OVERVIEW: The California Community Foundation focuses nearly all of its grantmaking on underserved populations in Los Angeles. Its main areas of focus are education, health, immigration and housing. Significant sums also support civic engagement, racial equity the arts and more.
IP TAKE: While the California Community Foundation gets high marks for being “responsive,” “friendly,” “open-minded” and “insightful,” it may be difficult to keep up with hundreds of opportunities, its sprawling website and many affiliated programs and organizations. This labyrinthian funder is a major source of funding for Californians, especially Los Angelenos, having funded hundreds of grants totalling over $3.9 billion and counting. Its page for open grant opportunities may only feature a handful of grants at any time. Fortunately, email addresses for staff members are available in the foundation’s online directory, making it relatively easy to get help with the application process. Signing up for the newsletter will also be helpful. Grantseekers should reach out here before writing an application. Only grantseekers whose work close allign’s with that of CCF will get through the door here. Note that this funder conducts grantmaking through an equity lens, so your application should align in values and suggested projects.
PROFILE: Established in 1915, the California Community Foundation (CCF) is based in Los Angeles. Its mission is to “to lead positive systemic change that strengthens Los Angeles communities.” On the occasion of its 100th anniversary, the foundation renewed its commitment to this mission by “making a billion-dollar pledge to the people of Los Angeles County.” This is an expansive community foundation that manages close to 2,000 donor-advised, community and discretionary funds, making it difficult to keep up with the scope of its giving. CCF’s names major funding areas for education, health, immigration, arts and culture, and housing, but it also works through community partnerships to support efforts for civic engagement and climate.
Furthermore, it coordinates funds to support timely issues in the Los Angles area, with recent examples including a a COVID-19 Response Fund, a Black Empowerment Fund and a Wildfire Recovery Fund. It is worth noting that in addition to traditional grantmaking, CFF also operates a lending program to “support the work of nonprofit organizations in our core areas of health, housing, education, and related programs serving low-income Angelenos.”
Grants for Education, Youth Development and Criminal Justice Reform
Education is CCF’s largest giving area and pursues initiatives early childhood, K-12 and higher education. The program’s overarching goal is to “to address disparities in student achievement, college readiness and college success for low-income, minority and English learner students, throughout the education pipeline, countywide.” It also supports programs that work to prevent students from becoming involved with the criminal justice system.
- Established in 2023, the Stein Early Childhood Fund created in partnership, is a three-year campaign that focuses on “policy solutions for families with children from birth to age three, addressing the unique challenges faced by families and caregivers of color.”
- Support for K-12 education stems from the foundation’s Ready to Rise program, a collaboration among CCF, the Liberty Hill Foundation and the Los Angeles County Probation Department. This program addresses L.A. County’s status of incarcerating “more Black and Brown youth than anywhere else in the nation” and works to “expand opportunities and resources for programs that provide youth development and enrichment services focused on diversion and prevention versus ineffective punitive measures.”
Higher education funding stems mainly from the foundation’s Los Angeles Scholars Investment Fund, which “supports underrepresented Los Angeles County students in obtaining a postsecondary credential or degree, bolstering economic mobility and creating brighter futures for students and families in our region.” Launched in 2012, the program has made more than $25 million in grants for college access and student support programs.
Launched in 2012, Building a Lifetime of Options and Opportunities (BLOOM) invests in young Black men “at risk of or involved with the juvenile justice system, helping them achieve academic and life success.”
The Consortium for Multilingual Learner Success is a collective of nearly “100 organizations in California advocating for increased resources for Dual Language (DLL) and English Learners (ELs)” The collective focuses on closing opportunity gaps, while promoting transparency in education funding and expanding access to college-preparatory courses to ensure multilingual students thrive.
In collaboration with the Stuart Foundation, the California Thriving Youth Initiative invests in adolescents’ “leadership, education, and well-being through two multi-year collaborative funds,” which leverage a $30 million investment by the Stuart Foundation, additional philanthropic contributions, and state-level education investments to “create equitable systems that empower young people—particularly those furthest from opportunity—to thrive.”
Past education grantees include Educating Young Minds, All People’s Community Center, Occidental College and the National College Resources Foundation.
Grants for Public Health, Mental Health and Diseases
CCF’s grantmaking for health focuses on Los Angeles County’s un- and under-insured populations and names interest areas including “children’s health insurance programs, physical and mental health care access, substance use prevention, advocacy and community clinics.” CCF’s health grantmaking has several evolving interests though the Centinela Valley Medical and Community Funds, which work broadly to “improve the health of children and adults living in South L.A. County,” has been around for several years. Recent health interests have invested in helping to enroll eligible immigrants in Medi-Cal, as well as helping providers who serve people experience homelessness, as well as in prevent trauma and loss across Los Angeles. Geographic priorities include Inglewood, Hawthorne, Lennox, Los Angeles, El Segundo, Watts, Compton and Lawndale.
Grants for Immigrants and Refugees
While CCF’s overall grantmaking benefits immigrants across almost all of its focus areas, it also makes grants for immigration via a dedicated program. Grantmaking for immigrants through this program invest in immigrant empowerment, strengthening the safety net and legal aid for immigrants, and wellness. Funding for immigrants also occurs via health grants, which invest in signing up immigrants for Medi-Cal.
Grants for Housing, Homelessness and Community Development
CCF’s comprehensive housing program combines grantmaking, lending and advocacy to support effective housing with services for Los Angeleno homeless neighbors, more affordable housing and better jobs for working L.A. families. Funding consists of grants and loans.
The Home L.A. Fund makes grants to “address the worsening homelessness crisis in Los Angeles County” by supporting innovative housing initiatives, homeless services, capacity building and housing advocacy. Grantees include LA Family Housing, the Skid Row Housing Trust and PATH Ventures, among others.
The Home L.A. Loan Fund pursues similar goals through loans of “seed capital to organizations building permanent supportive housing units for the chronically homeless.”
See the foundation’s Open Grants page for current grant opportunities. The housing program manager, Monae Dale, can be reached at mdale@calfund.org.
Grants for Civic Engagement
The foundation’s Civic Engagement initiative seeks “to foster greater civic engagement, participation and leadership development and more responsive and participatory local governance in all of the work that we fund.” Areas of focus include:
Investment in nonprofits that effectively “deepen civic engagement within the communities they serve”;
Addressing and improving engagement in Los Angeles County’s “civic desserts,” including “South, East and Southeast LA, as well as the San Fernando, San Gabriel and Antelope Valleys”; and
Supporting “regional advocacy and community organizing effort[s]” in California’s Southeastern cities.
Partners in CCF’s civic engagement work include California Calls, the Million Voters Project and Local Leaders Academy. See the foundation’s open grants page for current opportunities.
Grants for Racial Equity
CCF conducts all grantmaking through an equity lens. Additional support for racial equity directly occurs via education funding.
While racial justice is not one of CCF’s stated areas of giving, it launched a Black Empowerment Fund in 2021 with the goal of “[e]nsuring that Black-led and Black-empowering organizations throughout Los Angeles County have the resources and long-term infrastructure to thrive.” In addition to monetary investments in the form of grants, the program strives to “reverse the pattern of underinvestment” in Black communities and organizations and to advance Black equity throughout the greater L.A. region. An early round of grantmaking gave $1 million in $50,000 grants to organizations that serve mental health, job creation and other concerns. Past grantees include Project Joy, Inc., the Gailen & Cathy Reevers Center for Community Empowerment, i.D.R.E.A.M for Racial Health Equity, Reclaiming America’s Communities through Empowerment and the Black Cooperative Investment Fund.
Grants for Disaster Relief
Established in 2003, CCF’s Wildfire Recovery Fund supports “intermediate and long-term recovery efforts for major California wildfires, as well as preparedness efforts.” The fund supports efforts for housing, employment, health, mental health and case management services for individuals and families effected by disasters. This program does not run a regular grantmaking program but responds to current and emerging needs in Los Angeles County. Past grantees include MySafe La, Paws 4 Life K9 Rescue, the Resources Legacy Fund and Team Rubicon USA.
Grants for Philanthropy
CCF Nonprofit Sustainability Initiative works to “provide nonprofits with the tools they need to achieve their missions with greater efficiency and impact.” In addition to grants, the program provides nonprofits with technical and strategic support through a network of collaborating nonprofit resources. Opportunities change frequently, so keep up with this program by signing up for the mailing list at the bottom of this page.
Grants for Arts, Culture and Arts Education
Arts and culture are a newer grantmaking area for CCF focused on socially engaged art that reflects the diversity of Los Angelenos. It shows strong support for Los Angeles county arts organizations and arts education programs. Giving overlaps with the foundation’s youth development programmatic area. Grantees tend to be smaller, community-based organizations. Grantees include the Inner City Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles, Muse/Ique of Pasadena, the No Limits Theater Group, the Viver Basil Dance Company and the Catalina Island Museum.
Grants for Climate
In addition to funding for wildfire recovery outlined above, CCF also makes grants for climate in California. This is a newer area of funding for the foundation that is integrated with wildfire recovery, food equity, and climate disasters. This work has transformed from previous environmental work and has a focus on disasters created by climate change. Grants have supported organizations including the Los Angels Arboretum Foundation, City of Riverside Parks and Recreation, the Natural Resources Defense Council of Santa Monica and the Trust for Public Land.
Important Grant Details:
CCF grants range from a few hundred to over $10 million, but it is difficult to know which grants stem from donor-advised or other types of funds.
CCF’s makes hundreds of grants each year to organizations of every size across a broad swath of grantmaking areas.
CCF also lends money to nonprofits and other types of organizations working toward shared goals, especially in the area of housing.
This funder’s grantmaking mainly stays in L.A. County, but giving touches other parts of California and the U.S., as well.
Current opportunities are posted on its Open Grants page, but at any given time this may only feature a handful of grants. Keep up with new opportunities by signing up for the organization’s newsletter.
Email addresses for most of CCF’s staff members are available at the directory page, making it easy to introduce your organization to program officers in areas of interest.
For information about past grantmaking, see the foundation’s newsletters or financials.
For general inquiries, email the foundation at info@calfund.org. The foundation’s telephone number is (213) 413-4130.
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