For more information, see Tides Nexus

The Harding Rock Fund is an investment holding nonprofit within the Tides Nexus, a collection of center-left pass-through funding and fiscal sponsorship nonprofits.

Relationship to the Tides Nexus

Also see Tides Nexus

The Harding Rock Fund is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit formed in 2004 in San Francisco, California. ¹ The Fund is directly controlled by the Tides Foundation, the system’s largest grantmaking entity; consequently, the Harding Rock Fund describes its mission as “support[ing] the Tides Foundation,” and according to its tax filings its directors are appointed by the Tides Foundation. ^{2 3}

The Fund further describes its mission as the following: ⁴

Harding Rock Fund is formed for the purpose of supporting the Tides Foundation by holding and managing assets for the [Tides] Foundation and making grants from the income of such assets[.] During 2018, there were no grants made[.]

The Harding Rock Fund is an investment holding nonprofit within the Tides Nexus, a collection of left-of-center pass-through funding and fiscal sponsorship nonprofits. The Fund is controlled by the Tides Foundation, the system’s largest grantmaking entity; the Harding Rock Fund describes its mission as “support[ing] the Tides Foundation.” ⁵

Leadership

According to its 2022 IRS Form 990, the Harding Rock Fund’s board of directors includes the following individuals: ⁶

• Max Pike: CEO
• Lawrence Litvak: Secretary and CFO
• P. William Parish

Structure

The Fund does not have any compensated employees, and the organization does not have any “members” by definition of its bylaws. ⁷ A majority of the directors and their successors are appointed by the Tides Foundation, which controls the Fund. ⁷ As such, the Fund’s Articles of Incorporation and numerous sections of the bylaws may only be amended with the Foundation’s approval. ⁷

The following related tax-exempt organizations are identified In the Fund’s 2018 tax return: Tides Foundation, Tides Network, Tides Center, Tides Inc., Tides Two Rivers Fund. ⁸ The Fund’s tax return also identifies the following officers: Max Pike (President); Lawrence Litvak (Secretary, Treasurer, Director); P. William Parish (Director). ⁹

Finances

According to its 2022 990 form, the Fund reported a revenue of $7,106, expenses at $611,209, and total assets of $61,482. ¹⁰

According to the organization’s tax return, in 2018 the Fund’s total annual revenue ($169,693)¹¹ was comprised of only the following two sources: unrelated business income from passthroughs ($164,893)¹² and tax refunds ($4,800). ¹³ The Fund’s assets totaled $707,028 in 2018¹⁴ and were made up by the following: investment in S-Corporation ($642,381)¹⁵ and non-interest-bearing cash ($64,647). Accounts payable and accrued expenses, which composed the entirety of the Fund’s liabilities, totaled only $5,828 for the year 2018. ¹⁶

1. California Secretary of State: Business Search. Search conducted April 29, 2020. https://businesssearch.sos.ca.gov/CBS/Detail
2. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). Tides Network. 2018. Schedule R (Related Organization). Archived: https://www.influencewatch.org/app/uploads/2020/04/Tides-Network-2018-Form-990.pdf
3. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). Tides Network. 2018. Part I. Line 1 (organization’s mission). Archived: https://www.influencewatch.org/app/uploads/2020/04/Tides-Network-2018-Form-990.pdf
4. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). Tides Network. 2018. Part III: Line 4a (Additional Data). Archived: https://www.influencewatch.org/app/uploads/2020/04/Tides-Network-2018-Form-990.pdf
5. Harding Rock Fund, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2018, Part 3, Line 1.
6. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). Tides Network. 2022. Part VII (Compensation of Officers, Directors, etc.). https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/201430532/202322209349300302/full
7. Harding Rock Fund, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2018, Schedule O.
8. Harding Rock Fund, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2018, Schedule R, Part II.
9. Harding Rock Fund, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2018, Part VII, Section A.
10. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). Tides Network. 2022. Part I. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/201430532/202322209349300302/full
11. Harding Rock Fund, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2018, Part VII, Line 12.
12. Harding Rock Fund, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2018, Part VII, Line 11a.
13. Harding Rock Fund, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2018, Part VII, Line 11b.
14. Harding Rock Fund, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2018, Part X, Line 16.
15. Harding Rock Fund, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2018, Schedule D, Part VIII, Line 3a.
16. Harding Rock Fund, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2018,, Part X, Line 17