Search Through San Mateo 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.

Our Mission

The Kampe Foundation is a private foundation that provides programs and funding to nonprofit organizations in the fields of community development, social justice, and environmental issues.

How We Accomplish Our Work

The Kampe Foundation serves nonprofit organizations and communities in most of the western United States. Special project areas include San Mateo County, California and Western Colorado, especially the North Fork of the Gunnison River Valley.

Grants are awarded in our 4 program areas:

• Healthcare and education for special populations (youth, disabled, low-income and senior citizens)
• Christian ministry, ethics and social justice.
• Science and engineering
• Sustainable agriculture and environmental issues.

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.).

Committed to Successful Partnerships

Sand Hill Foundation supports organizations within our focus areas that have strong leadership, visionary plans for the future, and an appetite for continuous learning. We seek to learn from our partners to provide the right kind of funding when you need it most for the greatest impact.

Sand Hill Foundation is dedicated to the idea of local giving – funding programs and activities within the geographic region we call home. This is the place we know best. We know its challenges and celebrate its successes. Our reach stretches from the Pacific Coast to the San Francisco Bay, from Daly City to East Palo Alto, with an intentional focus in San Mateo County.

Building Our Local Community

At Sand Hill Foundation, we believe that a community’s ability to thrive is determined by the combination of equitable opportunity, commitment, and heart. A community dedicated to taking care of its people and its environment, year after year, is a community that will prosper.Opportunity: Growing Family Economic Stability

Environment: Advocating for Nature and Sustainable Communities

Wellness: Promoting Mental Health and Well-Being

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.

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.

The Kimball Foundation

The Kimball Foundation supports college access and persistence, workplace & vocational training, cultural enrichment, and environmental education programs serving the residents of San Francisco, Marin, San Mateo, and Sonoma counties and to a limited extent Santa Clara County as far south as Palo Alto.

Our Mission

We support college access and persistence, cultural enrichment, environmental education, and workplace success programs.

What We Fund

The Kimball Foundation supports college access and persistence, cultural enrichment, environmental education, and workplace success programs.

We work to ensure that students who come from low-income backgrounds persist on a pathway through secondary school and into and through two- or four-year college with the support of high-quality academic and college-bound programs. Attributes of successful grantee organizations and programs:

• Serves students ages 10-24 who demonstrate a commitment to achieve despite backgrounds that may include significant risk factors (e.g., first-in-family to attend college or status as an English language learner) and few supports
• Strong program model based on recognized best practices in the field that is offered in or after school, including summers
• Provides sequential support that bridges one or more critical transition phases over a number of years (e.g., middle to high school and/or high school to college) to ensure persistence and success
• When academic support is provided to students, it is articulated to promote A-G course attainment
• The foundation does not support scholarship programs unless they have a structured in-depth academic support component

We provide youth who face significant obstacles to employment with comprehensive training and services that prepare them for job placement with increased earnings potential. Attributes of successful grantee organizations and programs:

• At least 50% of program population served should be students aged 15-24 who demonstrate a commitment to employability despite backgrounds that may include significant risk factors  (e.g., poor academic preparation or former foster youth status) and few supports
• Skills training includes soft-skills development as well as vocational/technical skills training that leads to living-wage and career building jobs in growth industries
• Strong program model based on recognized best practices in the field that incorporates skills training and wraparound support services
• Provide opportunities for academic or marketable credentials, including GEDs, high school diplomas, and industry-recognized certificates and coursework

: We provide students with equal access to participatory arts education to foster an appreciation of the arts while promoting community engagement through cultural experiences. Attributes of successful grantee organizations and programs:

• Serves students ages 5-18 from low-income backgrounds
• Promotes an understanding of the arts and development of art skills (includes but is not limited to literary, media, performing, and visual)
• Long-term focus on program depth through in-school, after-school and/or out-of-school opportunities with priority given to programs with a robust, sequential curriculum or training that help students meaningfully build artistic performance or skills.

: We provide youth with high engagement programs that provide outdoor experiential, wilderness, and environmental science education. Attributes of successful grantee organizations and programs: Serves students ages 10-18 from low-income backgrounds

• Provides free or subsidized fees to program services and camps
• Create meaningful opportunities for youth to build careers in Environmental Preservation and addressing Climate Change with access to mentors, program leaders, internships and other paid employment.

Rest Year Policy

The Kimball Foundation seeks to provide both ongoing support for effective nonprofit organizations, and to identify and support new and promising organizations. To achieve this goal, the foundation employs the following “rest year” policy: organizations that receive four years of consecutive funding need to take a one-year rest before receiving additional support.

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 working with local organization in a collaborative manner through focused leadership, volunteerism, giving and financial education.

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

Bank of Marin has consistently been ranked one of the “Top Corporate Philanthropists” by San Francisco Business Times since 2003, was inducted into NorthBay Biz’s “Best of” Hall of Fame in 2024, and ranked top 10 in Sacramento Business Journal’s Corporate Direct Giving List for philanthropic efforts in 2023.

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 financial literacy
• 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,
• programs and services for people with diverse abilities.
• environment and sustainability.

Our Mission

The mission of the Atkinson Foundation is to provide opportunities for individuals in San Mateo County to attain their highest potential in areas of educational, social, and economic life, to assist their efforts to become independent and self-sufficient, and to generally improve the quality of their lives.

Funding Priorities

The Atkinson Foundation provides opportunities for individuals in San Mateo county to attain the highest potential in the areas of educational, social & economic life; to assist their efforts to become independent & self-sufficient and to generally improve the quality of their lives.

We are committed to supporting community-based and community-led organizations that address the needs identified by the communities they serve.

Education and Youth Development

We support nonprofit organizations that provide:

Enhancing K-12 public education curriculum and provide academic and/or enrichment activities to underserved students (programs that take place in schools, but are offered by nonprofit organizations)

Providing youth development opportunities to underserved students in grades K-12 (programs that take place away from school sites)

Assisting low-income families in the caring and early learning journey of their young children

Providing youth and adults who face significant obstacles to employment with training and services that prepare them for job placement

Community Support

We support nonprofit organizations that provide:

Providing such as food, shelter, and/or family support resources to help sustain healthy families and strong communities

Supporting the well-being of youth and adults faced with mental and/or physical health conditions and addictions

Enhancing the quality of life for older adults who have limited resources

Protecting the rights of newcomers and create opportunities for forward mobility

Supporting reproductive and prenatal care, and wrap-around services for survivors of domestic violence, to ensure all women are healthy and safe

Bothin Foundation

We help build the capacity of nonprofits with grants for durable capital investments. These capital grants go to social service, academic enrichment, youth development, arts, and environmental nonprofit organizations that provide direct services to:

• disadvantaged children and youth (ages 0 to 24),
• low-income families with children, and
• people with disabilities.

The foundation also considers durable capital requests from K-12 schools exclusively serving children with learning differences.

Examples of eligible capital grant uses include building improvements, vehicle requests, program equipment, and technology needs. Only one grant may be received within a 3-year period.

Funding Priorities

Building Construction & Renovation

• The foundation will fund any contracted labor directly associated with the project.
  • This could include labor for removal or installation of materials or the hiring of expertise needed to complete the project, such as engineers or contractors.
• The foundation does not fund planning or needs assessments for capital projects.
• The foundation does not fund staff time for project management.
• The foundation only supports building renovations for buildings located in San Francisco, Marin, Sonoma, and/or San Mateo counties.

Equipment & Furnishings

• The foundation considers funding furniture, program equipment, and medical equipment purchases.
• The foundation prioritizes requests to purchase equipment that will be used by or mostly benefit program participants.
• The foundation does not fund planning or needs assessments for capital projects.

Technology Grants

• The foundation considers funding furniture, program equipment, and medical equipment purchases.
• The foundation prioritizes requests to purchase equipment that will be used by or mostly benefit program participants.
• The foundation does not fund planning or needs assessments for capital projects.
• The foundation does not fund software or consultants to build out software projects.

Vehicles

• The foundation prioritizes vehicle purchases that transport participants.
• Insurance, gas, advertising on van (wrap-around printing), and warranties are not covered by grants.

At Box, we power how the world works together — and we’d like to help our friends in the nonprofit sector do the same. That’s why we’re excited to give out $150K in grants to help fuel critical missions and digitally transform the nonprofit workplace. 

Areas of Interest

Advancing child welfare

Angels Foster Family Network, CASA of San Mateo County: These are just a few Box customers doing amazing things in the child welfare space. We want to amplify the impact of nonprofits working in child welfare systems around the world. Your application might include projects like foster care programming, legal services, or programs for orphaned children.

Supporting crisis response

When you’re coordinating critical services, secure collaboration across every device is a must. Our crisis response category covers nonprofits in emergency and disaster relief services, including refugee support (think Oxfam, IRC, and Team Rubicon Global). Applications for this category could tackle challenges like gathering topographic data or enabling mobile hotspots.

Protecting our planet

Digital transformation leads to planet-saving outcomes — just look to Box customers like The Nature Conservancy and charity: water. This category covers areas such as environmental protection, energy conservation, renewable energy, nature conservation, and biodiversity. Application examples include projects like improving environmental research or calculating your impact from going paperless.

Criteria

Applications will be evaluated on four criteria:

• Alignment - Demonstrate clear alignment with a digital transformation focus in child welfare, crisis response, or the environment impact.
• Impact - Show potential for impact and the difference this project will make for your organization, and those you help
• Inclusion - Include a plan for inclusion of key stakeholder voices, buy-in and support.
• Scale  - Share your plan for achieving scale, including possible challenges and how you will address them.

Please see FAQs for more informations.

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 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

Who We Are

As a community foundation, SVCF brings together the resources and skills of donors, businesses, government, and community members to address the most pressing challenges in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.

We actively pursue solutions to the region’s housing, childhood education and economic disparities. Alongside community partners and donors, we use tools such as grantmaking, advocacy, research and policy work to drive lasting, positive change and create a future where every community member can thrive.

SVCF Community Action Grants

Using an equity lens, the Community Action Grants Program identifies and supports organizations across issue areas that foster creativity and help build the community’s power to promote an equitable, economically secure and vibrant Silicon Valley.

SVCF awards grants under the Community Action Grants program through an open Request for Proposals (RFP). Through this RFP, nonprofits may apply to multiple strategies through one application. The application is designed to recognize the important intersectional and intersectoral work of nonprofits in the region and provides organizations one entry to be considered for grants across the multiple focus areas.

This application is open to organizations engaged in the following focus areas:

• Arts and Culture
• Environment
• Faith and Neighborhoods
• Health
• Local Journalism
• Movement- and Power-Building

Community Action Grants - Arts and Culture

Underserved communities have not held equitable roles in shaping and deciding on our region's future. Across sectors, artists, cultural workers and arts organizations – are increasingly being called upon to activate social change. This work is critical to engage communities in creative processes to broaden the spectrum of community voices.

SVCF’s Arts and Culture: Community Action Grants Program aims to support arts organizations that are working to strengthen the social fabric of communities and deepen civic engagement. In this focus area, SVCF will support arts organizations that nurture artistic and cultural expressions, and partner to create community-driven solutions and catalyze social change.

Who We Are

As a community foundation, SVCF brings together the resources and skills of donors, businesses, government, and community members to address the most pressing challenges in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.

We actively pursue solutions to the region’s housing, childhood education and economic disparities. Alongside community partners and donors, we use tools such as grantmaking, advocacy, research and policy work to drive lasting, positive change and create a future where every community member can thrive.

SVCF Community Action Grants

Using an equity lens, the Community Action Grants Program identifies and supports organizations across issue areas that foster creativity and help build the community’s power to promote an equitable, economically secure and vibrant Silicon Valley.

SVCF awards grants under the Community Action Grants program through an open Request for Proposals (RFP). Through this RFP, nonprofits may apply to multiple strategies through one application. The application is designed to recognize the important intersectional and intersectoral work of nonprofits in the region and provides organizations one entry to be considered for grants across the multiple focus areas.

This application is open to organizations engaged in the following focus areas:

• Arts and Culture
• Environment
• Faith and Neighborhoods
• Health
• Local Journalism
• Movement- and Power-Building

Community Action Grants - Environment

As the world’s climate crisis accelerates, residents in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties need to adapt to a future that is endangering their communities. But many residents – particularly underserved communities – do not have the resources to adapt to factors such as sea-level rise and frequent wildfires. Meanwhile, the changing climate and other environmental conditions influence health outcomes and intersect with many other social issues.

SVCF’s Environment: Community Action Grants Program aims to fund organizations that demonstrate an understanding of environmental policy processes and are defining pathways for underserved communities to participate. In this focus area, SVCF will support organizations that are building the power of communities most impacted by environmental disparities. These organizations should be creating roles for community in the design and implementation of solutions to change environmental policy and build a resilient and just environment for all.

Who We Are

As a community foundation, SVCF brings together the resources and skills of donors, businesses, government, and community members to address the most pressing challenges in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.

We actively pursue solutions to the region’s housing, childhood education and economic disparities. Alongside community partners and donors, we use tools such as grantmaking, advocacy, research and policy work to drive lasting, positive change and create a future where every community member can thrive.

SVCF Community Action Grants

Using an equity lens, the Community Action Grants Program identifies and supports organizations across issue areas that foster creativity and help build the community’s power to promote an equitable, economically secure and vibrant Silicon Valley.

SVCF awards grants under the Community Action Grants program through an open Request for Proposals (RFP). Through this RFP, nonprofits may apply to multiple strategies through one application. The application is designed to recognize the important intersectional and intersectoral work of nonprofits in the region and provides organizations one entry to be considered for grants across the multiple focus areas.

This application is open to organizations engaged in the following focus areas:

• Arts and Culture
• Environment
• Faith and Neighborhoods
• Health
• Local Journalism
• Movement- and Power-Building

Community Action Grants - Health

Preventative medicine experts estimate that only about 20 percent of a person’s health is related to healthcare. The remaining 80 percent stems from what are called “social determinants of health” —behavioral, environmental and social factors that deeply influence health outcomes, such as whether a person has enough to eat, where and how they live, and their income, education, civic participation and physical environment.

Grassroots, community-driven programs delivering both health and social care significantly contribute to improved health outcomes in underserved and low-income communities. As highly impactful and trusted resources, people and organizations rooted in communities are uniquely positioned to identify and execute strategies that improve the health and well-being of the people they serve. Many use advocacy as a tool to influence public health policy and shift the power to determine health outcomes back to communities.

SVCF’s Health: Community Action Grants RFP aims to address health disparities. This grant program is administered in partnership with The Health Trust, a health foundation dedicated to building health equity through investments in organizations, programs, and projects that tackle disparities affecting the most impacted communities in Santa Clara and Northern San Benito counties. In this focus area, SVCF will support organizations that prioritize community-based, equity-driven solutions to improve access to care, strengthen primary care systems, and expand culturally responsive mental health services.

Who We Are

As a community foundation, SVCF brings together the resources and skills of donors, businesses, government, and community members to address the most pressing challenges in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.

We actively pursue solutions to the region’s housing, childhood education and economic disparities. Alongside community partners and donors, we use tools such as grantmaking, advocacy, research and policy work to drive lasting, positive change and create a future where every community member can thrive.

SVCF Community Action Grants

Using an equity lens, the Community Action Grants Program identifies and supports organizations across issue areas that foster creativity and help build the community’s power to promote an equitable, economically secure and vibrant Silicon Valley.

SVCF awards grants under the Community Action Grants program through an open Request for Proposals (RFP). Through this RFP, nonprofits may apply to multiple strategies through one application. The application is designed to recognize the important intersectional and intersectoral work of nonprofits in the region and provides organizations one entry to be considered for grants across the multiple focus areas.

This application is open to organizations engaged in the following focus areas:

• Arts and Culture
• Environment
• Faith and Neighborhoods
• Health
• Local Journalism
• Movement- and Power-Building

Community Action Grants - Local Journalism

In recent years, there has been a push to reimagine how to tell the stories of underserved communities. The structures of mainstream media continue to exclude local community voices. In response, journalists and storytellers in underserved communities have empowered themselves to share their narratives and amplify the voices of those who have been historically left out. They offer us stories that inspire, inform and mobilize us all.

SVCF supports organizations at the intersection of journalism and civic engagement.

SVCF’s Local Journalism Fund: Community Action Grants Program aims to address the gaps in news and information in underserved communities by supporting coverage of hyper-local issues. In this focus area, grants prioritize local nonprofits working on accurate and inspiring community stories designed to inform, engage and activate residents to strengthen our democracy.

Who We Are

As a community foundation, SVCF brings together the resources and skills of donors, businesses, government, and community members to address the most pressing challenges in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.

We actively pursue solutions to the region’s housing, childhood education and economic disparities. Alongside community partners and donors, we use tools such as grantmaking, advocacy, research and policy work to drive lasting, positive change and create a future where every community member can thrive.

SVCF Community Action Grants

Using an equity lens, the Community Action Grants Program identifies and supports organizations across issue areas that foster creativity and help build the community’s power to promote an equitable, economically secure and vibrant Silicon Valley.

SVCF awards grants under the Community Action Grants program through an open Request for Proposals (RFP). Through this RFP, nonprofits may apply to multiple strategies through one application. The application is designed to recognize the important intersectional and intersectoral work of nonprofits in the region and provides organizations one entry to be considered for grants across the multiple focus areas.

This application is open to organizations engaged in the following focus areas:

• Arts and Culture
• Environment
• Faith and Neighborhoods
• Health
• Local Journalism
• Movement- and Power-Building

Community Action Grants - Movement- and Power-Building

Across a range of issues, from housing affordability to the post-pandemic mental health crisis, the people feeling the most pain should have the power to fix the problems. SVCF is focused on supporting organizations that are building power and movements among local residents to ensure that the future of our region is in the hands of those who know what needs to be fixed.

SVCF makes targeted investments in two areas that are vital to achieving the civic participation that will result in systemic change: movement-building and power-building.

SVCF’s Movement- and Power-building: Community Action Grants Program aims to fund organizations that utilize strategies central to building power, including policy advocacy, voter engagement and others. In this focus area, SVCF supports organizations working to address systemic disparities and increase civic participation through base-building strategies that engage people in dialogue, decision-making and collective action.

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.

Who We Are

As a community foundation, SVCF brings together the resources and skills of donors, businesses, government, and community members to address the most pressing challenges in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.

We actively pursue solutions to the region’s housing, childhood education and economic disparities. Alongside community partners and donors, we use tools such as grantmaking, advocacy, research and policy work to drive lasting, positive change and create a future where every community member can thrive.

SVCF Community Action Grants

Using an equity lens, the Community Action Grants Program identifies and supports organizations across issue areas that foster creativity and help build the community’s power to promote an equitable, economically secure and vibrant Silicon Valley.

SVCF awards grants under the Community Action Grants program through an open Request for Proposals (RFP). Through this RFP, nonprofits may apply to multiple strategies through one application. The application is designed to recognize the important intersectional and intersectoral work of nonprofits in the region and provides organizations one entry to be considered for grants across the multiple focus areas.

This application is open to organizations engaged in the following focus areas:

• Arts and Culture
• Environment
• Faith and Neighborhoods
• Health
• Local Journalism
• Movement- and Power-Building

Community Action Grants - Faith and Neighborhoods

Faith communities have historically been at the center of social movements. Some continue to play a critical role in addressing the social and spiritual needs of our neighborhoods. However, many congregations are dwindling, and their social power is diminishing. With the vanishing capacity to serve the poor and advance social justice, young leaders lack the religious or spiritual support structures that historically fueled social change.

SVCF’s Faith and Neighborhoods: Community Action Grants Program recognizes that faith communities can provide a moral frame for seeking community-led solutions in neighborhoods where many have suffered the impact of systemic injustices. In this focus area, we aim to support faith-based organizations working with underserved communities, invest in community leadership, and increase community participation in civic life to address housing and immigration issues.

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.

CZI Community Fund

The CZI Community Fund supports non-profit organizations across San Mateo County that are increasing access to the building blocks of social and economic well-being — like housing, healthcare, education, job and career skills, and supporting civic engagement — so people have the power to shape their lives and communities.

Overview

Community leaders and nonprofit organizations are breaking down barriers to help create a more socially, economically, and racially just San Mateo County, where people have the opportunity to shape their lives and communities. The CZI Community Fund was created to support this work. This annual grantmaking program pairs grants with capacity building programming to support leadership and organizational development, so organizations have the resources and tools they need to further their missions and work.

Through their programs and services, Community Fund partners are growing socioeconomic opportunities for all communities across San Mateo County, including low-income households, BIPOC individuals and communities, immigrants regardless of documentation status, people who identify as LGBTQIA+, and other groups.

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.

San Jose Mercury News Wish Book Fund

About Us

In 1983, The Mercury News launched Wish Book, a non-profit philanthropy that connects their readers to Bay Area organizations that provide laudable causes such as assisting seniors, alleviating homelessness, providing food and counseling abused people.

Every September, Wish Book selects about 20 local non-profit groups that have applied for assistance. Those selected will have their stories and “Wishes”, their hopes and needs, published in the Mercury News in print and online from Thanksgiving to the end of the year. During this holiday fundraising drive, readers are encouraged to help fulfill these wishes by donating. Since its inception, Wish Book has raised over $12 million — thanks to the generosity of donors.

Wish Book Grant

Wish Book provides grants to local organizations and nonprofits from their holiday fundraising campaign from November to January. Every year, about 20 grantees are selected through a competitive application and review process. Those selected will be featured in stories in The Mercury News and used for fundraising efforts throughout the holiday season.

Organizations and nonprofits interested in receiving a grant for the upcoming Wish Book holiday campaign are encouraged to apply.

Wish Book is interested in funding initiatives or organizations that:

• Provide excellent story topics to highlight good work of individuals and/or organizations, with special consideration given to submissions with specific program participants willing to be interviewed by The Mercury News or Bay Area News Group affliate.
• Expose readers/influencers to community needs and specific populations.
• Represent diverse populations and geographic areas within San Mateo, Santa Clara or Santa Cruz counties.
• Create meaningful impact for residents of San Mateo, Santa Clara or Santa Cruz counties, and reflect well on the nonprofit sector.
• Address priority areas including systemic racism, climate change, unsheltered residents, food insecurity, community activism.

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.