John H & Cynthia Lee Smet Foundation

The John H & Cynthia Lee Smet Foundation — increasingly branded as the SMET Foundation — is a deeply values-driven, invitation-only funder operating from a Catholic educational philosophy rooted in personal conviction. Founded in 1992 by John H. and Cynthia Lee Smet, both of whom serve as unpaid officers (president and secretary respectively), the foundation reflects a donor couple who credit education as personally transformative and who give accordingly: intensely, selectively, and over long time horizons.

The most critical strategic reality for any prospective grantee: this foundation does not accept unsolicited proposals. The Smets explicitly initiate relationships with organizations they wish to support, then build multi-year partnerships designed to produce meaningful, measurable change. This is not a rhetorical preference — it is structural. There is no application portal, no open RFP cycle, and no mechanism for external organizations to formally enter consideration. The foundation's own language is unambiguous: it prefers to "initiate projects at a small number of organizations over a sustained period of time in order to effect meaningful change."

The foundation operates in two lanes simultaneously. First, it runs its own direct programs — particularly the Onward Readers and Scholars initiative, which embeds literacy coaches, books, materials, and technology in K-3 classrooms at selected Archdiocese of Los Angeles schools. Program expenses in this lane alone reached $3.88M in the most recently available data. Second, it makes external grants to aligned partner organizations — predominantly Catholic schools, scholarship funds, and science education institutions in Los Angeles.

For organizations that nevertheless want to position themselves for a potential relationship, the pathway runs through the existing ecosystem: the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, the Department of Catholic Schools (ADCS), and the Catholic education community in the South Bay. The California Science Center ($638,795 across 5 grants) and Pueblo Nuevo Education & Development ($380,563 across 5 grants) exemplify what a mature Smet Foundation relationship looks like — sustained, multi-year, and substantial. First-time grantees typically receive $5,000–$30,000 before relationships deepen.

With assets growing from $72.3M (FY2018) to $261.1M (FY2024) — a 261% increase in six years — the foundation has substantially more philanthropic capacity than its historically modest external grantmaking suggests. Organizations in the LA Catholic education ecosystem who invest in relationship-building now may be well-positioned as the foundation's giving scales.

The Smet Foundation is best understood as a hybrid institution — part operating foundation running its own programs, part traditional grantmaker. This matters for grant seekers because total giving figures on the 990 encompass both direct program expenses and external grants, and external grantmaking is considerably smaller than headline totals suggest.

Annual giving trend (total 990-reported giving): - FY2023: $7.3M total giving; $883,889 in grants paid to external organizations - FY2022: $7.9M total giving; $2.69M in grants paid - FY2021: $11.3M total giving; $410,689 in grants paid - FY2020: $5.8M total giving; $2.33M in grants paid - FY2019: $1.1M total giving; $225,949 in grants paid

The variance in "grants paid" versus "total giving" reflects the foundation's own program expenditures. The Onward Readers program alone carried $3.88M in program expenses in the most recent filing, and the St. Pius X - St. Matthias Academy program added $256,284.

External grant sizing (93 grants, $3.37M total in database): - Average individual grant: $36,246 - Median individual grant: $5,000 - Range: $250 (USC Norris Cancer Center) to $638,795 (California Science Center, cumulative across 5 grants) - Typical single-year grant to new grantees: $5,000–$30,000 - Large anchor relationships: $100,000–$638,795 cumulative across multiple years

Geographic concentration: 78 of 93 grants (84%) go to California-based organizations. The remaining 16% flows to Virginia (Jefferson Scholars Foundation: $160,200), Maryland (4 grants), New York (3 grants), and DC (1 grant) — likely reflecting the Smets' personal educational networks.

By program area (external grants): - Catholic institutional and parish support: ~28% of dollars (American Martyrs Church, Together In Mission, Archdiocese of LA = $740,777 combined) - Science/nature education: ~22% (California Science Center + Natural History Museum = $738,795 combined) - Community education and development: ~11% (Pueblo Nuevo Education & Development = $380,563) - Scholarship programs: ~11% (Rising Star Scholarship + Jefferson Scholars + Posse Foundation = $376,000 combined) - Catholic schools (tuition, construction, operations): ~8% - Social services and housing: ~10% (Our Lady Queen of Angels Housing Alliance: $334,000) - Other/general purpose: ~10%

With assets now at $261.1M, the foundation's 5% minimum distribution requirement implies at least $13M in annual disbursements, suggesting substantial room for external grantmaking growth above recent levels.

The Smet Foundation sits in a cluster of education-focused foundations with $250–$270M in assets. Despite similar financial scale, grantmaking philosophy and accessibility vary considerably among peers.

Among asset-comparable peers, the Smet Foundation stands out for its unusually narrow geographic and thematic concentration. With $261M in assets, most similarly-sized foundations spread grants across dozens of grantee relationships annually; the Smets concentrate giving within a specific LA Catholic education ecosystem and sustain those relationships over many years rather than diversifying. The Flinn Foundation in Arizona is the most genuinely open peer — offering LOI-based applications with a similar asset base — but operates in a different state and sector. The Duffield Family Foundation, also California-based with substantial assets, similarly favors invitation-only giving, suggesting this closed model is common among first-generation family foundations at this scale where founders remain actively involved. Organizations unable to access the Smet Foundation's invitation-only network might productively target Flinn if they have Arizona programming, or explore the LA-area Catholic grantmaking ecosystem through the Catholic Education Foundation of Los Angeles as a comparable pathway.

No press releases, public announcements, or news coverage specific to 2025-2026 were located in web research — consistent with the Smet Foundation's characteristically low public profile. The foundation does not maintain a news feed, issue press releases, or publicly announce grants, reflecting the quiet, relationship-driven style typical of founder-led family foundations.

The most significant observable development is financial. Assets grew from $150.5M (FY2022) to $193.1M (FY2023) to $261.1M (FY2024) — a 73% increase in two years — driven by a $43.8M revenue year in FY2024, partly from $23.7M in asset sales and $14.95M in new contributions. This trajectory suggests John and Cynthia Smet have been actively adding to the endowment, potentially positioning the foundation for expanded grantmaking in the years ahead.

The FY2024 ProPublica filing confirms five paid professional staff managing programs: Liliana Funes ($108,497), Edgar Alonso ($103,966), Melissa Turcios ($93,342), Michele Rice ($93,172), and Anthony Boulahoud ($91,812). This staffing complement — substantial for a family foundation — suggests the Onward Readers program is operating at scale and not winding down.

COVID-19 emergency grantmaking (coded as ADLA COVID grants) was active in 2020-2021 — recipients included Catholic Community Foundation of Los Angeles ($100,000), Great Public Schools Now ($5,000), and Play Equity Fund ($10,000) — and appears to have concluded by 2022. The post-COVID portfolio has returned to core Catholic education programming and science museum partnerships. The DBA name 'SMET Foundation' appearing on the website may signal a gradual shift toward broader brand identity.

The single most decisive fact: the Smet Foundation does not accept unsolicited proposals. This is not a rhetorical preference — it is operational policy, stated explicitly on the foundation's website and confirmed across multiple third-party sources. No amount of proposal polish or mission alignment will open a door that doesn't exist. The strategies below are therefore framed around relationship access, not application mechanics.

1. Build within the Archdiocese of Los Angeles ecosystem. The foundation channels the vast majority of its giving through the Archdiocese of Los Angeles (ADLA), the Department of Catholic Schools (ADCS), and Catholic-affiliated institutions. Organizations working inside ADCS schools as curriculum partners, literacy program providers, or professional development vendors are positioned where the Smet Foundation looks. If your organization isn't yet connected to this network, that connection is the first investment to make.

2. Speak the Onward language. The foundation's flagship program — Onward Readers and Scholars — targets K-3 reading skill development. Any organization with evidence-based early literacy interventions, phonics curricula, or K-3 classroom coaching capacity should frame its work in these terms. Reference specific student outcome metrics (words per minute gains, DIBELS scores, etc.) that mirror the kinds of measures the Onward program would track.

3. Pursue science education as a secondary lane. The California Science Center ($638,795 cumulative) and Natural History Museum ($100,000) are long-term partners. LA-based STEM education organizations — particularly those supporting underserved K-12 students — should reference this pattern when framing relationship-building outreach.

4. Use intermediaries strategically. The Catholic Education Foundation of Los Angeles and Together In Mission appear as grantees and serve as ecosystem connectors. Building a genuine relationship with CEF or ADCS program staff may create warm introductions to Smet Foundation staff (Liliana Funes, Edgar Alonso, and colleagues).

5. Write a one-page introduction, not a proposal. The appropriate first contact is a brief, non-solicitation introduction letter mailed to: % Cindy Lee Smet, 1300 Highland Ave Ste 218, Manhattan Beach, CA 90266. Lead with student outcomes data, state your geographic focus (Los Angeles), and name specific alignment with Onward Readers or the foundation's Catholic education mission. Do not include a budget or a specific funding request in first contact.

6. Expect a multi-year relationship arc. First grants to new grantees typically run $5,000–$30,000. The foundation's largest external relationships (California Science Center, Pueblo Nuevo Education) reached six-figure cumulative totals only after five or more grants. Patience and consistency are prerequisites.