Magic Cabinet

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OVERVIEW: Magic Cabinet, formerly the Ken Birdwill Foundation, supports capacity building and nonprofit sustainability in the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California.

IP TAKE: Magic Cabinet, which has maintained its grantmaking areas despite a major rebranding, is a great ally to know in the Bay Area for small and medium-sized nonprofits. This participatory and place-based funder offers holistic multi-year funding with a particular interest in grassroots nonprofit sustainability. Though this is not an easily accessible funder, organizations located in Bay Area counties should know that this funder welcomes you to introduce your organization to get on its radar and possibly secure capacity building support in the future. This is a funder that likes to partner with grantseekers, so it is crucial to network here.

PROFILE: Established in 2018, Magic Cabinet, formerly the Ken Birdwell Foundation (KBF), is a private foundation based in San Francisco, California and also with an office in Seattle, Washington. Ken Birdwell, the founder, helped start the popular video game company Valve. He has been active in the nonprofit world since 1992 as a donor, volunteer and board member. Birdwell created an experimental 509(a)(3) foundation in 2011, which later transformed into Magic Cabinet.

Magic Cabinet champions communities’ work by “partnering with nonprofits and other philanthropists to achieve the nonprofits’ missions. We do this by providing long-term capacity-building grants, access to peer networks, and advocating for the broader adoption of collaborative, trust-based philanthropic practice.” Guided by five grantmaking pillars, Magic Cabinet invests in place-based giving for capacity building, nonprofit sustainability and community development. All grantmaking centers on the Bay Area of California.

Grants for San Francisco and the Bay Area

Magic Cabinet relies on a participatory grantmaking model with the expertise of community leaders. There is a community advisory committee that works with Magic Cabinet to support local nonprofits. Magic Cabinet is committed to long-term grants of five years that are designed to be flexible over time.

  • Prevailing interests of this foundation include cross-generational challenges, helping local nonprofits grow stronger, building innovation over time and focusing on one community at a time. Magic Cabinet offers two kinds of grants: cohort grants and engagement grants.

  • As per their website, MC mentions that all nonprofits who complete Magic Cabinet’s engagement process receive “an engagement grant, the results of their nonprofit’s iCAT assessment, and become eligible for Magic Cabinet funded Cohort grants.”

  • Partnerships are another way to gain various kinds of support here for your organization.

Important Grant Details:

It funds groups that operate on yearly budgets between $500,000 and $2,500,000 in the Bay Area communities they serve. Grants typically range between about $1,000 and $150,000.

  • Magic Cabinet makes approximately $500,000 available each year for its cohort-approved grants.

  • Nonprofits that complete MC’s engagement process receive $1,000 engagement grant and can become eligible for larger grants later.

  • Grantmaking focuses on the San Francisco Bay Area of California, while previous grantmaking also extended outside the state to Seattle.

  • Magic Cabinet defines “bettering the lives of the people in your community” broadly. It does not fund individuals or capital projects.

  • This funder makes grants in the Californian counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano and Sonoma. Past local grantees include the Asian Women’s Shelter, La Cocina and the East Oakland Boxing Association.

  • This foundation does not accept unsolicited grant applications from nonprofits and engages with nonprofits on an invitation-only basis.

However, it welcomes introductions from nonprofits through a website form to provide basic information about the organization and needs to determine if there is a good fit. Contact this funder at hello@magiccabinet.org.

PEOPLE:

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