Rancho Santa Fe Foundation

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OVERVIEW: This community funder supports organizations in the Rancho Santa Fe area of San Diego County with grantmaking initaitives for education, community development, wellness, military and veterans.

IP TAKE: The Rancho Santa Fe Foundation gets great reviews for being “friendly,” “responsive,” “open-minded” and “culturally sensitive.” It appears to accept applications for its three community initiatives, but grantseekers will have to sign up for updates about guidelines, due dates and current grantmaking priorities. Nevertheless, this is an exceptionally good opportunity for Rancho Santa Fe organizations, especially those working in education, wellness or veterans’ causes.

PROFILE: The Rancho Santa Fe Foundation (RSFF) serves the census-designated place of Rancho Santa Fe, located within the San Diego metropolitan area. Its mission is “to connect donors with regional and global needs through visionary community leadership, personalized service and effective grant-making.” In addition to over managing over 125 donor-advised funds for which it does not run application programs, the Rancho Santa Fe Foundation awards grant through three strategic initiatives: Advancing Education, Building Healthy Communities and Supporting Our Heroes. It also makes grants on behalf of the Rancho Santa Fe Women’s Fund, which is profiled here. This funder values stewardship, collaboration, community leadership and “service to donors.”

Grants for Public Health and Mental Health

RSF’s Building Healthy Communities giving area names physical and mental health as main grantmaking priorities. The foundation does not outline goals for this giving but names areas of interest including “organizations that are working proactively to educate the community about emerging health issues and combat them as they arise” and “organizations working to improve youth mental health.” Application guidelines and due dates become available during the year, but are not featured on the program page at this writing. The foundation advises grantseekers to sign up for updates about the application process by using the “notify me” tab on the program page.

Past grantees include the Vista Community Clinic, Palomar Family Counseling Services, Interfaith Community Services and Healthy Day Partners.

Grants for Environment and Community Development

The Building Healthy Communities grantmaking program also prioritizes “environmental health” and “creating a resilient future for our community,” although it does not further elaborate on these areas of interest. Application guidelines and due dates become available during the year, but are not featured on the program page at this writing. The foundation advises grantseekers to sign up for updates about the application process by using the “notify me” tab on the program page.

Past grantees include Coastal Roots Farm, the Hope Through Housing Foundation and the Center for Community Solutions.

Grants for Early Childhood, K-12 Education, Higher Education, Work and Opportunity

RSFF’s Advancing Education program works to “improve academic success and unlock the boundless potential within our community.” Grants target “nonprofits that are creating a seamless pipeline of learning opportunities, starting with early childhood education and continuing through K-12, post-secondary education and workforce development,” although the foundation may chose a more specific area of focus each year. In a recent year, for example, grantmaking prioritized “North County communities and learning loss for 3rd - 8th grade students.” In past cycles, the program has awarded two $100,000 grants, to be distributed over two years, to two organizations. It is unclear if this program runs annually or biannually. Application guidelines and due dates are not featured on the program page at this writing, but the foundation advises grantseekers to sign up for updates about the application process by using the “notify me” tab on the program page.

Past education grants have gone to A Step Beyond, which serves children of “families living at or below the poverty line with free after-school dance classes, academic support, and social services,” and Casa de Amistad, which “works to strengthen underserved youth and families through tutoring, mentoring, and enrichment activities.”

Grants for Military and Veterans Causes

RSFF’s Supporting Our Heroes program, formerly called the Patriot’s Connection, is the foundation’s “tribute to the brave men and women who have dedicated themselves to serving our nation, and an expression of our commitment to stand by them, both during and after their service.” The foundation names the following areas of focus for this work:

  • Helping military personnel and their families to “navigate the demands of military life”;

  • Supporting organizations that provide “essential services” to military and veterans;

  • Helping veterans transition to military life, especially in the areas of health, mental health and career planning; and

  • Supporting homeless veterans and preventing homelessness with benefits, legal support and housing placements.

Past grantees include the Armed Forces YMCA of San Diego, the Foundation for Women Warriors and Wounded Warriors Homes.

Important Grant Details:

The Rancho Santa Fe Foundation’s grants range from $5,000 to $300,000, but it is unclear which grants stem from donor-advised funds or strategic initiatives.

  • This funder limits its strategic initiative grantmaking to the Rancho Santa Fe area of San Diego County, although it supports organizations of all sizes within this area.

  • Its three main grantmaking programs address education, well-being, community resilience, military and veterans. The foundation does not accept applications for its many donor-advised funds.

  • While RSFF does run application programs for its Advancing Education, Building Healthy Communities and Supporting Our Heroes, guidelines and due dates are not permanently posted on program pages. Grantseekers should sign up to receive updates about the next grantmaking cycles.

  • For information about past grantmaking, see the foundation’s blog, grant stories or recent tax filings.

Submit inquiries to the Rancho Santa Fe Foundation via its contact page.

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