Overview

We fund qualified public charities engaged in educational, scientific, religious, and charitable activities.  We have chosen grant-making arenas where we believe we have an opportunity to make a meaningful impact in Santa Barbara and the world around us.  We are most interested in efforts that strive to make change on a population level; for example in a community, a neighborhood, or a school.  Making population level changes is generally beyond the capacity of a single non-profit organization and therefore we support collaborative efforts.  We also believe that population level change is often driven by shifts in systems, culture, and technology and most of our long-term funding relationships center on such efforts.

We recognize that change at this level takes time, years, sometimes decades.  Progress rests on having a clear vision and goals, building strong relationships, providing solid evaluation and research support, and having the right conditions for change.  Most of our funding is invested in trusted partners involved in long-term efforts.  We are comfortable funding the process of change, pilot projects, project planning, and advocacy.

While that is the bread and butter, as a member of our community, we also provide support to a variety of organizations doing good work, mostly through our open grant cycle in June.

What does all this mean for potential grantees?  Whether or not you are a new applicant or have received funds from us before, we ask that you read the website carefully to see if you think there is a good fit between your goals and ours.  If you have questions, please call and ask before you spend your valuable resources on applying.