The Foundation supports projects and community-based organizations that are addressing critical issues in Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties. We are especially interested in funding grassroots organizations which seek to empower excluded populations. In pursuit of our goals, the Foundation's Directors are guided by the following principles in their funding deliberations and decisions.

		Social Change – The Foundation is interested in creative grassroots projects which address the causes of a problem, rather than treating symptoms. We support organizations that see their work in the context of whole systems and causes, and exhibit solution-oriented approaches to addressing critical issues and creating social justice. (The Foundation does not fund the provision of direct services or purely educational programs.)
		Empowerment – A core value for the Foundation is the empowerment of the economically and politically marginalized and inclusion of such people in an organization’s leadership structure. We support groups which are “doing with others” rather than “doing for others” – grassroots, bottom-up organizations in which the “clients” are the initiators and involved in the decision making.
		Community Capacity – The Foundation supports grassroots organizations with a strong community base and efforts to grow social capital and enhance a community’s capacity to mobilize and solve problems. We support a focus on community capacity building rather than personal growth or development of leadership skills in individuals, except where such training is directly linked to community action and participants are committed to remaining in the community and using their skills to affect public policy. We also wish to encourage networking and coalition building within communities.

Please use the Eligibility Checklist to determine your eligibility, click here.

For an explanation of “community organizing,” click here.

For information about types of grants offered and application submission, click here.