Mark and Dorothy Smith Family Foundation
Santa Maria, CA · EIN 20-8775647. Reported 198 grants totalling $3,387,000 to 67 recipients across tax years 2021-2025. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.
Does this foundation accept applications?
Yes -- on its own tax return. Form 990-PF asks every private foundation whether it makes grants only to organizations it selects itself. Of the 91,758 foundations in our data that made a grant and answered, 78% said yes -- and applying to those is wasted effort. Mark and Dorothy Smith Family Foundation did not check that box on its most recent filing, which puts it in the minority that is at least open to being approached.
How big are its grants?
The median grant is $10,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $7,500 and $25,000; the smallest was $2,500 and the largest $80,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.
Every organization it funded
This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Recipients are grouped by name and state as they were written on the returns, so an organization entered under two different names appears twice. Years funded is the number of separate tax years in which that name received money.
| Organization | Location | Total received | Grants | Years funded | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marian Regional Med Ctr (csu) | Santa Maria, CA | $290,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Foodbank Sb County | Santa Barbara, CA | $285,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| CASA | Santa Maria, CA | $150,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Calm | Santa Maria, CA | $130,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Salvation Army | Carson, CA | $130,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Central Coast Rescue Mission | Santa Maria, CA | $125,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| YMCA of Santa Maria Valley | Santa Maria, CA | $125,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Boys & Girls Club | Santa Maria, CA | $110,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| New Beginnings Counseling Center Sb | Santa Barbara, CA | $110,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Angel's Foster Care | Santa Barbara, CA | $100,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Healing Justice | Santa Barbara, CA | $97,500 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Community Partners in Caring | Santa Maria, CA | $80,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Oasis | Orcutt, CA | $75,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Teddy Bear Cancer Foundation | Santa Barbara, CA | $67,500 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Family Service Agency | Santa Maria, CA | $65,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition | Santa Maria, CA | $65,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Veggie Rescue | Santa Ynez, CA | $62,500 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Alzheimer's Association of the Central Coast | Santa Barbara, CA | $60,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Domestic Violence Solutions | Santa Barbara, CA | $60,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Santa Barbara Humane | Santa Barbara, CA | $60,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Wounded Warrior Project | Topaka, KS | $52,500 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Hillside House | Santa Barbara, CA | $51,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Community Action Commission | Goleta, CA | $50,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Hearts Aligned | Goleta, CA | $50,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Hospice of Santa Barbara | Santa Barbara, CA | $50,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Partners in Housing Solutions | Santa Maria, CA | $50,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| First Tee | Santa Barbara, CA | $45,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Council on Alcoholism & Drug Abuse | Santa Barbara, CA | $40,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| New House Santa Barbara | Santa Barbara, CA | $40,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Santa Maria Valley Humane Society | Santa Maria, CA | $40,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Honor Flight Central Coast | Paso Robles, CA | $39,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Care 4 Paws | Santa Barbara, CA | $35,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Gateway Education Service | Goleta, CA | $35,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Make-a-Wish Central Coast | Camarillo, CA | $35,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Naturetrak Foundation | Los Olivos, CA | $35,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| California Central Coast Cops N Kids | Paso Robles, CA | $30,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Feed the Valley | Santa Barbara, CA | $30,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Foodbank Slo County | San Luis Obispo, CA | $30,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Santa Maria Valley Discovery Museum | Santa Maria, CA | $30,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Dana Adobe & Cultural Center | Nipomo, CA | $29,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Santa Maria Philharmonic Society | Santa Maria, CA | $29,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| United Boys & Girls Club Sb County | Santa Barbara, CA | $27,500 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Lompoc Teen Center | Lompoc, CA | $22,500 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Pacific Pride Foundation | Santa Barbara, CA | $22,500 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Alano Club of Santa Barbara | Santa Barbara, CA | $20,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Los Padres Council Boy Scouts of America | Santa Barbara, CA | $20,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Wilderness Youth Project | Santa Barbara, CA | $20,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Central Coast Junior Golf | Santa Barbara, CA | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Pathpoint | Santa Maria, CA | $15,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| See International | Santa Barbara, CA | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Allan Hancock College | Santa Maria, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Boy Scouts Rancho Alegre Campaign | Santa Barbara, CA | $10,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Community a Community Action Agency | Santa Barbara, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Creative Network | Santa Barbara, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Freedom 4 Youth | Santa Barbara, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Sansum Diabetes Research | Goleta, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Santa Barbara Historical Museum | Santa Barbara, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Santa Ynez Therapeutic Riding Program | Solvang, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| The Old Spanish Days Fest | Santa Barbara, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Unify | San Francisco, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Captive Hearts | Grover Beach, CA | $8,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Scholarship Fund of Santa Barbara | Santa Barbara, CA | $6,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Girl's Inc | New York, NY | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes | Guadalupe, CA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Northern Santa Barbara County United Way | Santa Maria, CA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Santa Maria Police Officer Association | Santa Maria, CA | $5,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Lompoc Family YMCA | Lompoc, CA | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
48 of 67 (72%) received money in more than one year over the 5 years we hold.
Measured the way we measure every foundation -- what share of one year's grantees are funded again the next -- this one retains 80%, across 4 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is unusually consistent. This measures how often it paid the same organizations again. It says nothing about whether it would consider a new one.
What kind of organizations it funds
By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 76 grants where we could match the recipient to a registered organization. The categories are the IRS's. The match, made from the name and address on the return, is ours.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 35 | $555,000 | $10,000 |
| 2022 | 33 | $582,500 | $15,000 |
| 2023 | 34 | $535,000 | $10,000 |
| 2024 | 48 | $864,500 | $15,000 |
| 2025 | 48 | $850,000 | $15,000 |
Tax years, not calendar years, and the most recent year is usually incomplete -- filings arrive about a year late, so a low final year means late paperwork rather than a foundation winding down.
Where its money goes
98% of its giving went to organizations in California. If your organization is based elsewhere, look in the recipient list for grants to your area before writing.
Get funders for your state and cause by email
We email you funders that gave to organizations in your state and cause, up to five at a time each week and never the same one twice, from their own IRS filings. Free. The weekly email has not started yet.
Unsubscribe in one click from any email. We never sell or share your address. To match on your organization and typical grant size too, keep a private profile.
Funders that support the same organizations
These funders gave to organizations this one also funded -- some private foundations, some community foundations and other grantmaking charities. Shared grantees are a sign of overlapping priorities and nothing more: they do not show that any of these funders would consider a new organization. Each page says what its filings show.
How to approach this foundation
- Check you are its size. The median grant is $10,000. A request many times that size asks for something it has rarely or never given.
- Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in California.
- Read the recipient list above for organizations like yours. If nothing on it resembles your work, that is a real answer, and a cheap one to get.
- Look up the current filing before writing. The 990-PF names the foundation's officers and, where one exists, its application procedure. We link it below.
Related guides
Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from Mark and Dorothy Smith Family Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 5 returns (tax years 2021-2025). Grant figures are from its returns. Matching recipients to registered organizations, their IRS classifications, the retention rate and the funders that support the same organizations are our own calculations, described in how we build this.
Address of record on the latest return: 2011-J S Broadway, Santa Maria, CA, 93454. This is the address the foundation gave the IRS; many small foundations file through an accountant or a bank trust department, so it may not be where post to a programme officer should go.
EIN 20-8775647 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
Is something here wrong about your foundation? Email hello@funderscope.com and we will correct it.