FundersCalifornia

Sustainable Arts Foundation

San Francisco, CA · EIN 26-3373919. Reported 103 grants totalling $1,495,980 to 73 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$5,000median grant
$1,495,980granted, 2021-2024
73organizations funded
62%of grantees funded again the next year
$119,904assets, latest filing

Does this foundation accept applications?

Yes -- on its own tax return. Form 990-PF asks every private foundation whether it makes grants only to organizations it selects itself. Of the 91,758 foundations in our data that made a grant and answered, 78% said yes -- and applying to those is wasted effort. Sustainable Arts Foundation did not check that box on its most recent filing, which puts it in the minority that is at least open to being approached.

This is the foundation's own statement to the IRS, not our judgement, and it says nothing about whether they have a form, a deadline, or an appetite for new grantees. Treat it as the reason this foundation is worth your research time, not as an invitation. Many small foundations of this kind have no website and no application process -- a letter of inquiry is the normal first step.

How big are its grants?

The median grant is $5,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $3,000 and $6,000; the smallest was $1,000 and the largest $500,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

$1,000 - $5,000
40 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
42 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
14 grants
$50,000 - $100,000
4 grants
$100,000 and Up
3 grants

Every organization it funded

This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Years funded is the number of separate tax years in which the organization received money -- more than one means a real relationship rather than a one-off.

OrganizationLocationTotal receivedGrantsYears fundedLast
Amalgamated Charitable FoundationWashington, DC$500,000112023
Association on American Indian AffairsClarksville, MD$150,000112023
Native American Rights FundBoulder, CO$150,000112023
Northern Chumash Tribal CouncilLos Osos, CA$50,000112024
Santa Rosa Rancheria Tachi Yokut TribeLemoore, CA$50,000112024
Tule River Indian Health CenterPorterville, CA$50,000112024
Ytt Northern Chumash NonprofitSan Luis Obispo, CA$50,000112024
Brooklyn Arts ExchangeBrooklyn, NY$27,000442024
Kala Art InstituteBerkeley, CA$26,000442024
Fountainhead ResidencyMiami, FL$18,000332023
Gallery AferroNewark, NJ$18,000332023
Movement ResearchNew York, NY$16,000332023
Collar WorksTroy, NY$15,500332023
Sogorea Te Land TrustOakland, CA$15,000112024
Marble House ProjectDorset, VT$12,000222023
Santa Fe Art InstituteSanta Fe, NM$12,000222023
Space on Ryder FarmNew York, NY$12,000222022
Wassaic ProjectWassaic, NY$12,000332023
Ca Consortium for Urban Indian HealthSan Francisco, CA$10,000112023
Chalon Indian Council of BakersfieldBakersfield, CA$10,000112024
Chickasaw FoundationAda, OK$10,000112024
First Nations Development InstituteLongmont, CO$10,000112024
First Peoples FundRapid City, SD$10,000112024
Interoots InitiativeDenver, CO$10,000112024
Ma's House and Bipoc Art StudioSouthampton, NY$10,000112024
National Indigenous Women's Resource CtrLame Deer, MT$10,000112024
San Bernardino Valley Concert AssociationSan Bernardino, CA$10,000112024
Underdog Animal Rescue and RehabMoab, UT$10,000112024
Woodland Pattern Book CenterMilwaukee, WI$10,000112024
Abrons Arts CenterNew York, NY$9,000332023
Elsewhere StudiosPaonia, CO$9,000222023
Franconia Sculpture ParkFranconia, MN$8,000222023
Tofte Lake CenterEly, MN$8,000222023
Interlude Artist ResidencyHudson, NY$7,000222023
Hewnoaks Artist ColonyPortland, ME$6,700222023
Los Angeles Performance PracticeLos Angeles, CA$6,000222023
Marthas Vineyard Inst of Creative WritingAquinnah, MA$6,000112023
Marthas Vineyard Inst of Creative WritingAnn Arbor, MI$6,000112021
New Harmony ProjectIndianapolis, IN$6,000112023
Good Hart Artist ResidencyHarbor Springs, MI$5,800222023
ShunpikeSeattle, WA$5,500112023
The Writers' Colony at Dairy HollowEureka Springs, AR$5,440332023
Amah Mutsun Land TrustSantacruz, CA$5,000112024
Association of Ramaytush OhloneSan Francisco, CA$5,000112024
Elk River Arts and LecturesLivingston, MT$5,000112024
Forge ProjectAncram, NY$5,000112024
Goldbelt Heritage FoundationJuneau, AK$5,000112024
Harness CommunityLos Angeles, CA$5,000112024
Hukuiko IncNicasio, CA$5,000112024
Indigenous Peoples MovementPorcupine, SD$5,000112024
Juneau Community FoundationJuneau, AK$5,000112024
Justice FundersOakland, CA$5,000112024
Lightning Boy FoundationSanta Fe, NM$5,000112024
Poetry NorthwestEverett, WA$5,000112024
Red Cloud Indian SchoolPine Ridge, SD$5,000112024
Southwestern Association for Indian ArtsSanta Fe, NM$5,000112024
Wukchumni TribeVisalia, CA$5,000112024
Performance Works NwPortland, OR$3,240112023
ArtpaceSan Antonio, TX$3,000112021
Boulder Ensemble Theatre CompanyBoulder, CO$3,000112021
Butterfly Effect Theatre CompanyBoulder, CO$3,000112023
Constance Saltonstall Foundation for the ArtsIthaca, NY$3,000112023
Eugene O'neill Theater CenterWaterford, CT$3,000112021
Mount Tremper ArtsMt Tremper, NY$3,000112021
New York Foundation for the ArtsNew York, NY$3,000112023
The LuminarySan Marcos, CA$3,000112022
CalderaPortland, OR$2,500112022
Hermitage Artist RetreatEnglewood, FL$2,000112023
ManccTallahassee, FL$2,000112021
Mass MocaNorth Adams, MA$1,800112023
SubcircleBiddeford, ME$1,500112023
RematriationSyracuse, NY$1,000112024
Tomaquag Memorial Indian MuseumExeter, RI$1,000112024

19 of 73 (26%) received money in more than one year over the 4 years we hold.

Measured the way we measure every foundation -- what share of one year's grantees are funded again the next -- this one retains 62%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is about typical. A high number means its list is close to settled and a newcomer has to displace someone; a low one means it is still moving money around, which is where an opening is.

Plus 6 grants to individuals totalling $315,125 -- scholarships, hardship and emergency assistance. We deliberately do not publish the names of people who received them, even though the filings do.

What the money was for

Taken verbatim from the purpose field of its filings. This is the closest thing to a statement of what this foundation cares about, in its own words.

What kind of organizations it funds

By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 76 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.

Arts & Culture
50 grants
Human Services
11 grants
Education
3 grants
Civil Rights
2 grants
Environment
2 grants
Religion
2 grants
Youth Development
2 grants

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202116$63,720$3,350
202221$89,240$4,000
202332$927,020$4,750
202434$416,000$7,500

Tax years, not calendar years, and the most recent year is usually incomplete -- filings arrive about a year late, so a low final year means late paperwork rather than a foundation winding down.

Where its money goes

Foundations concentrate geographically far more than their mission statements suggest. 33% of this one's giving went to organizations in District of Columbia. If you are outside its footprint, that matters more than how well your programme fits.

District of Columbia
$500K
California
$310K
Colorado
$185K
Maryland
$150K
New York
$124K
Florida
$22K
New Mexico
$22K
South Dakota
$20K

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Funders that support the same organizations

These funders gave to organizations this one also funded -- some private foundations, some community foundations and other grantmaking charities. Shared grantees are the strongest available signal that two funders have overlapping priorities, and a funder already backing your peers is a far warmer prospect than one that merely lists your cause.

Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund35 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc28 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc18 shared recipientsNational Philanthropic Trust14 shared recipientsAmalgamated Charitable Foundation Inc14 shared recipientsVanguard Charitable Endowment Program13 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $5,000. Asking for ten times that is the most common way small organizations waste a submission.
  2. Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in District of Columbia.
  3. Read the recipient list above for organizations like yours. If nothing on it resembles your work, that is a real answer, and a cheap one to get.
  4. Look up the current filing before writing. The 990-PF names the foundation's officers and, where one exists, its application procedure. We link it below.

Related guides

Foundations funding arts & culture in District of ColumbiaEvery funder in this group, rankedFoundations funding education in District of ColumbiaEvery funder in this group, rankedFoundations funding arts & culture in CaliforniaEvery funder in this group, rankedFoundations funding human services in CaliforniaEvery funder in this group, ranked

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Sustainable Arts Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2021-2024). Nothing here is scraped, inferred, or estimated.

Address of record on the latest return: 1032 Irving Street 609, San Francisco, CA, 94122. This is the address the foundation gave the IRS; many small foundations file through an accountant or a bank trust department, so it may not be where post to a programme officer should go.

EIN 26-3373919 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this

This is history, not an open call. Foundation returns are published about a year after the tax year ends. Nothing on this page is a deadline. It is a record of who this foundation has actually funded, which is the best available predictor of who it will fund next -- and a much better basis for deciding whether to write to them than a mission statement.

Is something here wrong about your foundation? Email [email protected] and we will correct it.