OVERVIEW: The Salesforce Foundation supports STEM education and workforce development at the local and national level in the United States and abroad. It supports colleges, universities, and academic organizations. It prioritizes organizations improving the representation of women in girls in the technology and STEM sectors.
IP TAKE: This corporate funder provides both project specific and general operating support grants. It reviews letters of inquiry every quarter, though it doesn’t accept unsolicited applications. However, another way to secure funding here is through the company’s employee giving, so network with one to get an in around the more less accessible grant process. Much of this employee-driven giving, however, focuses on the Bay Area, where Salesforce is headquartered. National and global grantmaking are conducted directly through the foundation. Salesforce also makes in-kind donations of its technology to nonprofits. Salesforce has provided over $115 million in grant funding to date and has given access to Salesforce technology to over 28,000 charitable and nonprofit organizations and donated more than 1.3 million employee volunteer hours. This is not the most approachable foundation.
As a side note, Benioff and his wife have made several big grants to Bay Area hospitals.
PROFILE: Marc Benioff founded the Salesforce Foundation in 2002, but its roots date further back. Marc Benioff is a firm believer in what he refers to as “pay as you go” philanthropy, an idea he has credited to Mata Amritanandamayi. He once penned a blog post that generated a lot of attention when he suggested that those fortunate enough to become rich should give their money away now, rather than to wait until they are finished making money to figure out what to do with it. In 1999, when Salesforce founder Marc Benioff established the company’s 1-1-1 philanthropic model, the foundation sought to increase its charitable dedications through 1% of the Salesforce’s equity, 1% of its product, and 1% of the employees’ time. Benioff rebranded the 1-1-1 model as the Salesforce Foundation in 2002. The foundation’s current grantmaking programs include Education, Workforce Development, Child Welfare and Thriving Communities, and Employee Inspired Giving.
While climate justice and the environment are not stated funding priorities of the Salesforce Foundation, Salesforce recently committed $100 million in grants by the end of the decade to groups “working on ecosystem restoration and climate justice.” The Benioffs, too, committed an additional $100 million to establish the Benioff TIME Tree Fund and another $100 million in investments from TIME Ventures, the Benioffs’ investment fund, toward the cause. Also, in the environmental space, Salesforce and the Benioffs helped establish 1t.org, an organization dedicated to fostering the growth and health of one trillion trees by 2030. The couple donated $10 million to the University of California Santa Barbara to establish the Benioff Ocean Initiative. They also helped found the Pacific Islands Research and Conservation program and the Friends of Ocean Action initiative.
Grants for Work and Economic Opportunity
Salesforce’s Workforce Development grantmaking invests in high school students and programs that help them to make “informed choices about their career pathways by providing them with the opportunity to explore career tracks, gain (often paid) work experience, build their skills, and grow their networks.” This program’s initiatives include Diverse Pathways to Employment and Bridging Transitions Between Higher Education and Careers, which works to ensure that “higher education students from underrepresented and underserved communities have access to the professional experiences, skills, and networks needed to secure strong first jobs post-graduation.” Past economic opportunity grantees include Jopling and Braven. This program makes grants internationally and nationally across the U.S.
Grants for K-12 and STEM Education
The foundation’s current education program, runs three subprograms: Academic Success, Educator Support, and Higher Education and Career readiness, which supports the development of career skills in young adults. The foundation’s work in this area hasn’t evolved much, but it keeps renaming initiatives. Grantees include organizations that provide free after school and summer coding classes such as Girls Who Code and Coder Dojo. The foundation has also supported a number of public school districts in California.
While the foundation does not have a dedicated higher education grantmaking program, it has an established history of supporting such colleges, universities, and academic organizations. Indeed, it conducts such grantmaking through its STEM education giving, which in the past supported and promoted “innovative, scalable solutions in education and STEM programs with a focus on computer science and increasing exposure of underrepresented groups and girls.”
Salesforce also funds institutions of higher learning through its Youth Workforce Development program, which aims to provide work experience focusing on “21st century skills” and “help people aged 14 to 24, especially girls and opportunity youth, gain work experience.” Past grantees include Babson College, the Ball State University Foundation, and Pennsylvania State University.
Grants for Women and Girls
While the foundation does not maintain a specific grantmaking program dedicated to girls and women, it does prioritize them across grantmaking for education and Workforce Development. The foundation, in 2015, previously launched a girls portfolio to “inspire and educate young girls to pursue careers in technology through events, classes, and hands-on experiences.” While this no longer appears on the foundation’s site, recent giving reflects a continued commitment to girls’ education and economic development by helping them to obtain work experience and increase their interest in the technology field. Past Youth Workforce Development program grantees include Year Up, Spark, and Genesys Works.
Grants for Diseases
While the Salesforce Foundation does not have a dedicated health or disease grant program, it has an established history of supporting disease-related organizations, such as the Abramson Cancer Center, Agape Therapeutic Riding Center, and AIDS Action Committee. The Benioff family also gives very generously to Bay Area hospitals.
Grants for Arts and Culture
Although the Salesforce Foundation does not have a specific grantmaking program dedicated to arts and culture, it often makes grants to major cultural institutions in the communities where its employees live and work, such as San Francisco, Seattle, Indianapolis, and New Orleans.
Grants for Dance
Examples of past dance grantees include the San Francisco Ballet Association, the Seattle Ensemble of Songs and Dances, and Spectrum Dance Theater.
Grants for Theater
Examples of past theater and performing arts grantees include the American Conservatory Theater and Booth Tarkington Civic Theatre of Indianapolis. Salesforce’s theater related giving is not as abundant as its other areas of grantmaking interest.
Grants for Visual Arts
Examples of past grantees for the visual arts include the Threadhead Cultural Foundation located in New Orleans, Louisiana; and Root Division, a visual arts nonprofit located in San Francisco, California.
Other grantmaking Opportunities
Salesforce has pledged $10 million a year through 2031 to nonprofits working in ecosystem restoration and climate justice. The foundation does not have a program dedicated to climate funding, and it is too soon to know what form this grantmaking will take. However, this is a space new grantseekers will want to keep an eye on.
Important Grant Details:
Salesforce Foundation grants can range anywhere from $10,000 to $5 million. While the foundation has no state geographical restrictions, its grantmaking tends to center around San Francisco, New York City, Seattle, and Indianapolis. Interested grantseekers should review the Funding Guidelines and check the website regularly for news.
The organization generally accepts full grant proposals by invitation only, except when they release open calls for proposals. Note that Salesforce prioritizes organizations in locations where their employees live and work.
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