gallery. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

41 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 41 of the 68 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
41/41
Grantees still filing
27/41
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

AMERICAN MARTYRS CHURCH: $506,643 · OtherAMERICAN MARTYRS CHURCHUSOPF: $501,000 · OtherUSOPFMISSION TOGETHER CHURCH: $200,000 · OtherMISSION TOGETHER CHURCHARCHDIOCESE OF LOS ANGELES: $195,777 · OtherARCHDIOCESE OF LOS ANGELESIndividual grant recipient: $170,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientROMAN ARCHBISHOP OF LOS ANGELES A CORPORATION SOLE: $150,000 · OtherROMAN ARCHBISHOP OF LOS ANGELES A CORPO…ST MARIA GORETTI CATHOLIC SCHOOL: $100,000 · Other+27 more: $332,807 · Other+27 moreOUR LADY QUEEN OF ANGELS HOUSING ALLIANCE: $1,127,000 · PhilanthropyOUR LADY QUEEN OF ANGELS HO…LINCOLN COUNTY FOUNDATION: $175,000 · PhilanthropyLINCOLN COUNTY FOUNDATIONJEFFERSON SCHOLARS FOUNDATION: $165,421 · PhilanthropyJEFFERSON SCHOLARS FOUNDATI…+1 more: $2,000 · PhilanthropyPUEBLO NUEVO EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT G: $537,788 · EducationPUEBLO NUEVO EDUCATI…Teach for America Inc: $226,565 · EducationTeach for America In…VISTAMAR SCHOOL: $117,575 · EducationVISTAMAR SCHOOLCornell University: $88,500 · EducationCornell UniversityREACH ACADEMY FOR YOUNG MEN: $40,000 · Education+12 more: $98,591 · Education+12 moreCALIFORNIA SCIENCE CENTER FOUNDATION: $898,517 · Arts & CultureCALIFORNIA SCIENCE …THE NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM SANTA MARIA CALIFORNIA: $100,000 · Arts & CultureTHE NATURAL HISTORY…+4 more: $50,600 · Arts & CultureCATHOLIC SCHOOLS COLLABORATIVE: $175,000 · ReligionCATHOLIC COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF LOS ANGELES: $100,000 · ReligionCatholic Association of Latino Leaders Inc: $25,980 · ReligionSTUDENTS RUN AMERICA: $20,000 · Youth DevelopmentHOMEBOY INDUSTRIES: $10,000 · Youth Development+1 more: $90 · Youth DevelopmentUNION STATION HOMELESS SERVICES: $30,000 · Human Services
Other$2,156,227Philanthropy$1,469,421Education$1,109,019Arts & Culture$1,049,117Religion$300,980Youth Development$30,090Human Services$30,000

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetOUR LADY QUEEN OF ANGELS HOUSING ALLIANCE: $1,127,000 over 3y, 19% of budgetCALIFORNIA SCIENCE CENTER FOUNDATION: $898,517 over 7y, 0.6% of budgetPUEBLO NUEVO EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT G: $537,788 over 7y, 1.6% of budgetTeach for America Inc: $226,565 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetCATHOLIC SCHOOLS COLLABORATIVE: $175,000 over 2y, 9.6% of budgetLINCOLN COUNTY FOUNDATION: $175,000 over 2y, 8.8% of budgetJEFFERSON SCHOLARS FOUNDATION: $165,421 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetVISTAMAR SCHOOL: $117,575 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetCATHOLIC COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF LOS ANGELES: $100,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM SANTA MARIA CALIFORNIA: $100,000 over 4y, 75% of budgetCornell University: $88,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetHERMOSA BEACH EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $60,000 over 6y, 0.9% of budgetREACH ACADEMY FOR YOUNG MEN: $40,000 over 2y, 9.4% of budgetUNION STATION HOMELESS SERVICES: $30,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetWISEBURN EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $30,000 over 1y, 11% of budgetCatholic Association of Latino Leaders Inc: $25,980 over 3y, 6.5% of budgetFrom The Heart Productions: $25,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetLEARNING RIGHTS LAW CENTER: $22,060 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetDa Vinci Schools: $20,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetSTUDENTS RUN AMERICA: $20,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetSOUTHERN CALIFORNIA PUBLIC RADIO: $10,600 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetFUNDACION SCHOLAS OCCURRENTES - USA: $10,000 over 1y, 3.1% of budgetCENTER THEATRE GROUP OF LOS ANGELES: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE POSSE FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHOMEBOY INDUSTRIES: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetLOS ANGELES REGIONAL FOOD BANK: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE PLAY EQUITY FUND: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetTHE LOS ANGELES DODGERS FOUNDATION: $6,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetHENRY E HUNTINGTON LIBRARY AND ART GALLERY: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGREAT PUBLIC SCHOOLS NOW: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetST BERNARD'S CATHOLIC SCHOOL ST BERNARD'S ACADEMY: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetUCLA FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF SAN DIEGO: $4,400 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetLOS ANGELES CHALLENGE CORPORATION: $4,000 over 5y, 0.6% of budgetTHE LIBRARY FOUNDATION OF LOS ANGELES: $2,591 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMANHATTAN BEACH EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMBX FOUNDATION INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetSWIM WITH MIKE FOUNDATION: $2,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE PHILANTHROPY ROUNDTABLE: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetHARBOR INTERFAITH SERVICES INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGIRL SCOUTS HEART OF CENTRAL CALIFORNIA: $90 over 1y, 0.0% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

  • Who funds OUR LADY QUEEN OF ANGELS HOUSING ALLIANCE ↗
  • Who funds CALIFORNIA SCIENCE CENTER FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds PUEBLO NUEVO EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT G ↗
  • Who funds Teach for America Inc ↗
  • Who funds CATHOLIC SCHOOLS COLLABORATIVE ↗
  • Who funds LINCOLN COUNTY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds JEFFERSON SCHOLARS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds VISTAMAR SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds CATHOLIC COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF LOS ANGELES ↗
  • Who funds THE NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM SANTA MARIA CALIFORNIA ↗
  • Who funds Cornell University ↗
  • Who funds HERMOSA BEACH EDUCATION FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds REACH ACADEMY FOR YOUNG MEN ↗
  • Who funds UNION STATION HOMELESS SERVICES ↗
  • Who funds WISEBURN EDUCATION FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Catholic Association of Latino Leaders Inc ↗
  • Who funds From The Heart Productions ↗
  • Who funds LEARNING RIGHTS LAW CENTER ↗
  • Who funds Da Vinci Schools ↗
  • Who funds STUDENTS RUN AMERICA ↗
  • Who funds SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA PUBLIC RADIO ↗
  • Who funds FUNDACION SCHOLAS OCCURRENTES - USA ↗
  • Who funds CENTER THEATRE GROUP OF LOS ANGELES ↗
  • Who funds THE POSSE FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds HOMEBOY INDUSTRIES ↗
  • Who funds LOS ANGELES REGIONAL FOOD BANK ↗
  • Who funds THE PLAY EQUITY FUND ↗

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.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization The John H & Cynthia Lee Smet Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The John H & Cynthia Lee Smet Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%4%8%11%15%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    13report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–15%
    typical government reliance, FY20–25
    How this is measured
    Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.

    On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 68 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

    How this is measured
    Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

    Generated from the IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

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