Los Angeles & Southern California Grants for Nonprofits
Learn about grants for Southern California nonprofits by exploring the curated list of top funders below. Members can also research funding opportunities in Southern California using the search tool for GrantFinder. Become a member.
Funding trends in SoCal
Southern California is a complex and diverse region, encompassing not only Los Angeles and San Diego, but also Ventura, Santa Barbara, Orange and several other counties. The region is famously expensive and home to great fortunes, and it is also home to ever-increasing economic inequality, a homelessness crisis, and formidable climate challenges. The region’s philanthropic landscape is as vast and varied as the region itself.
Across the region, the issue receiving the most philanthropic support is health, followed by arts and culture, K-12 education, and community and economic development. As in most regions, the organizations receiving the most grant money tend to be large institutions (like the Salk Institute or Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles). But there is a core group of locally focused foundations that reliably give to smaller nonprofits, including many social-justice-oriented and community-based groups.
Those leading foundations are a dominant force in Southern California philanthropy, and they often work together and have an influential voice in the civic sphere. These include The California Endowment (which makes grants statewide) as well as the Ahmanson, Annenberg, Parsons and Weingart foundations, which have locally or regionally focused programs.
California also has a strong network of community foundations, including in Southern California the California Community Foundation, the San Diego Foundation, and the Orange County Community Foundation. The Jewish Community Foundations of Los Angeles and San Diego are also important funders.
Trust-based philanthropy increased in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. There are also growing trends of collaboration, community-led grantmaking, and support of movement-building among many of the region’s top funders.
