Walter and Elise Haas Fund: Policy Grants

The Walter and Elise Haas Fund offers policy grants aimed at enhancing nonprofit worker well-being and fostering equitable communities in the Bay Area. With a focus on collaboration and shared responsibility, the fund supports organizations dedicated to addressing systemic barriers to justice and dignity. The grant aims to build a body of knowledge on nonprofit worker conditions and disseminate findings to catalyze impactful policy changes, ultimately contributing to a thriving society for all.

Note: Policy grants are by invitation in 2025.
Our Approach
Our grantmaking reflects our values:
Focus on Nonprofit Worker Well-being
The Walter & Elise Haas Fund holds that:
Nonprofits have the vision and ability to meet their own goals and the community’s needs for justice, dignity, and joy; andNonprofit work can and should be high quality, family-sustaining work that provides a pathway out of poverty, and that nonprofit worker well-being is crucial to the vitality and health of our communities.
Along with our partner in this work, the James Irvine Foundation, we recognize that nonprofit worker well being matters when we seek racial and gender justice and is a component of how nonprofits meet their critically important missions with care, optimism, and capacity.
We aim to learn more about the current state of nonprofit work, the conditions that make that so, and paths to solve deep-seated barriers to nonprofit worker well-being. We hope that articulating the problems with clear data and analysis will allow more actors — including nonprofit staff and leaders, government, and private funders — to engage in thoughtful and collaborative problem solving.
Our Intended Outcomes
We are making one $300,000 grant to support:
Building a body of data and knowledge on nonprofit worker well-being, with a particular focus on the San Francisco Bay Area and CaliforniaDissemination of findings to policymakers, funders, and nonprofit leaders and staff to:Support common language and understanding of the key problems and barriers to nonprofit worker well-being in the region and stateIncrease awareness of key opportunities for impactful policy and practice change

Eligibility

Applying organizations need to be:a 501(c)3 entity, or fiscally sponsored by a 501(c)3 entity, to receive grant fundsApplying organizations are:California focused, with a strong focus in and with Alameda and San Francisco countiesAble to demonstrate a proven track record of rigorous and culturally responsive research practiceAble to demonstrate a proven track record of reaching diverse audiences across nonprofit sector to catalyze insight and actionCommitted to worker well-being within their own organization