San Diego Foundation Awards Record-Breaking $104 Million In Grants For 2021 Fiscal Year

By Debbie L. Sklar, Times of San Diego

October 26, 2021

The San Diego Foundation announced Tuesday it granted a record-breaking $104.1 million during the 2021 fiscal year, most of which stayed in the San Diego region.

“Our success this year is due to all the donors, nonprofit organizations and staff who helped our historic work happen,” said Mark A. Stuart, president and CEO of the foundation. “Because of their valuable contributions, we were able to help more San Diegans than ever before during a time when they needed it most.”

Nearly 7,000 grants were distributed to about 2,000 nonprofit organizations in a variety of sectors. Approximately $33 million went to nonprofits specializing in health and human services, with $20 million to education nonprofits and $17 million to youth development nonprofits, among others.

The foundation continued its work with the San Diego COVID-19 Community Relief Fund, which was launched in March 2020. From its launch through this fiscal year, the fund has granted more than $67 million to San Diego nonprofits and provided more than 2.3 million services focused on childcare, financial assistance, education, food security, medical support and workforce development, with 79% of those served living in poverty.

In July, the foundation was recognized for its work with a 2021 U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary’s Award for Public-Philanthropic Partnerships. It was among six foundations recognized this year.

Informed by the inequity of experience many San Diegans endured during COVID-19, from food insecurity to the digital divide to health equity, the foundation announced in July its new Strategic Plan focused on four key pillars:

• Advancing racial and social justice
• Fostering equity of opportunity
• Building resilient communities
• Delivering world-class philanthropy

Other major achievements this past year included the launch of the Black Community Investment Fund (BCIF) in September; it focuses on four pillars to help build generational wealth for Black San Diegans, including education, employment, entrepreneurship and housing. Through the BCIF, the foundation recently launched the Black Homebuyers Program, the first of its kind in California, and awarded a $500,000 grant to the Central San Diego Black Chamber of Commerce to launch the Urban Business Resource Center.

In August, foundation also awarded a historic $3.4 million in scholarships to 1,025 San Diego college students and launched the San Diego Regional Policy & Innovation Center in partnership with municipalities, regional public agencies and The Brookings Institution, one of the world’s leading think tanks. The center will focus on conducting place-based research and policy analysis to help address the region’s biggest problems and bring new federal infrastructure funding to the region.

The foundation ended the year with $1.3 billion in assets, the largest in its 46-year history. For more information about the 2020 – 2021 fiscal year, please view the annual report.

Over a 46-year-period, the foundation and its donors have granted more than $1.3 billion to support nonprofit organizations strengthening the community.

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