Fleishhacker Foundation

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OVERVIEW: The Fleishhacker Foundation gives to visual and performing arts nonprofits and education groups focused on K-5 literacy in the Bay Area.

IP TAKE: The Fleishhacker Foundation names community, innovation, diversity, equity and inclusion as the values that guide its grantmaking. This is a supportive funder that provides general or project-specific support to arts organizations and elementary literacy education in the Bay Area. A transparent and recently streamlined application process, along with a willingness to work with smaller organizations make this a good foundation to know. Reach out to executive director David Blazevich with inquiries.

PROFILE: Established in 1947, the Fleishhacker Foundation aims to improve the quality of life in the San Francisco Bay Area. Mortimer Fleishhacker Sr. was a banker and businessman who was active in the Bay Area philanthropic community. The only contribution that the foundation made for a period of 30 years was a building at Market Street and Van Ness Avenue that hosted ballroom dances and orchestral music concerts above an auto showroom. After Fleishhacker’s death, the board of directors made grants in the fields of art and music to prominent San Francisco organizations. Today, there are two main funding programs at Fleishhacker: Arts and Culture and Education. The foundation occasionally makes Other Grants “to support areas of special interest or to meet an urgent need.” Grantmaking is limited to the San Francisco Bay Area.

Grants for Arts and Culture

Fleishhacker’s Arts and Culture grantmaking consists of four separate programs.

  • Small Arts Grants support “Bay Area arts and culture nonprofits with annual budgets between $100,000 and $749,999.” Organizations that are fiscally sponsored and film productions with budgets of less than $750,000 are also eligible. While the guidelines for this program are currently under review, the foundation generally runs two annual grantmaking cycles with application due dates falling on January 15 and July 15. Grants range from $5,000 to $10,000 and are generally offer unrestricted or “general support.” The foundation’s priorities for this program include organizations with “a history of successfully producing and presenting innovative new work by Bay Area artists,” and those that “represent and engage marginalized artists and communities (people of color, LGBTQ+, people with disabilities, immigrants, and/or under-resourced populations) in a meaningful way.”

    Recent grants have gone to organizations including the Canyon Cinema Foundation, Epiphany Dance Theater and the Oakland Theater Project.

  • The Special Arts Grants Program supports larger organizations and film productions with budgets ranging from $750,000 to $2.5 million. These grants also prioritize organizations that “produce and present new work by Bay Area artists.” Grants between $10,000 and $20,000 are awarded for either general or project support. While guidelines for this grantmaking program are currently under review, the foundation has typically accepted letters of inquiry with due dates on the 15th of January and July of each year.

    Past grantees include the Yerba Buena Gardens Festival, the Healdsburg Jazz Festival and BATS Improv of San Francisco.

  • The Eureka Fellowship Program supports visual artists in the Bay Area with three-year grants of $35,000. The foundation issues letters inviting arts organizations to nominate artists for the fellowship once every three years, with as many as 12 fellowships awarded in each cycle.

  • Christine Elbel Linchpin grants support “organizations whose primary mission is to advance the Bay Area arts community by serving an arts discipline in a broad and sustained way.” Grants are awarded in the amount of $12,000 annually for three years and prioritize organizations that offer services and/or advocacy to Bay Area arts organizations.

    Past grantees include the Berkeley Film Foundation, Intersection for the Arts and the Dancers’ Group.

Grants for K-12 Education

Fleishhacker’s Education grantmaking program supports nonprofits that provide literacy support to students in grades K-5. The program focuses on improving grade-level reading achievement in “under-resourced public schools” and programs that “work collaboratively with classroom teachers on school-based curricula.” Grants support programs that “push in” to elementary schools as opposed to individual schools, districts or charter school networks. The foundation accepts “brief letters of inquiry” from prospective applicants with a due date in early December each year. Detailed guidelines are provided on the program page. Grants range from $10,000 to $20,000.

Past education grants have supported Community Education Partnerships of Oakland, Pacifica School Volunteers and the Jewish Coalition for Literacy of San Francisco.

Other Grantmaking Opportunities

Fleishhacker periodically makes grants to support causes of special interest or pressing community needs. Past areas of interest have included LGBTQ Youth, COVID relief and hunger. The foundation occasionally announces calls for proposals on its Other Grants page.

Important Grant Details

Fleishhacker’s grants generally range from $5,000 to $20,000 and are awarded in specific amounts or ranges of amounts by program.

  • Grantmaking is limited to the San Francisco Bay Area.

  • Arts grants prioritize organizations that have strong records for supporting and producing the works of local artists.

  • Education grants are limited to literacy programs for grades K-5.

  • While this funder accepts applications for most of its programs, guidelines and due dates vary by program.

  • Fleishhacker recently joined with two other Bay Area funders—the Kenneith Rainin Foundation and the Zellerbach Family Foundation—to streamline its application process. The new portal will be linked to its website in late fall of 2023.

  • For information about past grants, see the foundation’s Recent Grants page.

Direct general inquiries to Executive Director David Blazevich at 415-561-5350 or by email at info@fleishhackerfoundation.org.

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