Search Through Contra Costa County Grants for Nonprofits in California

Background

We empower courageous leaders and visionary artists who make a positive impact in their communities and inspire others to change the world.

Principles Guiding Our Grantmaking

The Gerbode Foundation supports projects that:

• Inform and empower communities by utilizing all forms of media and communication tools to advance truth;
• Advocate at the local, state or federal level for policy changes that improve social and economic outcomes for communities most in need;
• Mobilize action to change existing policies and practices that perpetuate inequality or discrimination; and
• Leverage key public, private, and philanthropic stakeholders in collaborations or coalitions that strengthen communities.

We look for organizations that are led by exceptional leaders, are fiscally sound, and have the potential to leverage our investment with other resources. We also maintain our founder’s entrepreneurial and pioneering spirit by looking for new opportunities to innovate, using unconventional approaches whenever appropriate.

The grants generally range from $2,500 to $100,000, depending on the scope of the project, whether it clearly fits within the Foundation’s programmatic priorities, and other internal factors that influence our funding decisions. An average size grant is $25,000.

Program Areas

• Advancing Truth
  • Truth is power. Gerbode seeks to elevate the voices of truth to counter misinformation.
  • We look to partner with organizations that use media and new technologies as tools to inform and engage the public on critical issues, as well as influence change in current policies and practices that cause harm to individuals, communities and our environment.
  • We are interested in supporting community leaders who are courageous truth tellers and can inspire passion for change, and we embrace authentic and diverse viewpoints, narratives, and solutions that have the potential to alter culture, policy and behavior.
• Justice
  • Gerbode is deeply committed to advancing justice for populations that are currently experiencing trauma and persecution due to factors including the color of their skin, immigration status, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, language spoken, or religious beliefs.
  • We believe in the importance of community-driven strategies and other appropriate approaches, including the critical power of collaboration across communities, sectors, and institutions, as key ingredients of positive social change.
• Environment
  • Gerbode seeks to use its resources to heal the relationship between people and the earth.
  • We value the role that communities play in addressing conservation, preservation, and quality of life concerns ranging from the quality of our air, water, and oceans to the preservation of open space and other natural resources.
  • We seek to elevate the issues of environmental justice, which includes access to healthy food, transportation, and safe and healthy neighborhoods.
  • And, we believe in the importance of strategic community planning to ensure that the public sector develops appropriate and effective plans, policies, and procedures to address important urban concerns that result in strong, diverse, and culturally vibrant neighborhoods.
• Arts
  • The Special Awards in the Arts Program supports the creation of new works in dance, theater production, and music composition.
  • These nationally respected awards have helped underwrite acclaimed new works that are culturally and aesthetically diverse, by prominent and emerging artists.
  • These grants have supported artists at critical junctures in their careers; enabled nonprofit local arts groups to develop and debut substantial, original works; and enriched Bay Area audiences, readers, and viewers by giving them first access to ambitious new creations.

Rapid Response Fund for Movement  Building

The Rapid Response Fund for Movement Building provides quick-turnaround funds to frontline social justice organizations that are strengthening the voice and power of low-income residents and people of color. The fund offers grassroots organizations small, one-time grants within 30 days of receiving a funding request.

Grant size and duration

• One-time grants of $3,000–$20,000 for discrete projects
• If approved, grant will be processed within 30 days of application receipt.
• The project must be completed within six months of receiving the grant.

Guidelines – projects must demonstrate the following to be eligible for funding:

• Timely and urgent: Your organization must be responding to an unanticipated catalyzing event or urgent external challenge.
• Opportunity for immediate impact: The project is strategic with a clear timeline and goals, with the desired outcomes having the potential to positively affect the community right away.
• Clear focus on racial and/or economic equity: Your project specifically addresses racial and/or economic inequities. It should demonstrate a clear equity framework, explicitly responding to the unique needs, challenges, and strengths of marginalized communities.
• Movement- and power-building: The project must aim to build the voice and power of people of color or other marginalized communities.
• Representative leadership and staff: The project must be led by those who are most impacted by the racial and economic inequities that the effort aims to address (e.g. communities of color, immigrants, refugees, formerly incarcerated residents, youth, low-wage workers, people with disabilities, low-income residents, LGBTQ community members, etc.).

Conservation: Committed to conserving irreplaceable Bay Area landscapes

Sustaining the Bay Area’s healthy ecosystems

The San Francisco Bay Area is one of the most biodiverse regions of the United States, and its storied conservation history and role in the environmental movement is unparalleled. Compared with other metropolitan areas, the proximity of significant, biodiverse open space to major economic and residential centers is exceptional.

Our region’s unique role in the history of the conservation and its remarkable network of open space have been the direct result of concerted effort by many individuals and organizations. We are honored to be a part of this community, conserving these landscapes for the future generations who will call this region home.

Strategies

We aim to maintain and, where possible, increase the Bay Area’s remarkable biodiversity, ecosystem services, and nature-based recreation opportunities. In order to do so, we pursue several strategies:

• Prioritize land acquisition and conservation easements that are grounded in science-based regional conservation planning
• Support initial stewardship in order to deliver real, durable conservation outcomes
• Coordinate partnerships across the region to foster effective collaboration among stakeholders
• Develop the most effective conservation finance structures to maximize the impact of our funding and ensure financial sustainability

To protect and steward Bay Area conservation resources for future generations the efforts of local conservation groups and agencies are more critical than ever before. The same technological and financial engine that helps define the Bay Area’s economy also pushes up against the undeveloped and wilderness areas that define its ecology. Threats to natural habitat have become even more acute in recent years due in part to the regional economic boom.

That’s why we’re focused on supporting grantees who, through property acquisition, natural resource use and conservation finance, are working to preserve and enhance habitat for native plant and animal species in the Bay Area. Together with nonprofits, agencies and other funders, we have been fortunate to play a part in more than 80 acquisitions, easements and other conservation-related projects across the 10-county Bay Area.Impact StatementMaintaining and increasing the biodiversity, ecosystem services and nature-based recreation opportunities of the San Francisco Bay Area.

Mission

Driven by a philanthropic calling to support marginalized communities throughout the world, the Semnani Family Foundation partners with on-the-ground organizations and leverages its resources in a cost-effective and efficient manner that delivers the maximum benefit.

History

Guided by his grandmother Maliheh’s example and teachings, Khosrow Semnani and his wife Ghazaleh established the Semnani Family Foundation in 1993. The foundation’s first grant was issued through CARE International to an orphanage in Romania that cared for newborns affected by HIV. Over the last few decades, the foundation has continued to build upon its mission to empower the disaffected, partnering with a variety of organizations in different countries who can make the greatest impact.

In addition to its global influence, the Semnani Family Foundation established roots within the state of Utah with the founding of Maliheh Free Clinic in 2005 to provide free healthcare to thousands of uninsured people in the Salt Lake City area.

Where We Work

The Semnani Family Foundation focuses primarily on promoting health, education, and disaster relief for marginalized communities all around the world. Driven by a clear mission to adapt and serve at the global level, we have leveraged our resources to make a meaningful impact in the following countries so far:

• Afghanistan
• Bosnia
• Colombia
• England
• Ethiopia
• Ghana
• Guatemala
• India
• Iran
• Kenya
• Madagascar
• Mali
• Mexico
• Pakistan
• Philippines
• Romania
• Somalia
• South Africa
• Tanzania
• Tonga
• Uganda
• United States
• Yemen

At the heart of the Foundation lies a fervent commitment to human welfare, always prioritizing health and the needs of society’s most vulnerable.

Emergency and Disaster Relief Fund

This 10-county fund provides flexible resources and focuses on community relief and recovery needs for current and future disasters.  Depending on the nature of the emergency or disaster, needs could include shelter, food, financial assistance and other services as they are needed.

The fund is designed to provide a continued, flexible source of funding, so that we may respond to our communities' immediate needs in times of emergency, assist in building community resilience, and be prepared to act quickly when future disasters occur. Grants disbursed by the fund will prioritize support for those most in need and facing the harshest circumstances.

Community Issues Funding Program

Horizons’ flagship grantmaking program, Community Issues provides support to LGBTQ nonprofit organizations and programs based in our local community: the nine counties of the San Francisco Bay Area. Central to our mission, supporting these organizations’ programs, services, and advocacy helps advance a world where all LGBTQ people live freely and fully.

This year, Horizons expects to award substantially more funding than ever through Community Issues. We are committing these additional resources to respond to two critical and interconnected realities: the sharp decreases in funding from federal, state, county, and city sources, and the growing strain on LGBTQ organizations and programs caused by the current presidential administration and escalating anti-LGBTQ sentiment nationwide.

In light of these profound challenges, Horizons will provide more stable, sustained, multi-year support to help LGBTQ organizations continue their essential work in increasingly difficult conditions.

As we have since our founding, Horizons remains committed to ensuring that these grants deepen investment in historically under-resourced parts of the LGBTQ community, particularly those most impacted by the current anti-LGBTQ political climate and persistent inequalities. Through Community Issues, Horizons utilizes a systems-based grantmaking model that reflects our commitment to sustainability, equity, and responsive support for the SF Bay Area LGBTQ nonprofit ecosystem and the LGBTQ community it serves. We continue to focus on trust-based philanthropy and multi-year funding. 

We know that the LGBTQ community’s needs and opportunities constantly evolve, and it is essential to examine our grantmaking approach and priorities. Horizons 2018 LGBTQ Community Needs Assessment underscored the continuing significant challenges and often disproportionate needs the LGBTQ community faces in the SF Bay Area.

To help target our funding and achieve greater impact for the LGBTQ community, Horizons Foundation has updated our grantmaking strategy. Horizons seeks to strengthen our Community Issues grantmaking emphasizing the centrality of supporting organizations that are based in our community and led by LGBTQ people.

We proudly reaffirm our commitment as a community foundation to an “Open Door” policy in our community grantmaking, intentionally offering a wide range of LGBTQ nonprofits opportunities to seek funding.

Open Door Policy

Community Issues is open to all nonprofits and fiscally sponsored programs that meet eligibility criteria and whose work falls within these overall funding areas: 

• Advocacy and Civil Rights
• Arts and Culture
• Community Building and Leadership
• Health and Human Services

Key Updates to the 2025 Community Issues Program

Lift the $1 Million annual budget cap eligibility

For 2025, the Community Issues program will accept applications from LGBTQ-primary organizations of any organizational budget size. This change will maintain alignment with the LGBTQ-primary definition while expanding access to organizations with a range of capacities and infrastructure. LGBTQ-primary organizations are defined as organizations:

• whose missions include the LGBTQ population as the primary focus of the work;
• whose staff and boards predominantly reflect the LGBTQ community (65% or more);
• and which primarily serve LGBTQ people (65% or more).

Broaden Funding Priorities

The Community Issued program has expanded its priorities beyond the current focus on specific populations and organization types. This shift enables Community Issues funding to support a more ecosystem-wide strategy that encompasses a broader and more integrated range of LGBTQ organizations across four interconnected areas: Arts, Health and Wellness, Community Building, and Advocacy.

Gupta Family Foundation is a private, nonprofit foundation headquartered in Herndon, Virginia, USA. Our mission is to support organizations that provide focused intervention in the lives of people who have been disadvantaged in some way to help them become self-reliant. We take a very broad view of “disadvantage” to include anything that holds a person back from realizing their potential, such as poverty, physical or mental disability, social alienation, etc. The foundation also supports relief agencies that serve people affected by emergencies such as natural disasters.

The foundation evaluates and awards annual and multi-year grants ranging from $5,000 to over $250,000 (USD). Our focus is on funding smaller organizations all around the world that are led by individuals with a deep personal commitment to their missions. 

Our selection criteria include:

• Mission alignment
• The organization is run by the founder or, if not, by a successor who embodies the original inspiration, passion and commitment of the founder.
• At least 90% of grant monies reaches the intended beneficiaries.
• The organization is non-sectarian, i.e.,
  • It does not, directly or indirectly, support or condone the proselytization of any religion,
  • It is not supported by or affiliated to a religious organization.

Background

East Bay Community Foundation (EBCF) has been a long time proponent of the arts as is demonstrated through our partnerships with our donors and fellow foundations that work to support the arts across Alameda and Contra Costa counties. We recognize the power of the arts to inspire and bring us together.

Storytelling, arts, and cultural practices have always been important tools for survival, healing, and resistance. These creative expressions build community resilience and power, and they give voice, agency, and visibility to communities most harmed by oppression. We turn to our visionaries, artist activists, and resilient culture-keepers to help us imagine new landscapes, rewrite narratives, liberate unrealized potential, recover old wisdoms, and spark radical hope.

About the East Bay Fund for Artists

Since 2003, the East Bay Fund for Artists at EBCF has partnered with more than 9,500 generous donors and more than 200 nonprofit organizations to commission new works by over 300 local artists. The East Bay Fund for Artists has leveraged almost $3.1 million in new financial support for the arts in the East Bay.

In 2019, the East Bay Fund for Artists refined its programmatic focus to invest in individual artists and arts organizations rooted in low-income communities of color and other disadvantaged communities to commission new work that advances racial justice and social equity. Research shows that individual artists are not adequately compensated. This guided our decisions to designate funding directly to the commissioned artist(s): composers, playwrights, choreographers, visual and media artists.

The East Bay Fund for Artists is committed to the diversity of artistic practices and organizations as well as providing opportunities for Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) communities to experience art that represents their culture and history in addition to building their own individual donor base to sustain their work.

See FAQ for additional informations.

Investing in Our Communities

At Bank of Marin:

• We believe that doing our part to build a stronger community for all is essential to our collective success
• We strive to support nonprofits that foster community and economic vitality, equitable access to educational resources and an enriched quality of life.
• We commit to being a collaborative community partner through focused leadership, volunteerism, giving and financial education.

Since opening our doors in 1990, the Bank and its employees have donated millions of dollars, served on hundreds of nonprofit boards/committees and volunteered thousands of hours to local philanthropic endeavors.

Each year, Bank of Marin donates at least 1% of pre-tax profit to positively impact the communities we serve. We have been named a “Top Corporate Philanthropist in the Bay Area” by the San Francisco Business Times since 2003, and was recognized as a community leader as a recipient of the North Bay Business Journal’s Corporate Philanthropy award from its inception in 2014 until the award program was retired in 2020.

Grant Funding Priorities

Social & Economic Vitality:

Foster a thriving economy and community by supporting efforts to meet basic needs.

Organization and programs related to:

• Basic needs and social safety net programs,
• economic development,
• affordable housing, and
• small business support, especially BIPOC and women-owned business.

Education

Enable youth and adults to gain the skills to thrive personally and professionally.

Organization and programs related to:

• youth and professional development programs,
• access gaps in education (especially S.T.E.A.M. education) and professional development, and
• youth mentorship, college preparedness and academic success.

Enrichment & Wellness

Enhance quality of life and provide access to health and wellness programs.

Organization and programs related to:

• access to arts and cultural experiences,
• animal rescue and animal-human therapy,
• disability programs, and
• environment and sustainability.

Our Purpose

The Community Arts program ensures vibrant work is created, new voices are celebrated, and artists and audiences inclusive of the Bay Area’s diverse communities and cultures have opportunities to thrive. We support the creation of work by Bay Area artists and access to the arts for Bay Area communities. We celebrate the rich diversity of the region by awarding funds to emerging artists and small to mid-sized arts and culture organizations engaging their communities with meaning and purpose.

Community Arts Program

This year, through a quarterly open application process, Community Arts will award approximately $1 million in grants to individual artists and nonprofit arts and culture organizations in the Bay Area. Grants will be awarded in $5,000, $10,000 and $15,000 amounts.

Though we ask for grantseekers to apply with a specific project, all awards will be made as general operating support, to ensure grantees the greatest flexibility to respond to the unique needs of their project and organization.

Special Arts Grants

Special Arts Grants are awarded to anchoring arts and culture nonprofit organizations that have annual budgets between $750,000 and $2 million; produce and present new work; operate performance venues or exhibition spaces in San Francisco, Alameda, or Contra Costa counties; and meet the other eligibility criteria listed below.

The Foundation strives to make grants that advance a diverse array of artistic disciplines, aesthetic sensibilities, and forms of cultural expression. We prioritize grant requests that best support working artists and place particular emphasis on funding organizations that represent and engage historically marginalized artists and communities. 

The Special Arts Grants program accepts applications for general support from organizations that are engaged in the production and presentation of new work by Bay Area artists in the disciplines of dance, music, theater, visual arts, interdisciplinary arts, or film. 

About Us

A leader in health care in the San Francisco Bay Area, John Muir Health is a not-for-profit integrated system of doctors, hospitals and other services. We make a commitment to provide the highest quality patient care to our patients every day through the contributions of our physicians, employees and volunteers.

The Mission: Create Lasting Health and Health Care Improvements

The Community Health Fund (CHF) carries out a unique community benefit function for John Muir Health: distributing grants to nonprofit organizations working to improve the health and well-being of medically uninsured, underinsured, underserved, and vulnerable populations most at-risk for poor health in Central and East Contra Costa County. Our governing board’s mission is to create lasting health and health care improvements for these individuals and communities. Our most valuable contribution has been fostering the start-up and expansion of programs and services that achieve this mission. 

Funding Priorities

Because health and wellness depend on a complex mix of factors – not just individual biology, but also on the social determinants of health (e.g., access to care, poverty, environment, nutrition, racism) – we seek to support nonprofit organizations in the development and implementation of sustainable health initiatives that achieve one or more of the following aims:

• Expand access to high quality affordable primary, specialty, dental, and/or behavioral health care for those who need and cannot afford it.
• Fill gaps in service for high quality affordable primary, specialty, dental, and/or behavioral health care.
• Enable organizations to adapt to a changing health care delivery system, including enhancing the coordination of care across multiple settings.
• Initiate or expand support services that address one or more of the social determinants of health and, where appropriate, complement existing health care delivery systems. Such services support the maintenance of physical health, mental health, and wellness and include, but are not limited to: health care workforce development, health education, case management, social support, healthy eating and nutrition, anti-racism efforts and support for aging in place.
• Accomplish internal systems, personnel and resource improvements. 

Small Arts Grants

The Fleishhacker Foundation’s Small Arts Grants program provides general, unrestricted support to small and mid-sized arts and culture organizations in San Francisco, Alameda, and Contra Costa counties that produce and present new work by professional Bay Area artists in the disciplines of dance, music, theater, visual arts, interdisciplinary arts, or film.

The program also provides post-production support for film projects directed by filmmakers who reside in these counties.

The Foundation seeks to fund a broad range of arts groups and strives to make grants that support a diverse array of artistic disciplines, aesthetic sensibilities, and forms of cultural expression. 

General support grants are flexible and may be used for operations, staffing, facilities, artists’ compensation, rehearsals, performances, presentations, exhibitions, and other administrative, program, or production costs at the grantee’s discretion.

Post-production support for film projects directed by Bay Area filmmakers with budgets under $750,000 is also considered in this program, 

Grants in this program range from $5,000 to $10,000 and will usually be closer to $5,000.

Safety and Security Fund

This crucial new initiative will support the safety and security of the LGBTQ community in the San Francisco Bay Area. Please review the priorities and guidelines below to ensure your organization is eligible before visiting the application portal.

About the Safety and Security Fund

With a maximum award of $2,500, Horizons Foundation’s Safety and Security Fund (SSF) is a rapid response small grants program designed to support the safety and security of Bay Area LGBTQ community organizations. We encourage applications from LGBTQ-primary organizations seeking to secure and repair their physical space and enhance the safety of public events, their staff, and the community. It has been seeded with $40,000 and will be making grants from September 16, 2024, to January 31, 2025, or when funds are depleted.

Why Now?

Horizons Foundation is deeply concerned about the escalating anti-LGBTQ hate crimes–including vandalism, threats, and harassment–targeting our grantee partners and the wider LGBTQ community in the San Francisco Bay Area. To address immediate needs, when possible, Horizons has historically provided emergency funding to help our grantee partners mitigate the damage and threats associated with these incidents. It is clear that more action is needed today.

The San Francisco Bay Area is not immune to anti-LGBTQ incidents. Community organizations and events have continued to report hate-based threats, attacks, and vandalism into this year.

Horizons Foundation is taking action by launching the Safety and Security Fund (SSF) to address the alarming surge in anti-LGBTQ threats and hate crimes in the San Francisco Bay Area, especially as the 2024 election season rhetoric heats up. This rapid response grants program aims to bolster the safety and security of Bay Area LGBTQ organizations and programs. The SSF aligns with Horizons Foundation's vision to create a world where all LGBTQ individuals can live freely and fully, which is impossible so long as we live with threats, crime, and harassment against us.

Safety and Security Fund

With a maximum award of $2,500, Horizons Foundation’s Safety and Security Fund (SSF) is a rapid response small grants program designed to support the safety and security of Bay Area LGBTQ community organizations. We encourage applications from LGBTQ-primary organizations seeking to secure and repair their physical space and enhance the safety of public events, their staff, and the community. It has been seeded with $40,000 and will be making grants from September 16, 2024 to January 31, 2025, or when funds are depleted.

Why Now?

Horizons Foundation is deeply concerned about the escalating anti-LGBTQ hate crimes–including vandalism, threats, and harassment–targeting our grantee partners and the wider LGBTQ community in the San Francisco Bay Area. To address immediate needs, when possible, Horizons has historically provided emergency funding to help our grantee partners mitigate the damage and threats associated with these incidents. It is clear that more action is needed today.

The San Francisco Bay Area is not immune to anti-LGBTQ incidents. Community organizations and events have continued to report hate-based threats, attacks, and vandalism into this year.

Horizons Foundation is taking action by launching the Safety and Security Fund (SSF) to address the alarming surge in anti-LGBTQ threats and hate crimes in the San Francisco Bay Area, especially as the 2024 election season rhetoric heats up. This rapid response grants program aims to bolster the safety and security of Bay Area LGBTQ organizations and programs. The SSF aligns with Horizons Foundation's vision to create a world where all LGBTQ individuals can live freely and fully, which is impossible so long as we live with threats, crime, and harassment against us.

LGBTQ Donor Engagement Program

Horizons seeks to support LGBTQ donor engagement opportunities of large LGBTQ-primary organizations (annual budget over $1 million) based within the nine counties of the SF Bay Area. With a maximum award of $5,000, the LGBTQ Donor Engagement Program exists to support annual fundraising events(s), but if an organization does not have an annual fundraising event, it may be eligible for efforts that engage donors through alternative events (e.g., house parties, annual donor thank-you events, etc.). 

Selective Criteria

Horizons supports events that:

• Offer inspiring, engaging programming for and about the LGBTQ community 
• Incorporate strategies to build new relationships and increase giving, especially from individuals 
• Have clear goals for what a successful event looks like and a plan for measuring success 
• Are inclusive of people across the breadth of the LGBTQ community, e.g., geography, gender, race/ethnicity 
• Are closely aligned to Horizons Foundation’s mission

About Teichert

We are a construction company operating in California since 1887. Over the years, Teichert has grown into a diverse mix of businesses, most notably Teichert Construction and Teichert Materials. With our commitment to our family of employees, high quality of work, strong customer satisfaction, and giving back to the community, Teichert will continue to flourish in the 21st century and beyond.

Teichert Foundation

Teichert Foundation expresses the company’s commitment to build and preserve a healthy and prosperous region.

We make grants to organizations that create beauty, foster culture, nurture children, provide access to food and housing for those in need, preserve nature, increase awareness of our environment, build an educated citizenry and a well-prepared workforce, and strive to provide better health for all.

Teichert Foundation will consider grant requests in the following categories:

• Civic improvement and historical restoration
• Community and social services
• Culture and the arts
• Education and workforce development
• Environmental sustainability
• Rehabilitation and health service
• Youth and elderly

The Foundation directors may also, from time to time, identify areas for special emphasis when emerging needs require extraordinary attention.

While deciding how much to grant to whom, the Foundation will give careful consideration to:

• The number of people that will benefit from the project
• The number of local volunteers supporting the organization and the project
• The extent to which the applicant complements the services of other community organizations
• The extent to which the program addresses underlying causes, rather than just symptoms of specific problems
• The outcomes of monitoring and evaluating the organizations projects
• The commitment and composition of the organization’s Board of Directors or Board of Trustees
• The current budget and the prior year actuals to show the organization’s fiscal responsibility and management qualifications; and
• The ability of the organization to provide ongoing funding after the term of the grant

Grants are generally made for one year only.

The Impact 100 Model

The Impact100 model is readily available to all communities who wish to implement it. The model is designed to empower women to see themselves as philanthropists and to support transformational grant-making within their local communities, with a minimum grant of $100,000.

Focus Areas

Impact100 East Bay accepts grant applications for programs/initiatives/projects in 5 broad Focus Areas:

• Arts & Culture
  • Programs/projects that cultivate, develop, educate, and improve the cultural climate within Alameda and Contra Costa counties.
• Education
  • Programs/projects to improve the educational process or access to education for children and/or adults.
• Environmental, Recreation and Preservation
  • Programs/projects that preserve, enhance, revitalize, or restore facilities and surroundings in Alameda and Contra Costa counties.
• Family
  • Programs/projects that strengthen and enhance the lives of children and families.
• Health and Wellness
  • Programs/projects that strengthen & enhance Alameda or Contra Costa communities with significant economic, educational, social or physical needs.

About Us

The Peaceful World Foundation was founded by the late Sami Sunchild and established in 2006. Sami’s mission was to foster a culture of global peace through the promotion of hosted conversations, the arts, and mindful education.

Today the Peaceful World Foundation strives to carry on her vision of mindful conversations while supporting, assisting, and encouraging organizations and communities in their peace building efforts.

Our charitable goal is to promote peace by supporting nonprofit organizations in their peace building efforts in the field of the arts and mindful education. We seek to fund peacebuilding programs which align to our mission and requesting an amount between $5,000-$20,000.

The Foundation however does not provide ongoing support. The Foundation only funds programs twice within a five-year period, upon submission and receipt of a financial summary.

COMMUNITY PEACE BUILDING

The Foundation aspires to collaborate with organizations in their community-based peace building efforts and fund programs which embrace any of the following practices within an art or mindful education program:

• Encouraging ecologically sustainable practices
• Innovative healing tools for community peace-making
• Participatory approaches to mindful leadership and community building

Arts

The Foundation is interested in art programs that build on global peace and social consciousness through visual and media art, music, and the performing arts. We are particularly invested in supporting art programs that contribute to:

• World Peace
• Diversity
• Integration
• Inner Peace

Mindful Education

The Foundation seeks to fund mindful educational and well-being programs that promote any of the following:

• Cultivating attention, compassion, and well-being across all peoples and ages
• Alternative methods to manage stress and increase inner awareness

The NEW Program provides unrestricted and artist fee support grants of $5,000-$30,000 to small and mid-size dance, theater and multidisciplinary arts organizations that enable Bay Area artists to produce visionary projects relevant to the communities they serve. Since 2015, this program has awarded over $4 million to 149 arts organizations.

The NEW Program prioritizes:

• Small and mid-size arts organizations with annual budgets of $10,000-$2 million. 
• Projects that support artists to deepen or experiment within their individual practice and/or expand the boundaries of dance and theater. 
• Compelling projects relevant to the communities they serve. 
• Unique artistic collaborations. 
• Projects that compensate artists at a significant level. Projects are required to designate at least half of the grant funds to the artistic project team and their direct expenses for creating the work. The remaining half is unrestricted to the applicant organization.
• Productions in outdoor, site-specific or alternative venues. 
• Projects with activities in San Francisco and Oakland. 

Please preview this page for additional informations.

Creative Work Fund Grants

The Creative Work Fund invites artists and organizations to create new art works through collaborations. It celebrates the role of artists as problem solvers and making of art as a profound contribution to we-making and artistic innovation that strengthens communities. Artists are encouraged to collaborate with organizations of all kind: nonprofits, fiscally-sponsored collectives, schools, and public agencies.

In June 2024, the Fund will award approximately $775,000 in grants to organizations and collaborating artists. Grants will range from $25,000 to $50,000 and be paid to the nonprofit partner in the collaboration. Grantees receive the maximum amount of funds requested. Projects are expected to be completed within two or three years, but those of longer duration are considered.

We Seek Projects Where

• the creation of an artwork is central
• the artist functions primarily as an artist, not as a teacher, an art therapist, or in another capacity
• an active, authentic working partnership between the artist or artists and the organization is central to the work’s development
• the organization’s constituents are engaged in the artist’s work
• artists’ creativity and problem-solving abilities are central to the collaboration
• the making of art can strengthen a community, draw attention to an important issue, or engage audiences in new ways
• artistic imagination and organizational thinking are challenged
• final presentations take place in Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano, or Sonoma County
• at least two-thirds of the grant funds are paid to the principal artists and their direct expenses for creating the work

2024 Invitation: All Disciplines

Artists from all artistic disciplines are welcome to apply in collaboration with a nonprofit organization. Lead artists will be asked to identify primary and secondary artistic disciplines in which they have strong track records of accomplishment.

Projects may culminate in any form. Artists and organizations should plan projects and prepare and authorize their letters of inquiry together. If a project will use a fiscal sponsor, that sponsor also must review and sign off on the letter. Read the list of disciplines and their short definitions.

The In-N-Out Burger Foundation’s mission is to assist children and youth who have been victims of child abuse and neglect, and to prevent others from suffering a similar fate. The Foundation will only consider requests from organizations that closely align with our mission and that serve communities where In-N-Out Burger does business.

The In-N-Out Burger Foundation is happy to consider the following types of grants:

Traditional Grants: Grant awards range from $5,000 - $25,000.

Program: Restricted funding to support the development, expansion, or enhancement of programs within an existing organization.

General Operating Support: Unrestricted funding to support the overall operations and sustainability of your nonprofit. Applicants must present a strong case on how this funding will help sustain the organization’s mission and provide benefits to the children in their care. *Please note that all of your organization’s programs must align with our mission to be considered for this type of support.

Capital Grants: Grant awards range from $5,000 - $50,000.

Capital Campaign: Restricted funding for the construction of new facilities, renovations or upgrades to existing buildings, and other special projects that will enhance the organization’s mission.

Capital Purchase: Restricted funding to purchase equipment, furnishings, or any other major material purchases that will enhance the organization’s mission.

Capital grants are awarded on a very limited basis each year. The Foundation will only consider requests from organizations that meet all other funding criteria and who already have an established long-term funding relationship with the Foundation (minimum of 2 years).

Please carefully review the Capital Grant Guidelines above to ensure that your organization meets the requirements to apply. Capital Grants are invitation-only. Please contact us to set a 30-minute meeting to discuss your project and be prepared to send a draft summary of the project for review beforehand. 

Background & Purpose

The California Arts Council’s policies and practices prioritize racial equity and have a broad geographic reach into communities of all sizes and needs, and this includes providing critical services to artists and to the community at large. The CAC is committed to funding opportunities that support all of California’s creative ecosystem. Offering fellowship support to artists responds to the CAC’s Strategic Framework by directly supporting individuals who embody aesthetics, a key value of the CAC, recognizing all art forms and artistic traditions that enable full and meaningful creative expression.

Through a network of regionally-based Administering Organizations (AOs), the Individual Artists Fellowship (IAF) program will continue to recognize, uplift, and celebrate the excellence of California artists practicing any art form. In doing so, the CAC will showcase the centrality of artists’ leadership in guiding the evolution of our traditional and contemporary cultures.

Excellence, for purposes of this grant, is defined as an artist’s:

• Unique artistic vision
• Ongoing commitment to creative practice
• Engagement with and impact on the larger cultural ecosystem

This program will support artists at key moments in their careers, elevating their capacity for continued contribution to the field and our state. Fellowship grants support individual artistic practice through unrestricted funding. This program is intended to support a broad spectrum of artists working in all disciplines, from diverse geographies and communities of all sizes across the state of California.

Administering Organizations (AO)

The AOs will be responsible for the planning and implementation of the Individual Artist Fellowship program in their region, including but not limited to:

• Provide access and support for individual artists and culture bearers throughout the course of the application, award, and evaluation processes
• Engage in robust, culturally and discipline-specific engagement and outreach to ensure comprehensive geographic reach within the service area
• Convene fellows at least once over the course of the grant activity period to engage in networking and co learning
• Provide platforms including but not limited to virtual or print publications, exhibits, or performances to increase the visibility of the work of the fellows
• Engage in regular reporting to and collaboration with the CAC, including providing interim and final reports on program outcomes and findings.

Funding Structure

Administering Organizations will regrant fellowship awards to provide unrestricted funding in support of the fellows’ artistic practice. The following three tiers of funding are available. (Awards will be funded at the full dollar amount for each tier, partial awards will not be made):

CAC Emerging Artist Fellows - $5,000

Emerging artists are those in the beginning stages of making their work public and engaging the larger community in their practice. Individuals at this career stage may have had a few public showings of their work, but do not yet have ongoing resources or support.

CAC Established Artist Fellows - $10,000

Artists in the Established tier regularly make their work public and engage the larger community in their practice. Individuals in this tier can give multiple examples of artistic and/or cultural works that have made significant social impact.

CAC Legacy Artist Fellows - $50,000

Artists in the Legacy tier can point to a significant body of work, produced over a substantial period of time, that has engaged their communities and that has made significant social impact. Artists in this tier may be able to point to Emerging and Established Artists that they have mentored or otherwise positively influenced.

Each AO will make grants to a minimum of three fellows in each career tier. The total grant award is for $800,000.

AOs may use up to 20% of the grant award for administrative costs and costs associated with program design and implementation, including convening and publication and/or production costs to support visibility of fellows’ work.

AOs will regrant the remaining 80% of funds to individual artists and culture bearers in their region(s).

Zoo Labs

Zoo Labs was founded in West Oakland in 2013 with a vision to build startup entrepreneurship infrastructure in a space where it was largely absent. Over the last decade+ we helped pioneer a new artist-led ecosystem, continually evolving our programming to empower a strong and vibrant community of 1,000+ artists and mentors.

Our unique value comes from our founding vision of supporting the whole person – addressing healing, team dynamics, personal strengths, and wellbeing. We believe entrepreneurs thrive when they're happy at work and when they preserve their creative light rather than burning out. Today we support artists by removing barriers to access practical and affordable business training.

And with the launch of the Zoo Labs: FUND, we have moved downstream to support Bay Area culturally-rooted artist teams with a music business through focused mentorship and unrestricted grants, allowing awardees to self-determine their own economic priorities in building capacity with their creative small businesses. To date, we have awarded $910,000 to 53 culturally-rooted artist teams representing 160 individuals from across the Bay Area.

Zoo Labs: Fund

Zoo Labs: FUND is a grant and investment program designed to support Bay Area entrepreneurs who are building businesses that center music. By providing funding, mentorship, and educational resources, the FUND helps creative business owners in the Bay Area begin or scale their ventures in ways that contribute to cultural enrichment, economic empowerment, and community benefit.

The FUND prioritizes culturally-rooted artists (i.e., artists whose work is deeply influenced by their cultural heritage, traditions, and community experiences, and who draw upon the stories, symbols, practices, and values of their cultural background to inform their art) who face challenges or structural hurdles to accessing capital, and aims to create more opportunities in the local creative economy. Investing in these businesses fosters innovation, preserves cultural and artistic expression, and generates jobs. It also works against displacement by creating stable economic opportunities that enable individuals to thrive in the Bay Area. Through this support, Zoo Labs: FUND advances a fair and sustainable creative ecosystem for the public good.

Awards will range from $5,000 to $50,000. Selected teams will also receive focused mentorship and community support.

THE 2025 FUND

The Zoo Labs: FUND celebrates its fifth year of grantmaking in 2025! The application process and funding distribution will be administered in partnership with Center for Cultural Innovation (CCI), a trusted nonprofit intermediary focused on the financial well-being of artists, arts workers, culture bearers, and creative entrepreneurs. In 2025, Zoo Labs: FUND will make available $230,000 in unrestricted grants to Bay Area culturally-rooted artist teams with a music business.

Small Arts Grants

The Fleishhacker Foundation’s Small Arts Grants program provides general, unrestricted support to small and mid-sized arts and culture organizations in San Francisco, Alameda, and Contra Costa counties that produce and present new work by professional Bay Area artists in the disciplines of dance, music, theater, visual arts, interdisciplinary arts, or film.

For Filmmakers

The program also provides post-production support for film projects directed by filmmakers who reside in these counties.

The Fleishhacker Foundation’s Small Arts Grants program supports film projects with budgets under $750,000 directed by filmmakers residing the San Francisco, Alameda, and Contra Costa counties.

Film projects proposed for the fall 2025 review cycle must be scheduled to be in post-production between November 15, 2025 and October 15, 2026. 

Arts & Culture – Small Arts Grants

The Fleishhacker Foundation’s Small Arts Grants program provides general, unrestricted support to small and mid-sized arts and culture organizations in San Francisco, Alameda, and Contra Costa counties that produce and present new work by professional Bay Area artists in the disciplines of dance, music, theater, visual arts, interdisciplinary arts, or film.

For Fiscally Sponsored Organizations

Small Arts Grants Program supports arts and culture fiscally sponsored arts and culture organizations in these counties with budgets under $750,00.

The Foundation accepts proposals from fiscal sponsors on behalf of fiscally sponsored organizations and groups through its Small Arts Grants program to allow important creative voices working outside of the 501(c)(3) nonprofit structure to be eligible for consideration. 

When using a fiscal sponsor, the fiscally sponsored organization must have entered into a written agreement with a sponsoring 501(c)(3) nonprofit that clearly delineates responsibilities for accounting, fiscal oversight, and grant reporting. A signed letter of sponsorship summarizing the specific nature of this agreement must accompany the application. 

All grant communication will be sent to the fiscal sponsor, and it is responsible for informing the sponsored organization of the status of the grant proposal, promptly forwarding any funds awarded, and ensuring that final grant reports are filed by the deadline provided. In the event of a positive decision, the fiscal sponsor will be the Foundation’s grantee. 

Our Mission

We provide Diablo Valley families with a strong platform to make an impact in our local community.

Focus Areas

Applications are solicited from the following five Focus Areas:

• Arts & Culture
• Education
• Environment Work
• Human Services
• Health