Blackberry Creek Foundation

Blackberry Creek Foundation is a small, unpaid-staff family foundation run entirely by Bryan Walser (CEO) and Bianca Walser (CFO/Secretary), each logging roughly 5 hours a week with zero officer compensation reported on file. Critically, the foundation's most recent Form 990-PF checks the box stating it 'only makes contributions to preselected charitable organizations and doesn't accept unsolicited applications for funds.' There is no LOI portal, no open RFP, and no grants-page URL on record — this is a relationship- and values-driven checkbook, not a competitive grants program. Organizations should not expect to win funding through a cold application. Instead, the realistic path in is mission and geography alignment: 61 of the foundation's last 77 recorded grants (79%) went to California nonprofits, heavily concentrated in Berkeley and the East Bay, and every grant purpose on file is coded 'unrestricted for charitable exempt purpose' — meaning the Walsers give general operating support, not restricted program grants, once they've decided to back an organization. The grantee list reveals a highly personal set of causes layered together: East Bay bicycle/pedestrian infrastructure (Bike East Bay, Walk Bike Berkeley, Cycles of Change, Rich City Rides, Berkeley Path Wanderers, Walk Oakland Bike Oakland, California Bicycle Coalition), reproductive-rights and abortion-access funds (Yellowhammer Fund, Chicago Abortion Fund, Midwest Access Coalition, Center for Reproductive Rights), Ukraine humanitarian relief (Razom for Ukraine, Ukraine House DC), pro-housing/YIMBY advocacy (California Yimby Education Fund, Greenbelt Alliance, California Renters Legal Advocacy & Education Fund), and Berkeley public education (Berkeley High School Development Fund, Berkeley Public Schools Fund). First-time contacts have the best odds by being introduced through a board member, staff, or a grantee already in this network (e.g., any East Bay bike-advocacy or Berkeley schools group), by demonstrating hyperlocal Berkeley/East Bay roots, and by fitting cleanly into one of these five identifiable buckets rather than pitching an unrelated cause. Given the tiny 5-hours/week staffing, expect slow, informal correspondence rather than a structured multi-stage review process.

On the most recent single fiscal year (FY2025, per Instrumentl/Charity Navigator), the foundation distributed $336,000-$345,000 across 17 grants, with a median grant of $10,000 and a range of $1,000 to $150,000. Looking at the fuller multi-year grantee history in the database (77 grants totaling $1,038,124 cumulative, average $13,482 per grant), the picture is a foundation that makes many small-to-mid gifts around a few large anchor commitments. Alameda County Community Food Bank is by far the top recipient at $300,000 across 3 grants (29% of all cumulative dollars tracked), followed by Razom For Ukraine ($100,000/2 grants) and Habitat for Humanity East Bay ($70,000/3 grants). Below that top tier, the bulk of giving clusters in the $15,000-$40,000 cumulative range per organization: Smile Train ($50,000), Walk Bike Berkeley ($40,000), Bike East Bay and Cycles of Change ($35,000 each), and a cluster of $30,000 recipients (California Bicycle Coalition Education Fund, Smith College, Berkeley High School Development Fund, California Yimby Education Fund, Berkeley Public Schools Fund). The tail of the list runs down to $3,000 (Friends of Five Creeks) and $7,272 (Alameda Post, local Alameda journalism). By program theme, bicycle/pedestrian advocacy accounts for roughly $187,500 across seven organizations, reproductive-rights/abortion-access funds roughly $60,000 across four organizations, Ukraine relief $110,352, YIMBY/housing advocacy $70,000, and Berkeley public schools $60,000. Geographically, California dominates (61 of 77 grants, 79%), with small clusters in New York (5), Illinois (4, largely abortion-access funds), Massachusetts (3, Smith College), Alabama (2, Yellowhammer Fund) and DC (2, Ukraine House DC and Razom). Annual total giving has been volatile, tracking investment performance on a $6.7M asset base rather than a fixed payout schedule: $0 in 2020 (the year the foundation received its $7,000,000 founding contribution), $368,539 in 2021, $454,048 in 2022 (the peak year), $334,659 in 2023, roughly $251,000 in 2024, and back up to roughly $336,000-$345,000 in 2025.

The platform's peer-matching data returned no directly comparable named foundations for Blackberry Creek, so the table below benchmarks it against typical sector figures for small private family foundations of similar asset size, based on IRS Form 990-PF patterns for closed/preselected-only funders in this range. Treat the benchmark rows as sector averages, not specific named organizations.

Blackberry Creek's $6.66M asset base and 17-grant, unrestricted-support giving pattern sit squarely in the middle of the small-family-foundation benchmark range, but its fully closed application posture and unusually broad five-cause portfolio (food security, transportation advocacy, reproductive rights, international relief, and local education) make it more idiosyncratic than a typical single-focus community foundation of its size — closer to a personal philanthropy vehicle than an institutional grants program.

No dedicated press coverage, blog posts, or social-media announcements were found for Blackberry Creek Foundation under its own name — expected for a two-person, unpaid-staff family foundation with no public grants portal. The most concrete recent signal is financial: FY2025 giving rebounded to $336,000-$345,000 across 17 grants after two down years ($268,500 in FY2023 and roughly $251,000 in FY2024), following the FY2022 peak of $384,812. Leadership has been stable throughout the foundation's short history (IRS ruling date October 2021) with Bryan Walser as CEO and Bianca Walser as CFO/Secretary in every filing reviewed — no leadership transitions were found. One important data-quality note for anyone researching this funder further: the website on file, blackberrycreek.org, actually belongs to Blackberry Creek Farm Animal Sanctuary in Colfax, CA (EIN 47-2296714), an unrelated organization with a similar name. That site's content (farm animal rescue, humane education, a program called LEAP) should not be attributed to this Berkeley, CA foundation. Grant seekers should rely on the confirmed registered address (260 Southampton Ave, Berkeley, CA 94707) and phone number (510) 501-7046, and verify any online 'Blackberry Creek Foundation' content against the EIN 85-4263182 before treating it as authoritative.

Because the foundation has formally declared on its IRS filing that it does not accept unsolicited applications, the single most important tip is: do not submit a cold LOI or proposal through a generic channel — there is no portal, no grants-page URL, and no published deadline to target. The realistic path to funding is a warm introduction: identify whether your organization has any overlap with the five clusters that dominate the grantee list — East Bay/Berkeley bicycle and pedestrian advocacy, reproductive-rights or abortion-access funds, Ukraine humanitarian relief, pro-housing/YIMBY advocacy, or Berkeley public-school support — and look for a board or staff connection at any current grantee (e.g., Bike East Bay, Walk Bike Berkeley, Berkeley Public Schools Fund, California Yimby Education Fund) who could make an introduction. Local roots matter enormously: 79% of tracked grants went to California organizations and a large share specifically to Berkeley/East Bay groups, so out-of-region organizations without a clear California or East Bay nexus are a weak fit unless they match one of the national causes represented (reproductive rights, Ukraine relief). When an organization does connect with the Walsers, the ask that has historically worked is general operating support, not a restricted program grant — every purpose code on file reads 'unrestricted for charitable exempt purpose,' so proposals framed around flexible, mission-sustaining funding will resonate more than a narrowly scoped project budget. Grant sizing should be calibrated realistically: the FY2025 median was $10,000 with a $1,000-$150,000 range, and most cumulative multi-year commitments to a single organization fall between $15,000 and $40,000 — a first-time ask above $50,000-$100,000 (the range reserved for anchor commitments like the food bank and Ukraine relief) is unlikely to land. A common mistake to avoid: treating this like an institutional program officer relationship — with two unpaid trustees each spending about five hours a week, expect slow, informal, personal correspondence rather than a formal multi-round review, and do not expect published notification timelines. Finally, verify any contact information independently before relying on blackberrycreek.org, since that domain currently resolves to an unrelated animal sanctuary.