The Terry and Lynne Buckner Family Foundation is a Salt Lake City–focused funder that prioritizes child- and family-centered services, local education, and community culture/historical projects. Their largest gifts support direct-service organizations serving children and refugees, regional higher education, and local arts/history initiatives, suggesting a strong place-based philanthropic focus on strengthening Utah communities. Grants tend to target operational or program support rather than national initiatives.
Concentrated, place-based giving with a small number of mid-to-large grants annually; funding mixes one-time sizable gifts and program/operating support to local nonprofits rather than many small awards. No clear pattern of repeated multi-year commitments in this sample.
The Terry and Lynne Buckner Family Foundation’s largest recent grant went to Children’s Center Utah, a $75,000 unrestricted award in 2025. That single gift captures a broader pattern in the foundation’s giving: direct support for organizations working with children, families, refugees, education, and community culture in Utah. The foundation’s 2025 grant list also includes $50,000 unrestricted grants to Weber State University and Utah Refugee Connection, showing support for both regional higher education and refugee family services. Other awards in the recent record extend the same pattern into child health, elementary education, historical research, and the arts. Grants are consistently described as unrestricted, which points to flexible support rather than tightly earmarked project funding. Across the recent grants shown, the foundation backs organizations rooted in Utah communities and appears to favor practical, local institutions serving specific populations. The mix of recipients suggests a funder interested in both immediate service delivery and longer-term community infrastructure, with attention to children’s well-being, family support, and place-based cultural work.
In early childhood and family support, the foundation gave $75,000 to Children’s Center Utah for unrestricted support. That grant sits alongside a $30,000 unrestricted award to Utah’s First Lady Foundation, extending the foundation’s work across family-centered services. For refugee support, it provided $50,000 to Utah Refugee Connection, again as unrestricted funding. In education, Weber State University received $50,000, and Antelope Canyon Elementary received $3,953, showing interest in both higher education and local school-level needs. The foundation also backed culture and history with a $20,000 unrestricted grant to Wilford Woodruff Papers Foundation and an arts grant to Tuacahn Center for the Arts.
The recent grants range from $2,500 to $75,000, with a median around $26,312 and a middle half between roughly $6,219 and $40,000. Every listed award is unrestricted, including the foundation’s largest grants and its smaller awards. The 2025 record shows a mix of larger institutional gifts and smaller community-level grants, which suggests a flexible approach rather than a single grant size. The data provided does not show recurring grantees across multiple years, so the visible pattern is one of current-year support rather than a documented multi-year series. The foundation is a family foundation, and the grants shown do not indicate a separate application process or program-related investment activity.
$283K
$4.8M
$164K
$325K
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Notable grantees: Children's Center Utah, Weber State University, Utah Refugee Connection, Child's Hope Foundation, Wilford Woodruff Papers Foundation
All of the listed grants went to U.S. recipients, with 100% in the United States. The grants are concentrated in Utah communities, including West Valley City, South Salt Lake, Sandy, Orem, Cedar Hills, West Jordan, and Ivins. Salt Lake City itself does not appear among the recent recipient cities, even though the foundation’s headquarters are there. The recipient map points to a Utah-centered giving pattern rather than a broad national or international footprint.
The recent grants support children’s services, refugee resettlement, higher education, elementary education, cultural preservation, and the arts. Examples in the record include Children’s Center Utah, Weber State University, Utah Refugee Connection, Wilford Woodruff Papers Foundation, and Tuacahn Center for the Arts.
The recent grants are all listed as unrestricted. That includes awards of $75,000, $50,000, $30,000, $22,623, $20,000, $3,953, and $2,500.
Recent awards range from $2,500 to $75,000. The median grant in the listed set is about $26,312, and the middle half falls between roughly $6,219 and $40,000.
Every listed grant went to a U.S. recipient, and the recipient cities are all in Utah: West Valley City, Orem, South Salt Lake, Sandy, Cedar Hills, West Jordan, and Ivins. The recent record shows a Utah-focused pattern of giving.
2026
Source: IRS Form 990-PF, fiscal year 2026.
Most recent grants reported to the IRS.
| Recipient | Location | Amount | Year | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CHILDREN'S CENTER UTAH | WEST VALLEY CITY, UT | $100,000 | 2026 | UNRESTRICTED |
| UTAH REFUGEE CONNECTION | SOUTH SALT LAKE, UT | $75,000 | 2026 | UNRESTRICTED |
| TUACAHN CENTER OF THE ARTS | IVINS, UT | $50,000 | 2026 | UNRESTRICTED |
| UTAH'S FIRST LADY FOUNDATION | SANDY, UT | $30,000 | 2026 | UNRESTRICTED |
| JORDAN EDUCATION FOUNDATION | SOUTH JORDAN, UT | $12,500 | 2026 | UNRESTRICTED |
| HELP HOPE LIVE | RADNOR, PA | $10,000 | 2026 | UNRESTRICTED |
| RON MCBRIDE FOUNDATION | SALT LAKE CITY, UT | $5,000 | 2026 | UNRESTRICTED |
| CHILDREN'S CENTER UTAH | WEST VALLEY CITY, UT | $75,000 | 2025 | UNRESTRICTED |
| WEBER STATE UNIVERSITY | ODGEN, UT | $50,000 | 2025 | UNRESTRICTED |
| UTAH REFUGEE CONNECTION | SOUTH SALT LAKE, UT | $50,000 | 2025 | UNRESTRICTED |
| UTAH'S FIRST LADY FOUNDATION | SANDY, UT | $30,000 | 2025 | UNRESTRICTED |
| CHILD'S HOPE FOUNDATION | OREM, UT | $22,623 | 2025 | UNRESTRICTED |
| WILFORD WOODRUFF PAPERS FOUNDATION | CEDAR HILLS, UT | $20,000 | 2025 | UNRESTRICTED |
| ANTELOPE CANYON ELEMENTARY | WEST JORDAN, UT | $3,953 | 2025 | UNRESTRICTED |
| TUACAHN CENTER FOR THE ARTS | IVINS, UT | $2,500 | 2025 | UNRESTRICTED |
CHILDREN'S CENTER UTAH
$100,000UNRESTRICTED
UTAH REFUGEE CONNECTION
$75,000UNRESTRICTED
TUACAHN CENTER OF THE ARTS
$50,000UNRESTRICTED
UNRESTRICTED
RON MCBRIDE FOUNDATION
$5,000UNRESTRICTED
CHILDREN'S CENTER UTAH
$75,000UNRESTRICTED
WEBER STATE UNIVERSITY
$50,000UNRESTRICTED
UTAH REFUGEE CONNECTION
$50,000UNRESTRICTED
CHILD'S HOPE FOUNDATION
$22,623UNRESTRICTED
WILFORD WOODRUFF PAPERS FOUNDATION
$20,000UNRESTRICTED
ANTELOPE CANYON ELEMENTARY
$3,953UNRESTRICTED
TUACAHN CENTER FOR THE ARTS
$2,500UNRESTRICTED