Costa-Olson Family Foundation

Nancy & Joachim Bechtle Foundation

New York, NY

The foundation supports cultural, educational, health, and community organizations, with most of its grants going to California and smaller shares to New York and Washington, D.C. In 2025, grants ranged from $500 to $100,000, with a median of $10,000. It does not accept unsolicited requests and gives only to preselected organizations.

IBM International Foundation

Armonk, NY

The IBM International Foundation funds education and workforce programs that build 21st-century and technology job skills, including initiatives for underserved students and job seekers. Its 2024 grants ranged from $10,000 to $8.48 million, with a median of $100,000, and went to organizations across several U.S. states, especially Delaware and Massachusetts. It funds only preselected organizations and does not accept unsolicited requests.

Oberndorf Family Foundation

San Francisco, CA

The Oberndorf Family Foundation supports education, health, environmental, human-services, and arts and cultural organizations, primarily in California, with substantial funding also going to Texas. Its 2025 grants ranged from $1,000 to $7.5 million, with a median of $45,000; it funds only preselected organizations and does not accept unsolicited requests.

Louise M Davies Foundation

San Francisco, CA

The foundation supports education, arts and culture, and science organizations, with most 2025 funding going to California recipients. Its 2025 grants ranged from $2,500 to $75,000, with a median of $15,000. It funds only preselected charities and does not accept unsolicited requests.

The Joseph & Mercedes McMicking

San Francisco, CA

The Joseph & Mercedes McMicking funds children’s education and welfare, including tuition assistance and arts, science, and technology programs, primarily for nonprofits serving San Francisco Bay Area residents. Its 2025 grants ranged from $1,000 to $25,000, with a median of $10,000. It accepts applications online after prospective applicants contact the Executive Director and submit a letter of inquiry; invited applicants receive an application link.

Robert and Dana Emery Family Foundation

Wilmington, DE

The foundation supports scholarships, education, literacy and numeracy, research, and youth enrichment, with 2025 grants going mainly to California, Massachusetts, Colorado, New York, and Virginia. Its grants ranged from $5,000 to $1.3 million, with a median of $25,000. It accepts written requests in any format from 501(c)(3) organizations; the stated deadline is June 30.

Elizabeth Ring Mather

Cleveland, OH

Elizabeth Ring Mather supports qualifying organizations in areas represented by its grants, including arts and culture, education, health care, conservation, and social services. In 2024, it made 105 grants totaling $1.093 million; awards ranged from $1,000 to $125,000, with a median of $5,000. Grants are not geographically limited but generally go to organizations in Cleveland and places where trustees reside; the foundation accepts applications by letter and does not restrict giving to preselected organizations.

The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University

Redwood City, CA

The Board of Trustees of Stanford University supports education, research, health care, and related organizations, including universities and medical research institutions. Its 2025 grants ranged from $6,000 to $50 million, with a median of $40,000, and went mainly to recipients in Wisconsin, Massachusetts, and California. No process for unsolicited requests is specified.

Swig Foundation

San Francisco, CA

The Swig Foundation supports preselected charitable organizations across education, arts and culture, health, media, and community change, with the largest share of 2024 giving going to California, followed by New York, Idaho, Washington, DC, and Virginia. Its 2024 grants ranged from $150 to $31,415, with a median of $2,500. It does not accept unsolicited funding requests.

The Bernard Osher Foundation

San Francisco, CA

The Bernard Osher Foundation funds higher education, scholarships, lifelong learning for adults 50 and older, select integrative health programs, and arts and educational nonprofits; its arts and education grants focus on the San Francisco Bay Area and Maine, while other programs are national. In 2024, grants ranged from $3,500 to $119,000, with a median of $15,000. It does not accept unsolicited requests for its local arts and educational program, and its other programs have no open application process.

Ralph & Marsha Guggenheim Family

San Francisco, CA

Lisa & Douglas Goldman Fund

San Francisco, CA

The Lisa & Douglas Goldman Fund supports nonprofits working in democracy and civil liberties, civic education, the environment, the Jewish community, and reproductive health and rights; some other areas are invitation-only. Grants ranged from $100 to $2 million in 2024, with a median of $15,000, and most funding went to California, though some programs support work nationally or across multiple states. It accepts unsolicited Letters of Inquiry on an ongoing basis in eligible areas; requests in invitation-only areas are not open to unsolicited applicants.