Funding search · EIN 943007979 · Novato, CA

Marin Community Foundation

A grantmaking public charity (files IRS Form 990, Schedule I). Charities like this often run real grant programs with application cycles.

5,238
grants reported
$990.8M
total given
2021–2024
filing years
$25,000
median grant

Based on grants this organization reported to the IRS for tax years 20212024. This is what they filed, not a complete record of their giving, and recent years may be incomplete because filings lag.

What they fund

scholarshipcampaigncenterreliefeducationfoodcapitaldisaster

Funder website ↗Full IRS filings ↗How this is builtReport an error

Funding pattern

What this funder pays for, at what size, and how to position adjacent work. Read from their filings, with every number checked against the record.

Where the money goes

  • Land conservation and acquisition, especially Point Reyes and West Marin
  • General operating support for Marin County human services nonprofits
  • College access, scholarships, and youth education programs
  • Bay Area arts institutions and performing arts organizations
  • Alzheimer's and biomedical research, plus university endowed funds
  • Immigrant services, housing, and food security in San Rafael and Novato

Typical grant

Median grant is $25,000, with the middle half between $10,500 and $75,204, so most of the 5,238 grants are modest. The seven-figure checks go to land acquisition deals, university endowments and scholarship funds, capital campaigns, and donor-advised transfers to affiliated entities like the Dagmar Dolby Fund. Many Marin nonprofits appear repeatedly across years with general operating support, so the small and mid-size giving is clearly renewable.

Their words

Phrases from their own grant descriptions, worth speaking back to them.

  • PROVIDE GENERAL OPERATING SUPPORT
  • PROVIDE UNRESTRICTED OPERATING SUPPORT
  • SUPPORT THE SUSTAINABILITY CAMPAIGN
  • LAND ACQUISITION
  • CAPITAL CAMPAIGN

Positioning adjacent work

  • Tie work to Point Reyes, West Marin, or Sonoma coast conservation if there is any geographic overlap.
  • Ask at $25,000 to $75,000 for a first request unless you have a capital or acquisition need.
  • Frame the request as general operating support, not a restricted project budget.
  • For health science, connect explicitly to Alzheimer's research or rare disease work they already fund.

Worth knowing: This is a community foundation with heavy donor-advised activity, so much of the giving reflects individual donor relationships rather than open strategy, and out-of-state grants to Yale, Cornell, and Purdue are almost certainly donor-directed. California takes 3,210 of 5,238 grants, and Marin County organizations dominate the recurring general operating support.

7 grants matching “easement · $144,818

  • $10,000

    Louisiana Environmental Action Network · Baton Rouge, LA · 2024

    Restoration and conservation easements

  • $6,000

    Salmon Valley Stewardship · Salmon, ID · 2024

    Support for conservation easements

  • $68,818

    Golden State Land Conservancy Incorporated · Sebastopol, CA · 2023

    Forestville conservation easement

  • $20,000

    Paint Rock Forest Research Center · Paint Rock, AL · 2023

    Support conservation easements

  • $10,000

    Louisiana Environmental Action Network · Baton Rouge, LA · 2023

    Restoration & conservation easements

  • $20,000

    Paint Rock Forest Research Center · Paint Rock, AL · 2022

    Conservation easements support

  • $10,000

    Louisiana Environmental Action Network · Baton Rouge, LA · 2022

    Restoration and conservation easements

Top recipients

Repeat recipients are the strongest signal of whether a funder has an open door or quietly re-funds the same organizations.

  • Dayton Foundation Plus2 grants · $391.1M
  • The American Friends of Winchester College1 grant · $22.5M
  • Canine Companions for Independence4 grants · $14.2M
  • Stanford University Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior Univers4 grants · $13.4M
  • University of California San Francisco Foundation4 grants · $10.0M
  • 10000 Degrees4 grants · $10.0M
  • Dagmar Dolby Fund1 grant · $10.0M
  • Purdue Research Foundation4 grants · $7.6M
  • Tipping Point Community4 grants · $6.6M
  • Nature Conservancy4 grants · $5.9M

Giving over time

$518.9M
2021
$109.6M
2022
$176.2M
2023
$186.1M
2024

Grant history

The 100 largest of 5,238 grants.

  • $385.7M

    Dayton Foundation Plus · Dayton, OH · 2021

    Transfer of assets

  • $22.5M

    The American Friends of Winchester College · New York, NY · 2023

    Provide support for the bursary endowment fund

  • $14.0M

    Canine Companions for Independence · Santa Rosa, CA · 2023

    Provide general operating support

  • $10.0M

    Dagmar Dolby Fund · Novato, CA · 2024

    Grant making support

  • $5.5M

    Dayton Foundation Plus · Dayton, OH · 2022

    Transfer of assets

  • $5.0M

    American Civil Liberties Union Foundation · New York, NY · 2021

    Racial justice program

  • $5.0M

    The Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson'S Research · New York, NY · 2021

    General operating support

  • $4.8M

    Stanford University Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior Univers · Stanford, CA · 2023

    Benefit the joanne haas memorial fund

  • $4.4M

    Nature Conservancy · Sacramento, CA · 2024

    Support point reyes conservation

  • $4.4M

    10000 Degrees · San Rafael, CA · 2024

    Support the sustainability campaign

  • $3.7M

    Impactassets · Bethesda, MD · 2021

    Venture impact funds

  • $3.4M

    University of California San Francisco Foundation · San Francisco, CA · 2024

    Ucsf parnassus campus renovation project

  • $3.4M

    Stanford University Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior Univers · Stanford, CA · 2024

    Support elmore endowed/expendable funds

  • $3.3M

    The West Marin Fund · Point Reyes Station, CA · 2024

    Provide general operating support

  • $3.1M

    Purdue Research Foundation · West Lafayette, IN · 2021

    Program support

  • $3.1M

    Yale University · New Haven, CT · 2024

    Scholarship, track& resilience fund

  • $3.0M

    Princes Trust America · New York, NY · 2021

    General operating support

  • $3.0M

    Larkspur Library and Community Center Foundation · Larkspur, CA · 2023

    Provide general operating support

  • $2.8M

    University of California San Francisco Foundation · San Francisco, CA · 2023

    Establish the marshall carroll endowment in urology

  • $2.8M

    Equation Campaign and Global Climate Legal Defense · Novato, CA · 2024

    Grant making support

  • $2.7M

    Tipping Point Community · San Francisco, CA · 2023

    Provide general operating support

  • $2.7M

    American Prairie · Bozeman, MT · 2024

    Support to acquire the tallman ranch

  • $2.7M

    Stanford University Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior Univers · Stanford, CA · 2021

    Program support

  • $2.7M

    Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco · San Francisco, CA · 2024

    Support dagmar dolby endowed fund

  • $2.6M

    Stanford University Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior Univers · Stanford, CA · 2022

    Educational program support

  • $2.5M

    Point Reyes National Seashore Association · Point Reyes Station, CA · 2024

    Provide general operating support

  • $2.5M

    Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco · San Francisco, CA · 2023

    Provide general operating support

  • $2.5M

    First 5 Santa Clara · San Jose, CA · 2023

    Provide general operating support

  • $2.4M

    University of California San Francisco Foundation · San Francisco, CA · 2021

    Program support

  • $2.3M

    The J David Gladstone Institutes · San Francisco, CA · 2021

    Program support

  • $2.1M

    The Conservation Fund · Arlington, VA · 2024

    Support the yowlumnee hills project

  • $2.1M

    Save the Redwoods League · San Francisco, CA · 2024

    Sonoma coast property acquisitions

  • $2.1M

    The University of Virginia McIntire School of Commerce Foundation · Charlottesville, VA · 2022

    Bicentennial professorship support

  • $2.0M

    The J David Gladstone Institutes · San Francisco, CA · 2024

    Support alzheimer's research

  • $2.0M

    Naacp Legal Defense & Educational Fund · New York, NY · 2021

    General operating support

  • $2.0M

    Marin Shakespeare Company · San Rafael, CA · 2021

    General operating support

  • $2.0M

    Enriching Lives Through Music · San Rafael, CA · 2024

    Provide capital funds to purchase buildi

  • $2.0M

    10000 Degrees · San Rafael, CA · 2021

    General operating support

  • $1.9M

    Cornell University · Ithaca, NY · 2024

    Support the fanwood scholarship

  • $1.9M

    University of California Berkeley Foundation · Berkeley, CA · 2024

    Establish robinson scholars program

  • $1.9M

    10000 Degrees · San Rafael, CA · 2023

    Provide educational scholarship support

  • $1.9M

    University of Oregon Foundation · Eugene, OR · 2023

    Support for hedco institute in the college of education at the university of oregon

  • $1.8M

    Trust for Public Land · Los Angeles, CA · 2024

    Provide general operating & land acquisition funding

  • $1.8M

    Wind River Tribal Buffalo Initiative · Kinnear, WY · 2024

    Support the purchase of properties

  • $1.8M

    Purdue Research Foundation · West Lafayette, IN · 2023

    Support for the elmore family school of electrical and computer engineering

  • $1.8M

    10000 Degrees · San Rafael, CA · 2022

    Scholarship support

  • $1.8M

    Planned Parenthood Federation of America · New York, NY · 2021

    General operating support

  • $1.7M

    Tipping Point Community · San Francisco, CA · 2021

    General operating support

  • $1.7M

    University of California Berkeley Foundation · Berkeley, CA · 2022

    Educational program support

  • $1.7M

    Cornell University · Ithaca, NY · 2023

    Provide a scholarship to the san rafael high school scholarship

  • $1.7M

    University of Oregon Foundation · Eugene, OR · 2024

    Establish, launch, and implement the hedco institute in the college of education at the university of oregon

  • $1.6M

    University of California Berkeley Foundation · Berkeley, CA · 2023

    Provide general operating support

  • $1.6M

    Sf-Marin Food Bank · San Francisco, CA · 2021

    General operating support

  • $1.5M

    Myriad USA · New York, NY · 2024

    Support the uwc east african endowment

  • $1.5M

    Alzheimer'S Disease & Related Disorders Association · San Rafael, CA · 2024

    Support the part the cloud challenge

  • $1.5M

    Resources Legacy Fund · Sacramento, CA · 2022

    General operating support

  • $1.5M

    Telluride Foundation · Telluride, CO · 2024

    Provide funding for general operations & environmental projects

  • $1.4M

    University of California San Francisco Foundation · San Francisco, CA · 2022

    Program and research support

  • $1.4M

    World Central Kitchen · Washington, DC · 2021

    Disaster relief support

  • $1.4M

    Purdue Research Foundation · West Lafayette, IN · 2022

    Educational program support

  • $1.3M

    Cornell University · Ithaca, NY · 2021

    Scholarship support

  • $1.3M

    New Venture Fund · Washington, DC · 2022

    General operating support

  • $1.3M

    University of Oregon Foundation · Eugene, OR · 2022

    Educational program support

  • $1.3M

    Golden Gate National Parks Association · San Francisco, CA · 2021

    Program support

  • $1.3M

    Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors · New York, NY · 2022

    General operating support

  • $1.3M

    Sanctuary for Families · New York, NY · 2021

    General operating support

  • $1.3M

    Purdue Research Foundation · West Lafayette, IN · 2024

    Electrical and computer engineering

  • $1.3M

    Homeward Bound of Marin · Novato, CA · 2023

    Provide general operating support

  • $1.3M

    Schwab Charitable Fund · Orlando, FL · 2023

    Support for king cahill family fund

  • $1.2M

    Tipping Point Community · San Francisco, CA · 2024

    Support poc equity investments

  • $1.2M

    Golden Gate National Parks Association · San Francisco, CA · 2023

    Support for one tam, marin county and san mateo county

  • $1.2M

    Golden Gate National Parks Association · San Francisco, CA · 2022

    Environmental projects support

  • $1.2M

    Center for Reproductive Rights · New York, NY · 2023

    Provide general operating support

  • $1.2M

    Brown University · Providence, RI · 2021

    Endowment fund support

  • $1.2M

    International Union for Conservation of Nature - United States · Washington, DC · 2022

    Vjosa wild river national park support

  • $1.2M

    Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California · San Francisco, CA · 2021

    General operating support

  • $1.2M

    Schwab Charitable Fund · Orlando, FL · 2022

    Support donor advised funds

  • $1.2M

    Center for Reproductive Rights · New York, NY · 2022

    General operating support

  • $1.1M

    Trustees of Hamilton College · Clinton, NY · 2024

    Support construction of innovation cente

  • $1.1M

    Bay Area Creative Foundation · San Rafael, CA · 2024

    Provide general operating support

  • $1.1M

    Carnegie Endowment for International Peace · Washington, DC · 2024

    Support the endowment

  • $1.1M

    Carnegie Endowment for International Peace · Washington, DC · 2023

    Provide annual fund support

  • $1.1M

    Center for Reproductive Rights · New York, NY · 2021

    General operating support

  • $1.1M

    Sf-Marin Food Bank · San Francisco, CA · 2024

    Support the innovation fund

  • $1.1M

    Jewish Community Federation of Sfpeninsulamarin & Sonoma Counties · San Francisco, CA · 2022

    Support donor advised funds

  • $1.1M

    Center for Reproductive Rights · New York, NY · 2024

    Provide general operating support

  • $1.1M

    Haight Street Art Center · San Francisco, CA · 2024

    Provide general operating support

  • $1.1M

    Alzheimer'S Disease & Related Disorders Association · San Jose, CA · 2021

    General operating support

  • $1.0M

    Marin General Hospital Foundation · Greenbrae, CA · 2024

    Support the marinhealth capital campaign

  • $1.0M

    Community Initiatives · Oakland, CA · 2024

    Women in data science worldwide

  • $1.0M

    Positive Coaching Alliance · Oakland, CA · 2023

    Provide annual fund support

  • $1.0M

    Innocence Project · New York, NY · 2021

    General operating support

  • $1.0M

    Alzheimer'S Disease & Related Disorders Association · San Jose, CA · 2022

    Program and services support

  • $1.0M

    University of Oregon Foundation · Eugene, OR · 2021

    General operating support

  • $1.0M

    African Parks Foundation of America · Washington, DC · 2024

    Support the great nile migration landscape project in south sudan and general operating support

  • $1.0M

    African Parks Foundation of America · Washington, DC · 2023

    Provide general operating support

  • $1.0M

    San Francisco Opera Association · San Francisco, CA · 2021

    General operating support

  • $1.0M

    San Francisco Opera Association · San Francisco, CA · 2022

    General operating support

  • $1.0M

    City Harvest · New York, NY · 2021

    General operating support

  • $1.0M

    San Francisco Opera Association · San Francisco, CA · 2024

    Provide general operating support

View all 5,238 grants →

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Source: IRS Form 990, Schedule I, as filed by this organization. These are grants already paid. Grants paid directly to individuals are reported to the IRS only as totals, so they do not appear as named lines here.