If you have read the program guidelines and our grantmaking criteria, and you think you would like to send a letter of inquiry, please read our frequently asked questions for more clarification about whether your organization/project may be eligible for a grant.

Q: How long should our letter of inquiry be?

A: We encourage you to be as succinct as possible. Two to three pages usually gives us enough information.

Q: What is the geographic focus of your grantmaking?

A: Our geographic focus varies by program. Although most of our support is in San Francisco and Alameda counties, the Fund will entertain requests for selected regional, state, or national efforts that directly relate to our program objectives. Please read the program guidelines in the area of your interest to learn more.

Q: If my organization does not now work in the neighborhoods where you focus, but it plans to do so in the future, might we be eligible for a grant?

A: No. We make our grantmaking decisions based on where you currently work and where you will focus in the work proposed for our support, not on where you plan to expand in the future.

Q: Are there areas that the Fund does not support?

A: The Fund generally does not make grants for capital campaigns, major equipment, basic research, conferences, publications, films or videos, deficit or emergency funding, scholarships, direct mail campaigns, fundraising events, annual appeals, or endowment contributions. We may make exceptions for requests that form part of a larger effort in which the Fund is engaged or for requests from organizations with which the Fund has a long-term funding relationship. No exceptions will be made for aid to individuals.

Q: Do you fund section 509(a)(3) Supporting Organizations?

A: There are three classifications of 509(a)(3) Supporting Organizations: Type I, Type II and Type III. We fund groups that fall into Type I and Type II classifications. We do NOT fund Type III 509(a)(3) Supporting Organizations, unless they meet the IRS definition of being "fully integrated" with the organizations they support.

Q: Are you interested in our organization’s long-term plans?

A: Yes. We prefer requests that demonstrate how the work we might support forms part of a multi-year strategic plan.

Q: How do you decide the level of the grant?

A: We take into account the scale and scope of the work and the number of other funders and their level of support. We prefer to support requests that enjoy funding from diverse sources.

Q: Are there restrictions on the amount of any given grant that you make?

A: Our grants vary in amounts depending on the magnitude of the proposed work, but we do not encourage requests for grants under $25,000. Grants at that level generally do not match the breadth and depth of our program goals.

Q: Are you ever the sole funder?

A: Almost never. We want to ensure that the work we support is sustained by a diverse group of funding partners so that it can continue for the long term. We prefer to support no more than 20 percent of the budget of the request.

Q: Will you give more than one grant per year to an organization?

A: No. We prefer to make grantmaking decisions about each organization we support only once each year.

Q: What if we are interested in support from more than one program area?

A: We encourage groups to bundle requests from more than one program area into a single proposal.