The Santa Barbara Foundation (SBF) is a community foundation founded in 1928, and based in Santa Barbara, California. The organization gave around $37 million through more than 2,700 grants in 2021. SBF works with businesses, government representatives, nonprofit organizations, and residents across the Santa Barbara area. ¹

The Santa Barbara Foundation provides grants to local organizations including Planned Parenthood California Central Coast, the local chapter of Planned Parenthood; the University of California Santa Barbara; Scouting America, formerly known as Boy Scouts of America; the Environmental Defense Center; and the Community Environmental Council. ²

Background

The Santa Barbara Foundation is a community foundation founded in 1928, and based in Santa Barbara, California. SBF focuses on providing grants to local organizations in order to “build empathetic, inclusive, and resilient communities,” in the area. The organization invested around $37 million via more than 2,700 grants in 2021. SBF works with businesses, government representatives, nonprofit organizations, and residents across the Santa Barbara area. ¹

People

Jackie Carrera is the president and CEO of the Santa Barbara Foundation. Carrera was the president and CEO of the Parks and People Foundation from August 1993 until February 2015; was director of media relations for Nature Sacred, formerly known as the TKF Foundation, from November 2015 until September 2016; and joined SBF as its chief revenue and business development officer in August 2018, a position she held until April 2022. Carerra became the president and CEO of the Santa Barbara Foundation in April 2020 and holds that position as of March 2025. ³

Affiliated Left-of-Center Organizations

The Santa Barbara Foundation is a partner of the Natalie Orfalea Foundation. ⁴ The Natalie Orfalea Foundation is a private foundation and grantmaking organization that supports the critical race theory-influenced concept of “social equity,” and its donations have supported left-of-center issue advocacy, restrictions on gun ownership, environmentalism, health issues, and various education-related causes. ^{5 6 7 8}

The Santa Barbara Foundation has granted large amounts of money to Food and Water Watch, an environmentalist activist movement that campaigns against conventional fuels, nuclear energy, bottled water, industrial farms, genetically modified foods, and the privatization of water supplies. It locates the source of threats to the environment in the activities of mega-corporations and pressures the federal government to adopt its policy stances. Its funding is sourced from individual donors and left-of-center foundations. ^{9 10 11} SBF granted a total of $2,151,000 to Food and Water Watch in 2023. ⁹

Financials

The Santa Barbara Foundation receives most of its revenue in the form of grants and contributions. ¹²

The organization’s revenue in 2021 amounted to approximately $53.6 million, $41.2 million of which came from contributions and grants. Of the $41.2 million, SBF received just over $1.1 million in government grants. SBF’s revenue amounted to just over $65 million in 2022, approximately $46.2 million in contributions and grants, just under $1 million of which came from government grants; while its revenue dipped to just under $38 million in 2023, around $28.5 million in contributions and grants, of which $846,700 came from government contributions. ^{13 14 15}

SBF’s expenses amounted to around $43.6 million in 2021, $34 million in 2022, and around $35.7 million in 2023. The foundation’s net assets amounted to approximately $422 million in 2021, $407 million in 2022, and $437 million in 2023. ¹⁶

Grantmaking

The Santa Barbara Foundation provides grants to local organizations including Planned Parenthood California Central Coast, the local chapter of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, commonly known as Planned Parenthood; the University of California Santa Barbara; Scouting America, formerly known as Boy Scouts of America; the Environmental Defense Center; and the Community Environmental Council. ²

1. “What is SBF?.” Santa Barbara Foundation. Accessed March 3, 2025. https://sbfoundation.org/what-is-sbf/.
2. “Grant Recipients.” Santa Barbara Foundation. Accessed March 3, 2025. https://sbfoundation.org/who-we-are/grant-recipients/.
3. “Jackie Carrera – Experience.” LinkedIn. Accessed March 3, 2025. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackiecarrera/details/experience/.
4.  “Partners — NOF.” March 3, 2025. Accessed March 3, 2025. https://www.natalieorfaleafoundation.org/new-page.
5. “Our Vision — NOF.” March 3, 2025. Accessed March 3, 2025. https://www.natalieorfaleafoundation.org/our-vision.
6. “Storytelling — NOF.” Accessed March 3, 2025. https://www.natalieorfaleafoundation.org/storytelling.
7. “Health — NOF.” October 3, 2022. Accessed March 3, 2025. https://www.natalieorfaleafoundation.org/health.
8. “Education — NOF.” March 3, 2025. Accessed March 3, 2025. https://www.natalieorfaleafoundation.org/education.
9. “Food and Water Watch.” Cause IQ. Accessed March 3, 2025. https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/food-and-water-watch,320160439/.
10. “Food & Water Watch.” Food & Water Watch. February 20, 2020. Accessed March 3, 2025. https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/.
11. Washington. “REPORT: The Chain of Environmental Command.” U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Wo. July 3, 2014. Accessed March 3, 2025. https://www.epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2014/7/post-53280dcb-9f2c-2e3a-7092-10cf6d8d08df.
12. “Santa Barbara Foundation – Nonprofit Explorer.” ProPublica. Accessed March 3, 2025. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/951866094.
13. “Santa Barbara Foundation – 2021.” Nonprofit Explorer. Accessed March 3, 2025. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/951866094/202223199349312707/full.
14. “Santa Barbara Foundation – 2022.” Nonprofit Explorer. Accessed March 3, 2025. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/951866094/202343179349305629/full.
15. “Santa Barbara Foundation – 2023.” Nonprofit Explorer. Accessed March 3, 2025. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/951866094/202433149349300023/full.
16. “Santa Barbara Foundation.” Nonprofit Explorer. Accessed March 3, 2025. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/951866094.