The Rose Hills Foundation is a private grantmaking foundation located in Pasadena, California. The organization was formed in 1996 with proceeds from the sale of Rose Hills Cemetery, then the largest cemetery in North America, located in Whittier, California, to private equity-backed groups. The foundation was funded with over $240 million from the sale of the cemetery and currently has over $460 million in assets.

The foundation contributes to many left-leaning advocacy organizations and activist groups including the Anti-Recidivism Coalition and the California Community Foundation. The organization also funds many local colleges and universities in southern California and community organizations including the YMCA and the Richard Nixon Foundation. ^{1 2}

Background

The Rose Hills Foundation was formed in 1996 when a sale was agreed to for the Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier, California, which was at the time the largest cemetery in North America. Rose Hills Memorial Park was founded in 1914 and became known for its television advertisements as wells as its over 7,000 rosebushes across its 2,600 acres. The cemetery had handled the funerals for former President Richard Nixon, a Whittier native, and former First Lady Patricia Nixon. The nonprofit Rose Hills Memorial Park Association sold the cemetery in 1996 to for-profit corporations the Loewen Group, a large funeral and cemetery services company, and the Blackstone Group investment bank for $240 million. Since the seller of the cemetery was a nonprofit entity, funds were used to create a foundation to fund projects and groups in southern California. The $240 million endowment for the new foundation ranked it the 15^th largest grantmaking foundation in all of California and about the eighth in southern California at the time of its founding. ²

Activity

As of 2019, the Rose Hills Foundation managed over $460 million in assets and pays over $23 million in grants annually. ¹ The foundation’s giving guidelines state an emphasis on funding projects around poverty and low-wage workers. The foundation’s giving guidelines state that the foundation has a policy against making grants to charter schools. The foundation also does not give to hospitals, public universities, or filmmaking projects. ³

The foundation employs a staff of 7 total employees. ⁴ The president and CEO of the foundation is Victoria B. Rogers, who is paid over $490,000 in compensation from the foundation annually. ¹

Funding

The Rose Hills Foundation funds a variety of left-leaning nonprofits and advocacy groups as well as ostensibly mainstream nonprofit organizations. The foundation notable provided a $100,000 grant to the Anti-Recidivism Coalition, a left-leaning criminal justice advocacy group that is a member of the Check the Sheriff Coalition, a group of left-of-center to far-left activist groups calling for the resignation of Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva (D). ⁵

The foundation funds the Richard Nixon Foundation; President Nixon was among the most famous residents of Whittier, California, where the foundation was founded. ¹

Other groups funded by the Rose Hills Foundation include the California Community Foundation, Imagine Los Angeles, the Inner City Law Center, the LA Family Housing Corporation, Peace over Violence, Planned Parenthood of Pasadena, and the Venice Community Housing Corporation. ¹

1. “IRS Form 990.” Rose Hills Foundation. 2019. Accessed August 8, 2021. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/951637466/201913029349301131/full
2. Brooks, Nancy. “Rose Hills Memorial Park to Be Sold for $240 Million.” Los Angeles Times. September 21, 1996. Accessed August 8, 2021. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-09-21-fi-46193-story.html
3. “Grant Guidelines.” Rose Hills Foundation, August 17, 2021. https://rosehillsfoundation.org/grant-guidelines/.
4. “Team.” Rose Hills Foundation, August 19, 2020. https://rosehillsfoundation.org/team/.
5. “About.” Check the Sheriff Coalition. Accessed August 8, 2021. https://www.checkthesheriff.com/about