OVERVIEW: The Fund for Santa Barbara supports social, political, economic and environmental justice in Southern California.
FUNDING AREAS: Social justice, economic justice, environmental justice, political justice, equity
IP TAKE: This is a local and very focused social justice funder that has opportunities available for multi-year support, teen-led philanthropy, donor-advised grants and emerging needs grants.
PROFILE: Established in 1980, the Fund for Santa Barbara (FSB) is a community foundation with office locations in Santa Barbara and Santa Maria, California. Nancy Alexander and the founding board members helped to launch the foundation, which originally used Los Angeles’ Liberty Hill Foundation as a fiscal sponsor. FSB became an independent funder in 1985. The foundation aims to "advance progressive change by strengthening movements for social, political, economic and environmental justice.”
The Fund for Santa Barbara is a leading funder of social change and addresses the needs of people who have had justice and equity denied to them. It commonly funds projects that address the root causes of social, environmental and economic issues. It rarely funds supporting social services unless these organizations have progressive social change elements integrated into their programs. FSB provides general support, project grants, grassroots efforts and seed grants to small organizations and for specific purposes to larger and more well-established organizations. Past grants have gone to cultural arts centers, fatherhood forums, start-up funds and general operating support.
Grants range between about $1,000 and $10,000. Learn more about this funder’s local giving by examining its recent tax records. Grantmaking focuses on Southern California and mostly the Santa Barbara area. Past local grantees include the Cuyama Valley Family Resource Center, the Environmental Defense Center and Ethnic Studies Now Santa Barbara.
This foundation accepts unsolicited grant applications from nonprofits and uses an online grant application portal. There are spring and fall grant cycles with requests for proposals typically announced around January and August. Direct general questions to the staff at 805-962-9164 or via online form.
PEOPLE:
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