Women's Fund of Santa Barbara
The Women’s Fund of Santa Barbara is a public charity based in Santa Barbara, California. It is a volunteer-led collective donor organization that pools members’ contributions to fund local nonprofit programs and capital projects addressing the needs of women, children, and families in south Santa Barbara County.
Key facts about Women's Fund of Santa Barbara
In short: Women's Fund of Santa Barbara gave $1.3M across 11 grants in 2025 (avg $114K), mostly in California. 73% of 2025 grantees were new. Source: 2025 IRS Form 990.
- EIN
- 82-5169678
- Latest 990 filing
- Form 990, 2025
- Annual giving (2025)
- $1,250,000
- Grants made (2025)
- 11
- Average grant
- $113,636
- Median grant
- $100,000
- New grantees (estimate)
- 73% first-time grantees (8 of 11, 2025; small sample)
- Total assets
- $2,727,012
- Primary geography
- California (100% of itemized 2025 grant dollars)
- Accepts unsolicited proposals
- No
- How to apply
- The fund does not accept unsolicited requests. Full details ↓
- Deadline
- The Small Grants Pilot Program’s 2026 deadline was June 30, 2026, and has passed.
Data from IRS Form 990, 2025; updated September 2026. New grantees are estimated by matching recipient names across years (methodology). Application details from Grantable's research on the foundation's public materials; confirm on its website before applying.
Financial Overview
From 2025 IRS Form 990 · View filing
Total Assets
$2.7M
+15.1% YoY
Annual Giving
$1.3M
+11.1% YoY
Grant Count
11
+10.0% YoY
Avg Grant Size
$114K
+1.0% YoY
Is Women's Fund of Santa Barbara open to new grantees?
73%
first-time grantees, 2025
In 2025, 8 of 11 grantees (73%) were first-time recipients. With only 11 grantees, that is a small sample: one grantee more or less moves the share by about 9 points. First grants averaged $106K; repeat grants $133K. How we count
Medians: $105K first-time, $100K repeat.
Estimate from itemized grant lists in IRS Form 990 filings (2020–2025). Recipient names are matched across years, so a renamed or misspelled grantee can look new; grants to individuals are left out. Methodology.
Mission & Focus Areas
The fund’s mission is to enable women to combine their charitable dollars into significant grants addressing critical needs of women, children, and families in south Santa Barbara County, and to educate and inspire women to engage in lasting community change.
Its website identifies support for nonprofit programs and capital projects. Examples of work supported in its 2025 grants include child-care licensing, food distribution, mental health staffing, services for people experiencing homelessness, vision care, early-childhood scholarships, transitional housing for youth leaving foster care, and domestic-violence facility security.
For the 2026 Small Grants Pilot Program, the listed priorities are housing, family support, mental health, early-childhood support, health care, youth support, education, personal safety, and food security and nutrition. Among the grantees, Good Samaritan Shelter describes its mission as providing emergency, transitional, and support services to people experiencing homelessness and people in recovery; Carpinteria Children’s Project says it connects families to early education, quality care, resources, and support; and Showers of Blessing Santa Barbara says it provides free hot showers and promotes hygienic care for people experiencing homelessness in Santa Barbara County.
Grantmaking
The fund’s 2025 filing reports 11 grants totaling $1,250,000. Grants ranged from $75,000 to $200,000, with a median of $100,000. The fund’s website separately reports a $1.275 million grant pool for 2025–2026.
The 2025 filing lists these grants: Children’s Resource & Referral of Santa Barbara County, $200,000, for expansion of a child-care licensing program; Good Samaritan Shelter, $150,000, for a food truck; New Beginnings Counseling Center, $150,000, for increased mental-health care staffing; PATH Santa Barbara, $110,000, for privacy partitions in a women’s homeless dorm; SEE International, $110,000, for expansion of its vision-care program; Carpinteria Children’s Project, $100,000, for dual-language immersion program scholarships; Channel Islands YMCA, $100,000, for transitional housing for youth exiting foster care; Domestic Violence Solutions, $100,000, for facility security improvements; Mothers’ Helpers, $80,000, for a support center coordinator; CASA – Court Appointed Special Advocates, $75,000, for a data-management system upgrade and specialist; and Showers of Blessing Santa Barbara, $75,000, for a new truck base.
The fund says its Research Committee identifies and evaluates potential projects, invites selected agencies to provide further information and detailed financial reports, conducts site visits, and recommends projects for a member vote. Its website says the fund does not accept grant applications; agencies must be invited to submit an application. Grant recipients provide mid-year and year-end reports and participate in the Grants in Action program, which includes site visits and educational forums.
The Small Grants Pilot Program offers unrestricted grants of $10,000 or $25,000 to qualifying agencies with annual revenue of up to $500,000 that support one or more of the program’s stated priorities. Agencies must have IRS approval or a qualified fiscal agent. The program’s application window was June 1–30, 2026; that deadline has passed. The fund’s website says awardees will be announced in November 2026.
Review Cycle
The Small Grants Pilot Program’s 2026 deadline was June 30, 2026, and has passed.
How to Apply
The fund does not accept unsolicited requests. For its regular grantmaking, nonprofit agencies must be invited to submit an application. The Small Grants Pilot Program had a separate application process for eligible agencies; its 2026 application period is closed.
Ready to take the next step with Women's Fund of Santa Barbara?
Geographic Focus
Where this funder awards grants
The fund describes its service area as south Santa Barbara County, from Isla Vista to Carpinteria. All grant dollars itemized in the 2025 filing went to recipients in California.
Grant Distribution by State
Share of 2025 grant dollars across all 11 itemized grants.
States
Cities
Giving Over Time
Total grant dollars and number of grants per year
From 2020 to 2025, annual grant giving ranged from $685K (2020) to $1.3M (2025). In 2025 it made 11 grants totaling $1.3M.
Grant Insights
How this funder distributes its grants
Top Recipients
Top 10 recipients in 2025
The largest 2025 recipient was Children's Resource & Referral of Santa Barbara County ($200K). Together the top 10 received $1.2M.
Grant Size Distribution
52 grants across all recorded years
The most common grant size was in the $100–250K range: 31 grants of 52 (60%).
Giving History
Grant recipients and amounts by year
| Recipient | Purpose | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Children's Resource & Referral of Santa Barbara County Santa Barbara, CA | Expansion of Child-Care Licensing Program | $200,000 |
| Good Samaritan Shelter Santa Barbara, CA | Good Samwich Food Truck | $150,000 |
| New Beginnings Counseling Center Santa Barbara, CA | Increased Mental Health Care Staff | $150,000 |
| Path Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA | Privacy Partitions for Homeless Womens Dorm | $110,000 |
| See International Goleta, CA | Expansion of See Vision Care Program | $110,000 |
| Carpinteria Children's Project Carpinteria, CA | Dual Language Immersion Program Scholarships | $100,000 |
| Channel Islands YMCA Carpinteria, CA | Transitional Housing for Youth Exiting Foster Care | $100,000 |
| Domestic Violence Solutions Santa Barbara, CA | Security Improvements at DVS Facilities | $100,000 |
| Mothers' Helpers Inc Goleta, CA | Support Center Coordinator | $80,000 |
| CASA - Court Appointed Special Advocates Santa Maria, CA | Data Management System Upgrade and Specialist | $75,000 |
Financial History
Multi-year comparison from IRS filings
| Filing year | Assets | Revenue | Expenses | Grants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $2,727,012 | $1,492,078 | $1,370,638 | $1,250,000 |
| 2024 | $2,369,078 | $1,459,107 | $1,248,823 | $1,125,000 |
| 2023 | $2,215,810 | $1,312,795 | $1,036,032 | $925,000 |
| Metric | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Assets | $2,727,012 | $2,369,078 | $2,215,810 |
| Revenue | $1,492,078 | $1,459,107 | $1,312,795 |
| Expenses | $1,370,638 | $1,248,823 | $1,036,032 |
| Net Investment Income | $43,163 | $48,982 | $30,863 |
Data update history
When this profile's IRS filing data changed on Grantable
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2020 (received by the IRS September 9, 2021)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2021 (received by the IRS March 28, 2022)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2022 (received by the IRS April 26, 2023)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2023 (received by the IRS March 9, 2024)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2024 (received by the IRS April 7, 2025)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2025 (received by the IRS April 16, 2026)
- IRS filings on file for fiscal years 2019–2025
Leadership & Key People
Leadership team and compensation from IRS filings
The 2025 filing lists Carolyn Jabs as chair; Megan Stichter as treasurer and finance chair; Sabina White as secretary; Lauren Trujillo as vice chair; Katya Armistead as group captain liaison; Roberta Collier as events chair; Sarah De Tagyos as sponsorship chair; Jamie Dufek as past chair; Yonie Harris as grantee liaison chair; and Nancy Harter as governance chair.
Women's Fund of Santa Barbara is led by Laurel Tumbler, It Committee Chair since 2025 (on filings since 2019); none of the 17 officers listed in 2025 report compensation.
Officers on the 2025 filing
Laurel Tumbler
It Committee Chair
Information Technology Chair → Technology Chair, 2023
Technology Chair → It Committee Chair, 2025
On filings since 2019
30 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Lynn Karlson
Resource Development Chair
Board Chair → Endowment Chair, 2023
Endowment Chair → Resource Development Chair, 2025
On filings since 2019
15 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Nancy Harter
Governance Chair
On filings since 2019
8 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Sarah De Tagyos
Sponsorship Chair
Communications & Marketing Co-Chair → Communications Committee, 2022
Communications Committee → Sponsorship Chair, 2025
On filings since 2019
25 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Kathy Hollis
Volunteer Engagement Chair
Volunteer Engagement & Executive Director Events → Volunteer Engagement Committee, 2023
Volunteer Engagement Committee → Volunteer Engagement Chair, 2025
On filings since 2021
15 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Carolyn Jabs
Chair
Communications Committee → Vice Chair, 2024
Vice Chair → Chair, 2025
On filings since 2023
20 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Yonie Harris
Grantee Liaison Chair
Research Chair → Grantee Liaison Chair, 2025
On filings since 2023
10 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Roberta Collier
Events Chair
Educational Events Co-Chair → Events Chair, 2025
On filings since 2024
15 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Suzi Schomer
Endowment Chair
Endowment Committee → Endowment Chair, 2025
On filings since 2024
2 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Megan Stichter
Treasurer & Finance Chair
New on the 2025 filing
5 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Jamie Dufek
Past Chair
Communications Chair → Board Chair, 2023
Board Chair → Past Chair, 2025
On filings since 2019
6 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Sabina White
Secretary
Research Co-Chair → Secretary, 2023
On filings since 2020
5 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Lauren Trujillo
Vice Chair
Membership Chair → Vice Chair, 2025
On filings since 2021
10 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Kerry Parker
Communications
Communications Co-Chair → Communications, 2025
On filings since 2024
8 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Linda Putnam
Group Captain Liaison
Group Captain → Group Captain Liaison, 2025
On filings since 2024
25 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Katya Armistead
Group Captain Liaison
New on the 2025 filing
15 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Margie Larkin
Grantee Liaison Committee
New on the 2025 filing
8 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Former officers (16)
- Former: Kathy Dunlap (2020–2024) — CFO, Treasurer & Finance Chair
- Former: Denise Hinkle (2022–2024) — Communications Committee
- Former: Mary Brown (2022–2024) — Membership Committee
- Former: Jacki Belt (2020–2023) — Volunteer Engagement Chair
- Former: Michele Neely Saltoun (2021–2023) — Research Co-Chair
- Former: Marita Hawryluk (2022–2023) — Research Co-Chair
- Former: Mary Luthy (2022–2023) — Communications Co-Chair
- Former: Marjorie Larkin (2023) — Communications Committee
- Former: Melissa Gough (2019–2022) — Corporate Secretary
- Former: Linda Stafford Burrows (2020–2021) — Educational Events Chair
- Former: Shelley Hurst (2019–2020) — Member at Large
- Former: Christine Riesenfeld (2019) — Nominating Chair
- Former: Mary Garton (2019) — Information Technology Chair
- Former: Mary Wiemann (2019) — Major Events Chair
- Former: Maureen Ellenberger (2019) — Research Co-Chair
- Former: Stina Hans (2019) — Secretary
Data from IRS Form 990 filings, 2019–2025. "On filings since" is the earliest filing we hold that lists the person; hours are average hours per week as reported.
Contact
Mailing address: 133 E De La Guerra Street 15, Santa Barbara, CA 93101
Phone: (805) 303-1205
Website: https://womensfundsb.org
Frequently asked questions about Women's Fund of Santa Barbara
How much does Women's Fund of Santa Barbara give each year?
Women's Fund of Santa Barbara gave $1.3M across 11 grants in 2025, according to its 2025 IRS Form 990. In 2024 it gave $1.1M across 10 grants.
What is Women's Fund of Santa Barbara's typical grant size?
Women's Fund of Santa Barbara's median grant in 2025 was $100,000, and its average grant was $113,636, across 11 grants on its 2025 IRS Form 990. Organizations receiving their first grant from Women's Fund of Santa Barbara that year got $106K on average.
Where does Women's Fund of Santa Barbara give grants?
Women's Fund of Santa Barbara gives mostly in California: 100% of the grant dollars itemized on its 2025 IRS Form 990 went to recipients there. The most frequent recipient cities were Santa Barbara, CA (5 grants), Goleta, CA (3 grants) and Carpinteria, CA (2 grants).
Does Women's Fund of Santa Barbara give general operating support?
Not in 2025: none of the 11 grants with a stated purpose on Women's Fund of Santa Barbara's 2025 IRS Form 990 were described as general or operating support.
Who are Women's Fund of Santa Barbara's largest grantees?
Women's Fund of Santa Barbara's largest 2025 grantees include Children's Resource & Referral of Santa Barbara County ($200,000), Good Samaritan Shelter ($150,000) and New Beginnings Counseling Center ($150,000), according to its 2025 IRS Form 990. Together they received 40% of its itemized 2025 grant dollars.
How large is Women's Fund of Santa Barbara?
Women's Fund of Santa Barbara reported $2.7M in total assets on its 2025 IRS Form 990. Its revenue that year was $1.5M.
What does Women's Fund of Santa Barbara fund?
The fund’s mission is to enable women to combine their charitable dollars into significant grants addressing critical needs of women, children, and families in south Santa Barbara County, and to educate and inspire women to engage in lasting community change. See mission & focus areas ↑
How do I apply for a grant from Women's Fund of Santa Barbara?
The fund does not accept unsolicited requests. Eligibility and process details are in the grantmaking section of this profile. See how to apply ↑
What is Women's Fund of Santa Barbara's EIN?
Women's Fund of Santa Barbara's EIN (Employer Identification Number) is 82-5169678. IRS Form 990 filing data is available on this page for 2019–2025.
Does Women's Fund of Santa Barbara accept unsolicited proposals?
No, according to Grantable's research on the foundation's published guidelines. See how to apply ↑
Data last updated September 2026. Sourced from IRS Form 990 filings. Research dossier generated September 2026.
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