The San Francisco Foundation (SFF) is a California-based provider of donor-advised funds which makes grants primarily to left-of-center and liberal organizations in the United States. The organization is one of the largest donor-advised fund provieders in the United States: In 2015, the organization was the 45^th-largest grantmaker in the country, paying out a total of $132-million. ¹

History

The San Francisco Foundation was founded shortly after World War II to help reinvigorate minority communities in the Bay Area of California. The organization was founded to assist  Japanese-Americans who had been ordered housed in internment camps by the Franklin Roosevelt administration during the war in getting back into the work force when many businesses would not hire them. The organization has since transformed its goals and uses funds and grantmaking to advocate expanded abortion rights, liberal expansionist immigration policy, and other left-of-center issues. ²

People

Fred Blackwell is the CEO of the San Francisco Foundation. He previously worked as a city administrator for the city of Oakland, California. He also worked as a director for the Annie E. Casey Foundation, a left-of-center private foundation which makes grants to left-of-center and liberal organizations advocating for a variety of issues. ³

Grantmaking

Immigration

San Francisco Foundation makes a large amount of grants annually to organization which push expansionist immigration policy. Notably in 2018, the organization made grants of $157,500 to Black Alliance for Just Immigration, $10,000 to National Immigration Law Center, $1,035,000 to Power California (formerly known as Mobilize the Immigrant Vote), and $1,620,000 to the Immigrant Legal Resource Center. ⁴

Abortion

SFF makes grants annually to organizations which push for more lenient abortion legislation in the United States. In 2018 the organization made grants of $85,000 to the National Network of Abortion Funds, $250,000 to the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, $2,137,220 to various state- and-region level Planned Parenthood offices, and $75,000 to NARAL Pro-Choice America. ⁵

Environmentalism

SFF funds a number of organizations in the United States which support various levels or reform concerning environmental issues. In 2018, the organization made grants of $275,000 to 350.org, $360,000 to the Tides Center, $145,000 to the Tides Foundation, $948,834 to the Environmental Defense Fund, and $60,000 to the Groundswell Fund. ⁶

Race

The San Francisco Foundation was one of the original donors to fund the creation of the California Black Freedom Fund (CBFF) at the end of 2020. The CBFF is a left-of-center grantmaking organization that funds California-based groups that seek to eliminate what it perceives as systemic racism. It used funding from the original donors to provide grants that went towards advocacy for targeted redistricting, so-called racial equity, and the firing of who it determines are racist police officers. ⁷

LGBT Issues

The organization makes a large number of grants annually to support organizations focused on LGBT issues as well as more broadly focused organizations which house programs to support such issue. For example, in 2018, the organization made grants of $156,000 to the National Center for Lesbian Rights, $15,000 Queer Cultural Center, and $165,000 Horizons Foundation to go toward an LGBT Permanent Endowment within the organization. ⁸

Left-of-Center Grantmaking

SFF also makes a large number of grants annually to organizations which advocate for left-of-center and liberal issues. For example, the organization made a $114,000 to the Southern Poverty Law Center, a controversial left-of-center organization which serves as a watchdog of what it claims to be extremist organizations. It also supports organizations which push race-politics such as the ACLU to which it made a $149,000 grant, and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, to which it made a $25,000 grant. The organization also made a $10,000 grant to the Hopewell Fund, a left-of-center organization which pushes liberal economic policy and that is managed by Arabella Advisors, a left-of-center company that advises a number of left-leaning organizations. . ⁹

Finances

In 2015, SFF was one of the top 50 organizations in the United States in terms of assets and grants made. The endowment of the organization has grown slightly since 2015 as the organization held assets of $1,457,089,134 at the end of 2018. The organization made grants totaling $156,829,340 in 2018. ¹⁰

SFF has received a number of grants from left-of-center organizations. Notably, it received a $7.5-million grant from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the left-of-center grantmaking entity founded by Hewlett Packard founder William Hewlett. ¹¹ It also received a $100,000 grant from the David and Lucille Packard Foundation, a left-of-center grantmaking foundation founded by David Packard, the other of the two founders of Hewlett-Packard. ¹² The organization also received a $100,000 grant from the Kresge Foundation, a Michigan-based left-of-center grantmaking organization. ¹³

1. “Top 50 Organizations 2015.” Foundation Center. Accessed March 19, 2020. http://data.foundationcenter.org/#/foundations/all/nationwide/top:assets/list/2015.
2. “Our History.” San Francisco Foundation. Accessed March 20, 2020. https://sff.org/about-us/ourhistory/.
3. “User Profile: Fred Blackwell.” LinkedIn.com. Accessed March 20, 2020. https://www.linkedin.com/in/fred-blackwell-ab608a2/.
4. 2018 IRS Form-990 Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax. Schedule I, Part II: Continuation of grants and other assistance paid to organizations and governments.
5. 2018 IRS Form-990 Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax. Schedule I, Part II: Continuation of grants and other assistance paid to organizations and governments.
6. 2018 IRS Form-990 Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax. Schedule I, Part II: Continuation of grants and other assistance paid to organizations and governments.
7. California Black Freedom Fund, February 4, 2021. https://cablackfreedomfund.org/#partners.
8. 2018 IRS Form-990 Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax. Schedule I, Part II: Continuation of grants and other assistance paid to organizations and governments.
9. 2018 IRS Form-990 Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax. Schedule I, Part II: Continuation of grants and other assistance paid to organizations and governments.
10. 2018 IRS Form-990 Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax. Schedule I, Part II: Continuation of grants and other assistance paid to organizations and governments.
11. “Grants: San Francisco Foundation.” William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. Accessed March 20, 2020. https://hewlett.org/grants/san-francisco-foundation-for-general-operating-support/.
12. “”Search our grants.” David and Lucille Packard Foundation. Accessed March 20, 2020. https://www.packard.org/grants-and-investments/grants-database/san-francisco-foundation/.
13. “Grants Awarded” Kresge Foundation. Accessed March 20, 2020. https://kresge.org/grant/san-francisco-foundation.