Bella Vista Foundation

The Bella Vista Foundation is a private family philanthropy born from the 2019 merger of two distinct California legacy foundations: the GGS Foundation, led by the Casey family and devoted to early childhood development in the Bay Area, and the Kirkwood Family Foundation, focused on conservation and ecosystem restoration in California and Oregon. Understanding this dual-heritage is essential — the foundation maintains two entirely separate giving tracks with different geographies, priorities, and decision-making cultures, even though grants flow from a single entity.

Governance is family-led with zero staff compensation across all officers. Jean Casey serves as Chair, with Susan Koe as Vice Chairman and Shannon Casey Welch as Secretary. The Kirkwood family — John Kirkwood (Director Emeritus), Spencer Kirkwood, and Corey Kirkwood — complete the board. All grantmaking administration is handled by Pacific Foundation Services LLP (PFS), headquartered with the foundation at 1660 Bush Street, Suite 300, San Francisco.

The foundation has a pronounced preference for long-term grantee relationships. Among the top 50 grantees tracked in public filings, virtually every organization has received between 4 and 9 grants over time. Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County accumulated $515,000 across 9 grants; StarVista $465,000 across 9 grants; Family Connections Centers $390,000 across 8 grants. Conservation partners show identical patterns: the Freshwater Trust and Trust for Public Land each received $600,000 across 5 grants. This makes first-time grantee entry difficult but signals that once established, multi-year funding is highly reliable.

As of January 2026, the foundation transitioned to fully invitation-only grantmaking, eliminating the open application window entirely. Organizations cannot submit unsolicited proposals. The realistic path to funding is: (1) demonstrate clear geographic and programmatic alignment with one of the four named program areas; (2) cultivate a relationship with Pacific Foundation Services LLP as the administrative gateway; and (3) position your organization as an established, credible actor with documented outcomes before seeking an invitation.

The foundation applies a clear philosophical filter: it funds programs addressing fundamental causes of societal problems, not those remedying effects. For early childhood work, this means upstream family resilience and parent-child bonding, not downstream crisis intervention. For conservation, it means collaborative watershed-scale restoration with multi-partner coordination, not isolated project cleanups.

The foundation's total assets held in the range of $51.9M to $86.4M over the decade from 2012 to 2024, settling at $68.4M by fiscal year 2024. Annual giving shows a clear COVID-era spike followed by deliberate contraction:

• FY2019: $3.8M total giving / $3.15M grants paid
• FY2020: $3.9M total giving / $2.84M grants paid
• FY2021: $6.7M total giving / $5.47M grants paid (peak, reflecting elevated grantee need)
• FY2022: $5.6M total giving / $4.51M grants paid
• FY2023: $4.4M total giving / $3.30M grants paid

The trajectory shows a ~34% reduction from the 2021 peak, with 2023 levels pulling back toward the pre-pandemic norm of roughly $3.8–4.5M annually. Net investment income dropped from $5.93M in 2021 to $180,354 in 2023, which directly drove the giving reduction.

Typical individual grant size runs $3,000–$120,000, with a median of $40,000 and an average of $43,000 across 486 tracked grants totaling $20.49M. Multi-year relationships dramatically change the effective grant size: established grantees accumulate $165,000–$600,000 in total funding delivered in annual increments of approximately $35,000–$120,000 per cycle.

Geographic distribution strongly favors California. Of 486 tracked grants, 418 (86%) went to California organizations and 56 (12%) to Oregon-based grantees. The remaining 2% covered isolated grants to organizations in New York, Pennsylvania, Washington DC, Massachusetts, and Washington state.

By program track, early childhood grants are concentrated in the Bay Area five-county geography (Marin, San Francisco, Alameda, San Mateo, Santa Clara), while conservation grants are dispersed across Klamath, Northern Sierra Nevada, and Oregon watershed systems. Conservation grants trend slightly larger at the upper end — the top 10 conservation grantees have accumulated $240,000–$600,000 in total tracked funding, compared to $180,000–$515,000 for early childhood peers. Both tracks fund organizations of similar institutional size: mid-sized community nonprofits and regional conservation advocacy groups, not large national organizations.

Bella Vista's five database peers share nearly identical asset levels (~$68.4–68.5M) but differ substantially in geography, focus, and grantmaking accessibility.

Bella Vista stands out among this peer group in two important ways. First, it is the only foundation with a California base, making it uniquely relevant for Bay Area early childhood organizations and West Coast watershed groups. Second, it is the only peer with publicly documented program guidelines, a named application portal, and a specific four-program structure — indicating a more mature and transparent grantmaking operation than the purely family-directed vehicles in Arkansas, Delaware, and Texas. The Bonfils-Stanton Foundation (Colorado) and Neukom Family Foundation (Washington) are the most geographically proximate peers for western states conservation work, and organizations unable to secure a Bella Vista invitation might explore whether those foundations have overlapping priorities. However, Bella Vista's dual focus on early childhood plus conservation is distinctive in this asset class and unlikely to be replicated by peers.

The most consequential recent development is the foundation's formal transition to invitation-only grantmaking effective January 2026. This closes the SmartSimple portal to unsolicited submissions and marks a structural shift from the open annual application cycle the foundation operated for most of its history since the 2019 merger. The transition was announced on the foundation's website without a specific press release, suggesting it was communicated primarily to existing grantee partners rather than broadcast publicly.

No leadership changes were identified in web research for 2025 or 2026. Jean Casey continues as Chair, and the board composition (Casey and Kirkwood family members) has been consistent across multiple years of public filings. All officer compensation remains $0, consistent with the family foundation model managed by Pacific Foundation Services LLP.

Financially, FY2024 shows partial data with $2.33M in total revenue — a recovery from the FY2023 loss of $297,583 that reflected negative investment performance. Net investment income peaked at $5.93M in FY2021, dropped to $1.56M in FY2022, and fell further to $180,354 in FY2023 before the 2024 recovery. These swings explain the corresponding decline in grantmaking from the 2021 high of $6.7M. If investment returns stabilize in 2025–2026, grantmaking could stabilize in the $4–5M annual range. The foundation has no public news presence beyond its own website, consistent with a private institution that communicates directly with its grantee network rather than through press.

Given the 2026 transition to invitation-only grantmaking, the strategic approach for Bella Vista has fundamentally changed. The following tips reflect the current reality:

The gateway is Pacific Foundation Services LLP. PFS administers the foundation and handles program alignment inquiries at (415) 561-6540 or info@pfs-llc.net. Reach out with a concise two-paragraph introduction: your mission and approach framed around addressing root causes, and your specific geography, population served, and annual reach. Do not send a full proposal — the invitation-only model starts with a PFS conversation, not portal submission.

Geographic precision is non-negotiable. For Pre-3 Support, clearly name which of the five counties you primarily serve: Marin, San Francisco, Alameda, San Mateo, or Santa Clara. For Watershed Restoration, your work must occur within named geographies — Klamath Watershed, Sierra Nevada sub-basins (Truckee River, Yuba/Bear/American Rivers, North Fork Feather River), Upper Deschutes Basin, or Upper John Day Basin in Oregon. Work in adjacent watersheds does not qualify.

Collaborative framing wins. Top conservation grantees — Mid Klamath Watershed Council, Western Environmental Law Center, American Rivers, South Yuba River Citizens League — all emphasize multi-partner, watershed-level coordination. Solo agency proposals are significantly less competitive than those involving cross-sector or interagency partnerships. Early childhood top grantees similarly demonstrate integration of services (home visiting + mental health + literacy, for example).

Language that resonates: "fundamental causes," "resilience," "parent-child attachment," "collaborative restoration," "community-based," "culturally specific," "trauma-informed," "riparian recovery." Language to avoid: "awareness raising," "solely virtual," "capital campaign support," "endowment."

Timing and volume rules: Only one grant request per organization per 12-month period is considered. Programs that are solely virtual are ineligible. Environmental education components in watershed grants are acceptable only when restoration is the primary programmatic focus.

When invited: Pre-draft all narrative responses before opening the SmartSimple portal at pfs.smartsimple.us/welcome/BellaVista/. Have IRS determination letter, most recent audited financials, and board list in PDF format ready before starting. The foundation values proposal clarity and specificity — cite watershed names, county geographies, and child age ranges rather than broad mission statements.