Washington · Private foundation
The Lester and Bernice Smith 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.
- $244k
- Granted FY2025(still arriving)
- 16
- Grants FY2025
- 21
- Organizations funded FY2024
- 52%
- First-time grantees FY2024
- Median grant, FY2025
- $10,000
- Largest grant, FY2025
- $50,000
- Organizations funded a year
- 17 to 37
- FY2021 to FY2024
- States reached, FY2025
- 5
- Total assets, FY2025
- $3.0M
- Applications
- Preselected organizations only
- Per its most recent filing; check its own site
How open it is to new grantees
In FY2024, 52% of the organizations The Lester and Bernice Smith Foundation funded were first-time grantees, receiving 30% of its grant dollars.
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2024, 70% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $80k went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
The numbers by year
| Fiscal year | Organizations funded | To those organizations | First-time grantees |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025still arriving | 16 | $244k | 38% |
| FY2024 | 21 | $262k | 52% |
| FY2023 | 19 | $244k | 37% |
| FY2022 | 17 | $279k | 41% |
| FY2021 | 37 | $284k | n/a |
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2021 to 2023.
Top grantees
Largest recipients by total granted, FY2021 to FY2025, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.
| Grantee | Total granted | Years | Share of their budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rivkin Center for Ovarian Cancer | $380,000 | 4 | 10% |
| Cuyamungue Institute | $125,000 | 5 | 60% |
| Hawaii State Junior Golf Association In | $89,500 | 5 | 1% |
| The Overlake School | $63,000 | 4 | 0% |
| The Ovarian Cancer Research Fund Inc | $50,000 | 1 | 0% |
| Renton Schools Foundation | $50,000 | 4 | 4% |
| Village Theatre | $41,500 | 5 | 0% |
| Overlake Hospital Foundation | $30,000 | 3 | 0% |
| Children's Miracle Network | $30,000 | 2 | 0% |
| Bellevue Rotary Foundation | $27,250 | 4 | 5% |
Show all 50 grantees
What it could do for these grantees
Plus 18 recipients with no EIN on record ($171k), not named here.
Where it is load-bearing
The Lester and Bernice Smith Foundation supplied at least a quarter of the budget for 1 of its grantees at some point. The chart plots its 46 largest grantees; load-bearing ones sit top left.
Tap a dot to name the grantee.
How this is measured
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.
Open a dossier: Seattle Foundation · Puget Sound Energy Foundation · United Way of King County · The Norcliffe Foundation · M J Murdock Charitable Trust · Bernier McCaw Foundation · Renton Regional Community Fndn · Apex Foundation · Medina Foundation · Credit Unions in the State of Washington · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · Baird Foundation Inc
How this is measured
Compare The Lester and Bernice Smith Foundation with peer funders
About The Lester and Bernice Smith Foundation
- How much does The Lester and Bernice Smith Foundation give?
- The Lester and Bernice Smith Foundation reported 16 grants totaling $243,500 in its FY2025 IRS filing. It funded between 17 and 37 organizations a year over FY2021 to FY2024.
- What does The Lester and Bernice Smith Foundation fund?
- By grant dollars over FY2021 to FY2025, its largest causes are Health (48%), Education (13%), Social Science (9%).
- Who are The Lester and Bernice Smith Foundation's largest grantees?
- By total granted over FY2021 to FY2025: Rivkin Center for Ovarian Cancer ($380k), Cuyamungue Institute ($125k), Hawaii State Junior Golf Association In ($90k).
- Does The Lester and Bernice Smith Foundation fund new organizations?
- In FY2024, 52% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
- Does The Lester and Bernice Smith 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 Lester and Bernice Smith Foundation?
- Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include Seattle Foundation, Puget Sound Energy Foundation, United Way of King County.
- Where is The Lester and Bernice Smith Foundation based?
- The Lester and Bernice Smith Foundation is based in WA.
Play a game based on Lester and Bernice Smith’s filings →