Arizona · Private foundation
The Lester and Roberta Smith Foundation
Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.
- $106k
- Granted FY2025(still arriving)
- 7
- Grants FY2025
- 5
- Organizations funded FY2024
- 60%
- First-time grantees FY2024
- Median grant, FY2025
- $10,000
- Largest grant, FY2025
- $30,000
- Organizations funded a year
- 3 to 8
- FY2018 to FY2024
- States reached, FY2025
- 1
- Total assets, FY2025
- $2.6M
- Applications
- Takes unsolicited applications
- Per its most recent filing; check its own site
How open it is to new grantees
In FY2024, 60% of the organizations The Lester and Roberta Smith Foundation funded were first-time grantees, receiving 54% of its grant dollars.
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2024, 46% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $52k 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 | 7 | $106k | 57% |
| FY2024 | 5 | $97k | 60% |
| FY2023 | 8 | $148k | 0% |
| FY2022 | 8 | $107k | 25% |
| FY2021 | 6 | $66k | 100% |
| FY2020 | 6 | $100k | 67% |
| FY2019 | 7 | $131k | 71% |
| FY2018 | 3 | $30k | 67% |
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.
Top grantees
Largest recipients by total granted, FY2017 to FY2025, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.
| Grantee | Total granted | Years | Share of their budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| Literacy Connects | $100,000 | 4 | 1% |
| Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation | $90,000 | 3 | 0% |
| Youth on Their Own | $55,000 | 3 | 0% |
| Southern AZ Research Science & Eng FDN | $55,000 | 3 | 2% |
| Greater Vail Community Resources | $33,696 | 1 | 17% |
| Az Cyber Initiative Inc | $25,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Girl Scouts of Southern Arizona | $20,000 | 3 | 0% |
| Epidaurus Dba Amity Foundation | $20,000 | 1 | 0% |
| Tucson Children's Museum Inc Dba Children's Museum Tucson | $15,000 | 1 | 0% |
| Boys & Girls Clubs of Tucson Inc | $10,000 | 1 | 0% |
Show all 17 grantees
| Grantee | Total granted | Years | Share of their budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| Literacy Connects | $100,000 | 4 | 1% |
| Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation | $90,000 | 3 | 0% |
| Youth on Their Own | $55,000 | 3 | 0% |
| Southern AZ Research Science & Eng FDN | $55,000 | 3 | 2% |
| Greater Vail Community Resources | $33,696 | 1 | 17% |
| Az Cyber Initiative Inc | $25,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Girl Scouts of Southern Arizona | $20,000 | 3 | 0% |
| Epidaurus Dba Amity Foundation | $20,000 | 1 | 0% |
| Tucson Children's Museum Inc Dba Children's Museum Tucson | $15,000 | 1 | 0% |
| Boys & Girls Clubs of Tucson Inc | $10,000 | 1 | 0% |
| Tucson Youth Music Center | $10,000 | 1 | 11% |
| Step Up To Justice | $10,000 | 1 | 2% |
| Intermountain Centers for Human Development Inc | $10,000 | 1 | 0% |
| Therapeutic Riding of Tucson Inc | $6,480 | 1 | 1% |
| Books for Classrooms | $6,000 | 1 | 5% |
| Imago Dei Middle School | $5,000 | 1 | 0% |
| Angel Heart Pajama Project | $5,000 | 1 | 2% |
What it could do for these grantees
Plus 18 recipients with no EIN on record ($466k), not named here.
Where it is load-bearing
Each grantee by its size and the share of its budget The Lester and Roberta Smith Foundation supplied at peak.
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: Community Foundation for Southern Arizona · The Hs Lopez Family Foundation · Connie Hillman Family Foundation · Fred & Christine Armstrong Foundation · Angel Charity for Children Inc · Marshall Foundation · The Womens Foundation for the State of Arizona · The Stocker Foundation · Arizona Community Foundation · Southwest Foundation for Education & Historical Preservation · United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona Inc · Nicholas W Genematas II Foundation
How this is measured
Compare The Lester and Roberta Smith Foundation with peer funders
Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus
How do I get to The Lester and Roberta Smith Foundation?
Find your warmest path to The Lester and Roberta Smith Foundation through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.
Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.
About The Lester and Roberta Smith Foundation
- How much does The Lester and Roberta Smith Foundation give?
- The Lester and Roberta Smith Foundation reported 7 grants totaling $106,000 in its FY2025 IRS filing. It funded between 3 and 8 organizations a year over FY2018 to FY2024.
- What does The Lester and Roberta Smith Foundation fund?
- By grant dollars over FY2017 to FY2025, its largest causes are Education (26%), Health (14%), Food & Nutrition (13%).
- Who are The Lester and Roberta Smith Foundation's largest grantees?
- By total granted over FY2017 to FY2025: Literacy Connects ($100k), Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation ($90k), Youth on Their Own ($55k).
- Does The Lester and Roberta Smith Foundation fund new organizations?
- In FY2024, 60% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
- Does The Lester and Roberta Smith Foundation accept unsolicited applications?
- Its most recent filing reports that it accepts unsolicited grant applications.
- Which funders back the same organizations as The Lester and Roberta Smith Foundation?
- Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include Community Foundation for Southern Arizona, The Hs Lopez Family Foundation, Connie Hillman Family Foundation.
- Where is The Lester and Roberta Smith Foundation based?
- The Lester and Roberta Smith Foundation is based in AZ.
Play a game based on Lester and Roberta Smith’s filings →