OVERVIEW: The Latino Community Foundation is a San Francisco-based regional funding intermediary, grantmaker, and giving circle convener, primarily supporting Latino-led grassroots organizations in the Bay Area and throughout California that focus on building civic and economic power within Latino and BIPOC communities.
IP TAKE: The Latino Community Foundation (LCF) has grown tremendously in recent years and has recently expanded into Nevada and Arizona with support for voter mobilization. While its direct grantmaking budget is relatively small, with about $10 million going out the door annually, LCF also acts as the organizing hub for substantial pooled funds, including the Latino Power Fund, and dozens of giving circles. Between 2015 and 2023, under former CEO Jacqueline Martinez Garcel, the LCF helped raise more than $100 million to advance its mission. In a 2024 interview with Inside Philanthropy, Garcel said that her replacement, former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julián Castro, is the “perfect leader for LCF to usher us into a new era.”
This is a transparent funder, although it has somewhat limited information about past grantees by removing a past grants directory from its website. However, provides thorough information regarding its giving circles online. LCF prioritizes smaller, Latino-led grassroots organizations. LCF does not typically accept unsolicited proposals or requests for funding, but it invites interested grantseekers to reach out with inquiries about securing support. This is a key funder to know about for Bay Area groups.
PROFILE: Established in 1989, the Latino Community Foundation (LCF) is based in San Francisco, California and committed to unleashing the “power of Latinos in California.” LCF is the largest network of Latino donors, philanthropies and nonprofits in the nation, with over 400 members and 20 giving circles. It was originally founded as a United Way of the Bay Area affinity group to increase donations to Latino groups. Sandra Hernandez, the past CEO of the San Francisco Foundation, established it as a supporting organization of the San Francisco Foundation in 2003. Then in 2016, LCF became its own independent foundation. LCF’s current grantmaking, fundraising, and donor engagement falls into three general issue areas: Building Civic Power, Building Economic Power, and Advocacy campaigns.
Grants for the Bay Area and Northern California
The LCF supports grassroots organizations in California through several distinct means, including direct grantmaking, supporting giving circles, and working with other area donors and foundations to establish collaborative funds. While all of its grantmaking focuses on Northern California in some way, the majority of support derives from the Latino Giving Circle Network, which mobilizes donors’ collective resources for Latino-led organizations.
- Currently, there are over twenty giving circles supported by the Network that collectively have funded over 150 Latino-led grassroots nonprofits.
- Members of the giving circles donate at least $1,000 per year, and each giving circle has its own funding priority.
- For example, there is a San Francisco Latina Giving Circle, an East Bay Latina Giving Circle, a Latinos in Tech Giving Circle, and a Latinx LGBTQ Giving Circle.
Grants for Democracy and Civic Engagement
LCF has made a big push to increase civic participation and mobilize the Latino vote in recent years, including by investing at least $1.4 million in grassroots nonprofits that focus on voter engagement and mobilization. For the 2024 elections, LCF expanded its work beyond the Bay Area to other parts of California, as well as parts of Arizona and Nevada—states with large Latino populations. Civic engagement is at the heart of this funder’s mission.
The Building Civic Power initiative supports civic leadership and “facilitates conversations between community leaders and policy makers, mobilizes the Latino vote, and leads a California Latino Agenda.” The programs contained in this initiative include:
- The Latino Nonprofit Accelerator program is “an incubator that gives grassroots nonprofits the boost they need to grow into strong anchor institutions” through “branding, fundraising, and opening doors of opportunity for visionary Latino nonprofit leaders.”
- The Rest is Power: Sabbatical initiative opened in 2023 and funds “sabbaticals for … grassroots Latino leaders—honoring their work and fueling their impact through rest and renewal.”
- The Poderate program seeks to enact social change and increase civic engagement through the arts.
- The Capital Grants Programs “helps [Latino and Latina-led] organizations [and nonprofits] sustain their roots in their communities, enabling them to continue their crucial work without interruption.” At least $750,000 has been administered to over a dozen nonprofits to help secure ownership of permanent headquarters and sustainable organizational practices.
Additionally, LCF hosts the The Latino Power Fund, a $50 million pooled fund that works to “be the impetus for a just, equitable California where Latino-led grassroots organizations have the resources needed to achieve the political and civic wins [the] state requires for a representative democracy and an inclusive economy.”
- Dozens of fellow philanthropies have contributed to the Power Fund.
- LCF’s grants from this fund prioritize efforts to mitigate “growing threats against undocumented and mixed-status families” through “strategic capacity and preparedness, immigrant rights and defense, and legal support services to frontline immigrant rights organizations” in California, Arizona and Nevada.
Grants for Economic Equity and Racial Justice
LCF seeks to Build Economic Power in the Latino and BIPOC communities through a handful of programs that work to strengthen and grow Latino nonprofits and support Latino entrepreneurs.
- The Latino Capital Accelerator works to expand “access to capital” and bolster Latino-led nonprofits that “champion Latino entrepreneurship.”
- The Activate Imperial program is a “public-private partnership with a mission to uplift and strengthen Latino and Latina-led nonprofits across the Imperial Valley.” It supports local nonprofits and help them scale impact as more private money flows through this California region, assisting via collaboration, capacity building, and strategic support.
- The Promotora Cooperative program “centers around Promotoras, grassroots leaders, and community health workers, especially immigrant women, who have been at the forefront of recovery efforts during crises like wildfires and the pandemic.” The program helps immigrant women, especially Promotoras, develop “sustainable businesses and secure fair wages” through worker-owned cooperatives.
Additionally, LCF hosts the Latino Economic Opportunity Fund which “has invested over $1.6 million to strengthen the Latino small business ecosystem” since 2020. It supports Latino and Latina-led nonprofits, Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), Latina Social Ventures and led to the development of one of the Foundation’s giving circles, the Latino Entrepreneurship Giving Circle.
Grants for Humanitarian and Disaster Relief
The foundation also makes Rapid Response and Recovery grants that have supported everything from recovery from California wildfires and COVID-19 to hurricane and earthquake relief. These grants respond to the immediate needs of communities in times of crisis and are designed to be temporary and fast moving, while also serving to build power and connection in communities.
- According to the LCF grants FAQ, rapid response grants go to organizations that are “trusted by impacted communities, are led by strong leadership, and have the capacity to respond to the immediate needs of Latino and BIPOC families.”
- Currently, the Wildfire and Disaster Relief Fund operates as the LCF’s active rapid-response program, ensuring impacted Latino communities receive necessary support as rebuilding efforts ensue in the aftermath of 2025’s devastating wildfires in Southern California.
Important Grant Details:
Foundation grants vary based on which fund they come from. As a general guideline, most grants typically fall in the $10,000 to $200,000 range. The Bay Area and Northern California are priorities for LCF. However, the funder supports groups and causes throughout California.
- LCF funds community organizations whose boards and staff are more than 51 percent Latino. Groups must have operating budgets of less than $1.5 million and work in California to be eligible for grants.
- To be considered for funding, organizations must be Latino-led, promote civic engagement, and be deeply rooted in the community.
- Grant applications are by invitation only, but grantseekers should reach out to grants@latinocf.org for more information.
- Direct general questions to the LCF staff at info@latinocf.org or (415) 236-4020.
PEOPLE:
Search for staff contact info and bios in PeopleFinder (paid subscribers only).
LINKS:
