Hutton Parker Foundation
/OVERVIEW: The Hutton Parker Foundation supports human services, education, arts and culture and community development in Santa Barbara County, California.
IP TAKE: The Hutton Parker Foundation’s grantmaking appears to reach every corner of Santa Barbara County. This funder typically makes over one hundred grants a year to a broad range of nonprofits and schools. In addition to general operating support and capital grants, Hutton Parker also supports nonprofits with advertising and office space. Reach out to this supportive funder via its contact page.
PROFILE: The Hutton Parker Foundation (HPF) is based in Santa Barbara, California, and supports community-based nonprofits in Santa Barbara County. It seeks to “provide organizational sustainability to community-based nonprofit organizations throughout Santa Barbara County and to assist agencies in achieving their highest level of performance and delivery of services resulting in stronger, more efficient communities for all.” The foundation is the legacy of Harold and Betty Hutton, entrepreneurs and business partners who started a refining operation in Long Beach and made their fortune in oil and natural gas. After Harold’s death, Betty asked Tom Parker to help manage Hutton Companies and launch the foundation. Today, this is one of the largest private family funders in Santa Barbara County.
The foundation’s stated areas of grantmaking are Arts and Culture, Civic and Community, Education and Health and Human Services. Across all giving areas, the HPF prioritizes “activities providing greater access to people who are economically disadvantaged and underserved.” Grantmaking is limited to “organizations providing services to residents living in Santa Barbara County.” Three types of grants are offered:
Core/General Operating Support grants provide unrestricted funding for “increased organizational capacity and sustainability.”
Capital and Multi-Year Grants are awarded on a “very limited basis” to Santa Babarba County organizations in amounts ranging rom $50,000 to $500,000.
Media Grants provide nonprofit organizatins with a “professionally produced 4-page, tabloid size newsprint insert dedicated exclusively to a single nonprofit organization.”
Grants for Public Health, Mental Health, Diseases and Disabilities
HPF’s Health and Human Services grantmaking area, its largest, prioritizes services for health, mental health, disease research, addiction services and services for people with disabilities. It does not name additional goals for its grants in these areas. Grantees include the Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital Foundation, the Cancer Foundation of Santa Barbara, Planned Parenthood of the Central Coast, the Limpoc Valley Community Healthcare Organization and Alpha Resource Center of Santa Barbara, which “provides lifespan support services for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.”
Grants for Housing, Homelessness and Community Development
The Health and Human Services program also provides support to Santa Barbara County nonprofits that provide “shelter and residential care” to homeless, elderly and disabled people. Grantees include the Cuyama Valley Family Resource Center, Partners in Housing Solutions of Santa Maria and the Santa Ynez Valley Senior Citizens Foundation.
Grants for Education, Work and Opportunity
HPF’s Education focus area supports local initiaives for education from early childhood education and care, through K-12 education, higher education and adult learning opportunities. Grants also support educational services like “college preparation, computer literacy, out-of-school learning [and] literacy.” Education giving represents a significant portion of this foundation’s total annual giving.
Local education grantees include the Santa Barbara Public Library Foundation, Our Lady of Mount Carmel School, the United Boys and Girls Clubs of Santa Barbara County, the Carpintiera Children’s Project and the Santa Barbara Eduacation Foundation, among others.
Grants for Environment, Animals and Wildlife
Environmental conservation and the preservation of outdoor spaces in Santa Barbara County is a growing area of interest for this funder, with a significant number of larger grants directed toward organizations working in these areas. The Civic and Community grantmaking area names priorities including community recreation, the environment and animal welfare. Grantees include the Community Environmental Council of Santa Barbara, the Ellings Park Foundation, the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, the Parks and Recreation Community Foundation and the Santa Barbara Zoological Gardens.
Grants for Violence Prevention
HPF’s Civic and Community focus area names public safety as one of its main priorities and supports efforts for abuse prevention, victims' legal services and safety education. This is a smaller area of giving. Grantees include Standing Together to End Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence Solutions for Santa Barbara County and CALM, an organization that provides “clinical programs, resources, and trainings to prevent and heal childhood trauma in Santa Barbara County.”
Grants for Food Systems
The Civic and Community focus area also emphasizes food security, sustainable local food systems and food sovereignty as giving priorities. Grants have supported organizations including the Organic Soup Kitchen, Syv Fruit and Vegetable Rescue and the Food Bank of Santa Barbara County.
Grants for Arts, Culture and Arts Education
Top priorities for HPF’s arts and culture giving include museums, historical preservation projects, performing arts and performing arts education. Grantees include the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, the Lobera Theatre Foundation, the Santa Barbara Center for the Performing Arts and the Santa Barbara Youth Performing Arts Center.
Other Grantmaking Opportunities
The Hutton Parker Foundation also provides “quality office space to local area nonprofit organizations at below market rental rates through the acquisition and development of commercial real estate properties.”
Important Grant Details:
Grants range from $700 to $500,000, although most grants stay under $75,000.
This funder makes over 100 grants a year to Santa Barbara County organizations of all sizes.
Human services, which encompasses health, mental health, housing and disabilities, are the foundaton’s largest giving area, but grantmaking for the environment has increased signfiicantly in recent years.
This funder accepts applications for its Core/General Operating Support and Media Grants. Applications for Capital and Multi-Year Grants are by inviation only.
The Core/General Operating Support program runs two annual grantmaking cycles, with application due dates in mid-April and mid-September. See guidlines and instructions here.
Applicatins for Media Grants are accepted on an ongoing basis and reviewed quarterly. Guidlines are avialble here.
See the Grants Awarded page for information about past grantees.
Submit questions to the founation via its contact page.
PEOPLE:
Search for staff contact info and bios in PeopleFinder (paid subscribers only).
LINKS:
