· Community foundation
Santa Barbara Foundation
The mission of the SANTA BARBARA FOUNDATION (sbf) is to mobilize collective wisdom and philanthropic capital to build empathetic, inclusive and resilient communities.
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.
Where the money goes
Grants by size, and the largest recipients.
How this is measured
By grant size · FY2024
- Under $10k67 grants · $460k
- $10k–50k252 grants · $5.3M
- $50k–250k106 grants · $10M
- $250k+22 grants · $24M
| Recipient | Amount |
|---|---|
| DECHOMAI ASSET TRUST | $7,000,000 |
| FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND | $6,299,195 |
| SCHOLARSHIP FOUNDATION OF SANTA BARBARA | $1,271,700 |
| FOOTHILLS FOREVER INCORPORATED | $1,159,104 |
| SANTA BARBARA CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS INC | $1,098,650 |
| COMMUNITY PARTNERS | $890,993 |
| LEWIS & CLARK COLLEGE | $756,340 |
| ANIMAL LEGAL DEFENSE FUND | $689,100 |
| SANTA BARBARA HUMANE SOCIETY | $618,221 |
| CONGREGATION B'NAI B'RITH CORPORATION | $605,100 |
| SANTA BARBARA MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY | $517,318 |
| REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SANTA BARBARA | $427,763 |
| MUSIC ACADEMY OF THE WEST | $403,321 |
| SANTA BARBARA MUSEUM OF ART | $313,110 |
| STATE INNOVATION EXCHANGE | $300,000 |
Does the money reach high-need areas?
Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.
Its human-services grants (FY17–24, $7.5M) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 98% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.
How this is measured
Which US states its grants reach
How this is measured
Who it funds again
Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.
Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +49% since the first grant, against +19% for those funded once.
578 repeat relationships: 324 still active in FY2024, 254 since wound down; 110 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).
How the two cohorts compare
Organizations
Total granted
Median revenue growth · since first grant
Still filing today
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2024, 80% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $5.3M went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
Backed again, and grew
- CIChannel Islands Restoration8× · 2017–2024 · $12M · revenue +97%
- SFSCHOLARSHIP FOUNDATION OF SANTA BARBARA8× · 2017–2024 · $10M · revenue +174%
JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY3× · 2017–2019 · $5.8M · revenue +64%
Funded once
- PJPUBLIC JUSTICE FOUNDATIONgraduatedone grant, 2018 · $600k · revenue +84%
- LALEWIS AND CLARK LAW SCHOOLone grant, 2018 · $468k
MULTIPLIERgraduatedone grant, 2017 · $300k · revenue +264%
How this is measured
Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.
Closest unfunded matches
The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.
The uc santa barbara foundation actively works to further the goals of the university of california, santa barbara. the foundation seeks to maintain and nurture the university's quality and distinction. on behalf of the campus, the…
The mission of the santa barbara foundation (sbf) is to mobilize collective wisdom and philanthropic capital to build empathetic, inclusive and resilient communities.
Santa Barbara Education Foundation (SBEF) provides and supports programs that enrich the academic, artistic, and personal development of all students in the Santa Barbara Unified School District.
Sustainable Conservation advances the collaborative stewardship of Californias land, air, and water for the benefit of nature and people. For over three decades, Sustainable Conservation has built coalitions of people with different…
See schedule 0founded in 1994, opera santa barbara is the signature provider of professional opera on the california central coast. we aspire to be a cultural leader in the santa barbara region, voicing and advancing our community's spirit…
Ca fwd drives action to identify solutions that can be taken to scale to meet the challenges the state is facing. the organization is driven by the belief that regional solutions across the state will help ensure economic, environmental,…
The santa barbara zoo is dedicated to the preservation, conservation, and enhancement of the natural world and its living treasures through education, research, recreation and conservation.
California ocean science trust (ost) is a non-profit organization dedicated to accelerating progress towards a healthy and productive ocean future for california. created by state legislation, ost bridges the gap between cutting-edge…
To promote philanthropy to make santa cruz county a better place to live, now and in the future.we bring together people, ideas, and resources to inspire philanthropy and accomplish great things.
The union of concerned scientists puts rigorous, independent science into action, developing solutions and advocating for a healthy, safe, and just future.
The scholarship foundation of santa barbara inspires, encourages and supports santa barbara county students to and through college, graduate and vocational school by providing information, advising, and scholarships.
To distribute public affairs and other educational information in order to create an electronic bridge between californians and their public officials, and, in the process educate a new generation of voting citizens and civic leaders who…
How this is measured
922 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.
Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.
How this is measured
Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 922 of the 1,116 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.
Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.
Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee
Showing the 200 largest grantees by grant value.
Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding
A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.
- Who funds Channel Islands Restoration ↗
- Who funds SCHOLARSHIP FOUNDATION OF SANTA BARBARA ↗
- Who funds FOOD & WATER WATCH ↗
- Who funds DECHOMAI ASSET TRUST ↗
- Who funds FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ↗
- Who funds SANTA BARBARA CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS INC ↗
- Who funds SANTA BARBARA MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY ↗
- Who funds JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY ↗
- Who funds MUSIC ACADEMY OF THE WEST ↗
- Who funds UC SANTA BARBARA FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds ANIMAL LEGAL DEFENSE FUND INC ↗
- Who funds SANTA BARBARA MUSEUM OF ART ↗
- Who funds Foodbank of Santa Barbara County Inc ↗
- Who funds A Greener World ↗
- Who funds CANCER FOUNDATION OF SANTA BARBARA ↗
- Who funds DIRECT RELIEF ↗
- Who funds UNITED WAY OF SANTA BARBARA COUNTY INC ↗
- Who funds CRANE COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL ↗
- Who funds SANTA BARBARA NEIGHBORHOOD CLINICS ↗
- Who funds Government Accountability Project ↗
- Who funds FAMILY SERVICE AGENCY OF SANTA BARBARA COUNTY ↗
- Who funds DIGNITYMOVES ↗
- Who funds SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE AGRICULTURE PROJECT INC ↗
- Who funds SANTA CRUZ ISLAND FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds SANTA BARBARA PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds SANTA BARBARA FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital Foundation ↗
- Who funds Santa Barbara Education Foundation ↗
- Who funds PLANNED PARENTHOOD CALIFORNIA CENTRAL COAST ↗
- Who funds Leading from Within ↗
- Who funds THE LAND TRUST FOR SANTA BARBARA COUNTY ↗
- Who funds CALM INC ↗
- Who funds SANTA BARBARA HUMANE SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS ↗
- Who funds TRANSITION HOUSE ↗
- Who funds LOBERO THEATRE FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds COMMUNITY ENVIRONMENTAL COUNCIL ↗
- Who funds Foothills Forever Incorporated ↗
- Who funds ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE ↗
Co-funders
Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.
Open a dossier: Hutton Foundation Dba Hutton Parker Foundation · Ann Jackson Family Foundation · Williams-Corbett Foundation · The Wood-Claeyssens Foundation · Towbes Foundation · Fund for Santa Barbara Inc · Mosher Foundation · James S Bower Foundation · Latkin Charitable Foundation · June G Outhwaite Charitable Trust JS Poucher KL Englert & CM Cooney Co-Tr · The McCune Foundation · Alice Tweed Tuohy Foundation
How this is measured
How much its grantees rely on government
Each dot is one organization Santa Barbara Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Santa Barbara Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.
- Johns Hopkins University: 12% of income from government
- Friends of Family Farmers: 9% of income from government
- President and Fellows of Harvard College: 7% of income from government
- Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc: 7% of income from government
- Lewis & Clark College: 2% of income from government
- The National Federation of the Blind: 2% of income from government
- Berklee College of Music Inc: 1% of income from government
- Infact Dba Corporate Accountability: 0% of income from government
How this is measured
Play a game based on Santa Barbara’s filings →