San Diego Foundations and Grantmakers
This listing of San Diego funders, or funders that support San Diego nonprofits, is provided by Grants West. Since 1997, Grants West has helped nonprofits raise over $120 million in grant funding. Contact Jay Katz at 858-736-9400 or jkatz at sandiegogrants.org for more information.
The following list does not include all grantmakers in San Diego, but those that give $100,000 or more and accept grant requests. Note that you should NEVER apply for grant funding without having a copy of a funder's grant guidelines. If guidelines are not available online, we encourage you to contact the funder by phone or mail to request the guidelines. You can use GuideStar or the Foundation Center's Funder Finder to obtain the 990 tax returns for most grantmaking foundations. The 990 includes a list of grants made by the funder, and, in most cases, their grant guidelines.
You may also want to use Guidestar, an online database of tax returns for most foundations. Tax returns are required to include a listing of grants distributed by foundations, providing your organization with another tool for understanding funder giving patterns.
Funder Name |
How to apply/deadline |
Thomas C. Ackerman Foundation |
Begin with letter of intent. Contact funder or see website for guidelines and details. |
Alliance Healthcare Foundation |
Begin with letter of intent. Contact funder or see website for guidelines and details. |
AT&T Foundation |
See website for criteria. Contact funder to determine eligibility. |
Bank of America |
No deadline. See website for guidelines and details. |
Legler Benbough Foundation |
Begin with letter of intent. See website for guidelines and details. |
Better World Together Foundation |
Begin with letter of intent. See website for details. |
Stephen and Mary Birch Foundation |
No deadline or formal application process. Contact funder for guidelines. |
|
2525 Camino del Rio South Contact: Meredith Watwood |
Contact funder or see website for guidelines and details. Deadlines are 1/1, 4/1, 7/1, 10/1. |
Tanya and Charles Brandes Foundation Contacts: |
Submit letter with purpose and request amount, and 501c3 tax-exemption letter. |
The Bravo Foundation |
See website for details. |
The Alphonse A. Burnand Medical and Educational Foundation P.O. Box 59 |
No deadline or formal application process. Contact funder for guidelines. |
Burnham Foundation |
Contact funder or see website for details and guidelines. |
California Arts Council Contact: Lucero Arellano larellano@caartscouncil.com |
Various deadlines for different program areas. Contact funder or see website for guidelines and details. |
California Council for the Humanities (619) 232-4020 |
Deadlines vary with program area. Contact funder or see website for guidelines and details. |
California Wellness Foundation |
Begin with letter of intent. Contact funder or see website for guidelines and details. |
California Endowment Main office: (800) 449-4149 |
Contact funder or see website for guidelines and details. |
Callaway Golf Company Foundation |
No unsolicited requests |
Coastal Community Foundation (760) 942-9245 |
Contact funder or see website for guidelines and details. No deadlines. |
Helen K. and James S. Copley Foundation Terry Gilbert, P.O. Box 1530 |
Contact funder for guidelines and deadlines; some additional info at http://foundationcenter.org/cgi-bin/findershow.cgi?id=COPL001 |
Cush Family Foundation 5202 Kearny Mesa Road |
Send letter proposal, financial statements, 501c3 tax-exemption letter. No deadline. |
CW Cares for Kids Contact: Sofia Salgado |
Contact funder for guidelines and details. |
Dr. Seuss Foundation |
Contact funder for guidelines and details. No deadlines. |
Endow Carlsbad |
See website for details |
Escondido Community Foundation |
See website for details |
Favrot Fund |
Contact funder for guidelines and details. |
Fieldstone Foundation |
Invites grant applicants to apply; no unsolicited requests from San Diego County |
First Five San Diego |
Contact funder or see website for guidelines and details. |
Samuel I and John Henry Fox Foundation |
Contact funder for guidelines and details. |
French Foundation for Medical Research and Education |
Contact funder or see website for guidelines and details. |
Girard Foundation |
Contact the funder or see website for guidelines and details. Letter of inquiry process. |
Henry L. Guenther Foundation |
Contact funder by mail for guidelines. Deadlines are 5/30, 10/31. |
Salah M. Hassanein Foundation 514 Via De La Valle, Suite 207 (858) 509-7979 |
Short letter proposal. Contact funder for guidelines and details. |
Heller Foundation Of San Diego Union Bank of California 9255 Town Center Drive, #820 |
Contact funder for guidelines and details. |
James Irvine Foundation San Francisco office |
Contact funder or see website for guidelines and details. |
Jacobs Family Foundation |
Contact funder or see website for guidelines and details. |
Jack in the Box Foundation |
Contact funder or see website for guidelines and details. |
Jewish Community Foundation |
Contact funder or see website for guidelines and details. |
James Hervey Johnson Charitable Education Trust |
Contact funder by mail for guidelines and details. Deadline is 4/15. |
Kaiser Permanente |
Contact funder or see website for guidelines and details. |
Las Patronas |
Contact funder or see website for guidelines and details. |
McCarthy Family Foundation |
Letter of inquiry |
Mission Federal Credit Union Contact: Michelle Brega, Manager |
Contact funder or see website for guidelines and details. No deadline. |
Nierman Foundation |
Contact funder for guidelines and details. No deadline. |
Nordson Corporate Community Foundation |
Contact funder or see website for guidelines and details. Deadline is May 15. |
Kenneth T. and Eileen L. Norris Foundation |
Contact funder or see website for guidelines and details. Deadlines are open/vary by funding area. |
Pulido Walker Foundation |
Written proposal. Contact funder for guidelines and details. |
Gerald T. and Inez Grant Parker Foundation Contact: Robbin C. Powell, Assistant Secretary |
Contact funder or see website for guidelines and details. |
The Hughes and Sheila Potiker Family Foundation |
No formal guidelines. Contact funder for guidelines and details. |
Arthur P. and Jeanette G. Pratt Memorial Fund |
Contact funder for guidelines and details. |
Qualcomm |
Letter of inquiry process. See website for guidelines and details. |
Julia Richardson Brown Foundation |
No deadline |
Rancho Bernardo Foundation |
Contact funder or see website for guidelines and details. |
Rancho Santa Fe Foundation (858) 756-6557 |
Contact funder or see website for guidelines and details. |
ResMed Foundation |
Contact funder or see website for guidelines and details. |
Robins Family Foundation 6050 |
Contact funder by mail for guidelines and details. |
Rose Foundation |
Letter of inquiry process. Contact funder for guidelines and details. Deadlines are 11/30, 5/30 |
San Diego Chargers Community Foundation |
Contact funder or see website for guidelines and details. |
San Diego Commission for Arts & Culture |
Contact funder or see website for guidelines and details. |
San Diego County Bar Association Foundation |
Contact funder or see website for guidelines and details. Deadlines are 4/1 and 10/1 |
City of San Diego CDBG Program |
Contact funder for details and guidelines. |
San Diego Foundation for Change |
Contact funder or see website for guidelines and details. |
San Diego Foundation |
Contact funder or see website for guidelines and details. |
San Diego Human Dignity Foundation Phone: (619) 291-3383 |
Contact funder or see website for guidelines and details. Deadline is 8/31. |
San Diego Women's Foundation |
Contact funder or see website for guidelines and details. |
San Diego Workforce Partnership (619) 228-2900 |
See website for details and open requests for proposals. |
San Marcos Foundation |
See website for guidelines and details. Deadlines are in January, April, July and October. |
Online grant application. See website to begin process. |
|
Sony Electronics Inc. |
Contact funder or see website for guidelines and details. |
Seth Sprague Educational and Charitable Foundation |
Contact funder for guidelines and details. Deadline is 4/15. |
CJ and Dot Stafford Memorial Trust |
Contact funder for guidelines and details. Letter proposal due 4/1. |
Sundt Foundation |
Grant guidelines, application and forms available online. |
Szekely Family Foundation |
Letter proposal. Contact funder for guidelines and details. No deadlines. |
Time Warner Cable |
Contact funder or see website for guidelines and details. |
The Thursday Club |
Very limited grantmaking; see website for details |
Union Bank of California Foundation and Union Bank of California Charitable Contributions |
Both foundation and charitable contribution guidelines available on website. |
US Bancorp Foundation |
Multiple deadlines. See website for guidelines and deadlines, or contact foundation. |
Waitt Family Foundation |
Online grant application. See website for details. |
Washington Mutual |
Online grant application. See website for details. |
Warren Family Foundation |
Letter proposal. Contact funder for guidelines and details. |
Weingart-Price Foundation |
Letter proposal. Guidelines available online. |
Mandell Weiss Charitable Trust |
Letter proposal. Contact funder for guidelines and details. |
Toby Wells Foundation |
September deadline. |
Wells Fargo Foundation |
Guidelines available online. Contact foundation for details. |
Wong Family Foundation |
Guidelines available online. Deadlines are 2/15 and 8/15. |