Slemp Foundation

The Slemp Foundation operates from a philosophy of deep, perpetual investment in two specific communities: Lee County and Wise County in Southwest Virginia's coal country. Founded in 1946 through the will of C. Bascom Slemp — a six-term U.S. Congressman and Secretary to President Calvin Coolidge who was born in Big Stone Gap, Virginia — the foundation exists to honor its founder's conviction that improving health, education, and welfare in his home counties was the highest form of philanthropy. This is not a broad-purpose grantmaker; every dollar must demonstrably benefit residents of these two counties.

The trust is governed by a family-connected board of five trustees, each receiving modest annual compensation of $20,000–$24,000, indicating genuine personal stewardship rather than professional grant-management distance. James C. Smith serves as Executive Director and Nancey E. Smith is the primary application contact. The Smith and Edmonds family names appearing across multiple trustee slots signal a closely held family trust with multi-generational commitment to the region.

First-time applicants should internalize the foundation's framing: "a fair decision is only as fair as the information supplied." Applications are formal, paper-based (no email accepted under any circumstances), and must be complete upon submission. Trustees convene three times per year to review charitable grant requests; there are no application deadlines for charitable grants, meaning timing a submission to arrive 4–6 weeks ahead of a trustee meeting matters significantly.

Organizations that have received the largest and most consistent funding share identifiable characteristics: deep community embeddedness in Lee and Wise Counties (UVA-Wise, Mountain Empire Community College, Pro Art Association), alignment with the founder's legacy (C. Bascom Slemp Experiential Scholars Fund), and multi-year track records in local service delivery. New applicants should frame their organizations in these terms and consider beginning with a focused, modest initial request rather than a large multi-year ask. Once a relationship is established — as evidenced by repeated grants to MECC, Pro Art, and UVA-Wise — the foundation has demonstrated willingness to make commitments of $85,000–$295,000 per cycle. Since 1946, it has distributed over $35 million in scholarships, pledges, and charitable grants, making it the most consequential private funder operating exclusively in these two Appalachian Virginia counties.

The Slemp Foundation reported total assets of $28.8 million in fiscal year 2024, a dramatic increase from $15.6 million in 2021. The jump was driven primarily by exceptional investment performance in fiscal year 2022, when net investment income reached $14.47 million on total revenue of $14.62 million. Annual total giving has ranged from $1.25 million (2019) to $1.95 million (2022); grants paid to third-party organizations tracked at $896,758 (2019), $1,067,742 (2020), $1,562,141 (2021), and $1,528,147 (2022). The most recently documented grant cycle — May 2024 — distributed $730,000 in a single trustee meeting.

Charitable Grants: Individual awards range from $9,000 to $150,000. The median institutional grant in available data falls between $25,000 and $50,000. Anchor-institution commitments run substantially higher: $295,000 to Friends of the Southwest Virginia Museum (2023, combining Music Fest support and a Charitable Gift Annuity Museum Pledge), $240,000 to UVA's College at Wise Foundation for the C. Bascom Slemp Experiential Scholars Fund and related programs, $120,000 to Mountain Empire Community College Foundation for endowed scholarship matching, and $117,645 to Union High School for Field House improvements and band instruments. Smaller gifts of $25,000 are typical for arts organizations (Symphony of the Mountains, Origin Project) and social service agencies.

Scholarships: Awarded at $2,500 per semester, up to 8 semesters ($20,000 maximum per recipient). Recent total scholarship disbursements of $273,750 imply approximately 109 active recipients per filing year. Recipients must be Lee/Wise County residents or their descendants; graduate study is explicitly excluded.

Mini-Grants: Ten $1,000 grants per county (up to 20 total) available annually through MECC for K-12 STEAM-H classroom projects.

By Sector: Education accounts for approximately 55–60% of institutional giving (UVA-Wise, MECC, public schools). Arts and cultural organizations represent roughly 18% (Pro Art, William King Museum, Symphony of the Mountains, Lonesome Pine Arts & Craft). Health and social services comprise approximately 12% (Hospice Support Services, Mountain Empire Older Citizens, DePaul Community Resources, Appalachian Community Action). Historical preservation rounds out approximately 10%, with miscellaneous categories making up the balance.

Geography: 91% of tracked grants (119 of 131) flow to Virginia-based organizations. The remaining 9% reflects scholarship payments to recipients attending out-of-state institutions in Tennessee, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Indiana, California, Alabama, and the Virgin Islands.

The Granted database identifies no formal peer foundations for the Slemp Foundation, reflecting its unusual hyperlocal mandate. The comparisons below draw on public IRS 990 filings and regional foundation directories for comparable funders serving Appalachian and rural Southwest Virginia. Asset and giving figures for peer foundations are estimates derived from publicly available data.

Three distinctions stand out. First, the Slemp Foundation's two-county geographic restriction is the tightest of any comparable regional funder — organizations serving broader "Southwest Virginia" do not automatically qualify. Second, at $28.8 million in assets, Slemp occupies an unusual middle tier: large enough to commit $120,000–$295,000 to anchor institutions, yet small and personal enough to operate through a family trustee board with a mail-only application process. Third, its governance structure has remained essentially unchanged since 1946 — no LOI process, no online portal for charitable grants, three annual meetings — reflecting a deliberate stability that makes relationship-building the primary competitive advantage for applicants.

The most recent publicly documented grant cycle occurred in May 2024, when the Slemp Foundation awarded $730,000 across multiple recipients according to the Kingsport Times-News. Key recipients that cycle included Blue Highway Festival ($150,000), Pro Art Association ($90,000), Lee High School ($80,000), University of Virginia's College at Wise ($50,000), and Lonesome Pine Regional Library ($50,000) — consistent with the foundation's characteristic blend of arts, education, and public institution support.

For the 2025 grant cycle, the foundation opened charitable grant applications September 8, 2025, closing October 24, 2025, with decisions communicated by early December 2025. This formalized fall application window represents the clearest annual planning anchor for prospective applicants.

The foundation filed its primary IRS tax return on November 10, 2025. Total assets as of fiscal year 2024 stand at $28.8 million — more than $13 million above the 2021 figure of $15.6 million — representing the most significant balance sheet development in the foundation's recent history, driven by $14.47 million in net investment income earned in fiscal year 2022.

No public leadership changes have been announced. The trustee roster has remained stable across multiple consecutive filing years: James C. Smith (Executive Director), Nancey E. Smith, Melissa Smith Jensen, Mary Anna Edmonds, Pamela S. Orcutt, and Melissa Ann Smith. For the 2026 scholarship cycle, first-time applicant portal access is confirmed to open on or about September 1, 2026, consistent with the foundation's established annual rhythm.

Mail only — never email. This is the single most important procedural fact about the Slemp Foundation: charitable grant requests sent via email are rejected without review. All submissions must be mailed to Nancey E. Smith, 205 Duntreath, Frankfort, KY 40601. Use USPS Certified Mail or a tracked courier and retain proof of delivery.

Make the Lee/Wise County benefit case explicit and quantified. Every section of your narrative should connect to specific, countable outcomes for residents of Lee County and/or Wise County, Virginia. Quantify how many county residents will participate, receive services, or directly benefit. Organizations headquartered elsewhere must demonstrate the same standard — direct, proximate, local benefit. "Serving Southwest Virginia" is not sufficient language.

Submit a complete package on the first attempt. Trustees will not evaluate incomplete applications. Assemble all six required components before mailing: (1) IRS 501(c)(3) determination letter; (2) organizational description with annual service statistics; (3) names of all board members and officers; (4) most recent balance sheet and annual operating statement; (5) project budget showing all revenue sources and your organization's cost-sharing percentage; (6) narrative explicitly addressing direct Lee/Wise County resident benefit.

Time your submission for the fall window. With no fixed deadlines and three annual trustee meetings, the September–October cycle (confirmed from 2025) is the most reliably documented planning window. Aim to mail 4–6 weeks before late October. Allow 3–6 months from submission to decision notification.

Match the foundation's ethical register. Trustees explicitly state they expect applicants to uphold the "highest values and ethics." Write factually, conservatively, and without marketing language or inflated impact projections. Write as if presenting to a knowledgeable community board that personally knows every organization operating in these two counties.

For scholarships: honor the endorsement requirement. First-time applicants must use the online portal (fsrequests.com/slemp, opens ~September 1). Applications must carry unqualified written approval from the applicant's high school principal (seniors) or college faculty advisor (enrolled students). Applications without this endorsement are disqualified regardless of academic merit. Graduate study is not funded; the maximum scholarship award is $20,000 over eight semesters.

Cultivate introductions through existing grantees. Long-term recipients — UVA-Wise, Mountain Empire Community College, Pro Art Association — have established trust with the trustee board. A personal referral from leadership at these organizations, timed ahead of your application, can meaningfully contextualize a first-time applicant for trustees who know the community deeply.