Evelyn And Walter Haas Jr Fund

The Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund operates as one of the most selective private foundations in California philanthropy. With $484 million in assets and a 73-year giving history totaling more than $719 million, this is a mature, relationship-driven institution that has deliberately narrowed its grantmaking to six tightly defined program areas: Democracy, College Success, Immigrant Rights, Leadership, Crissy Field, and Season of Sharing. Critically, the Fund is not currently accepting unsolicited grant proposals. All grantmaking proceeds by invitation through a proprietary portal, and access to that portal requires a direct relationship with the Fund's program staff.

The Fund favors organizations already embedded in movements it cares about — particularly democracy and voting rights, immigrants' rights and integration, and higher education equity for students of color. Geographic preference is strong: California and the San Francisco Bay Area anchor the majority of its place-based work. National organizations working on immigration and democracy policy are funded alongside local Bay Area partners.

For organizations seeking to enter this funder's orbit, the realistic pathway is not through an application form — it is through strategic relationship-building over months or years. The Fund publishes its strategy and perspectives publicly, and program officers are visible in funder coalitions like the California Democracy Partnership and the Trust Based Philanthropy Project. Attending these convenings and engaging credibly with the Fund's published priorities is how organizations earn visibility.

When the Fund does engage a new grantee, the relationship typically begins with a program officer conversation, followed by a formal portal invitation, then a structured grant review. Multi-year commitments exceeding $100,000 are standard for established grantees. The board includes three generations of the Haas family — Chair Walter J. Haas and Director Robert D. Haas — alongside professional staff led by President and CEO Cathy Cha (compensated at $440,373 in the most recent 990 filing). This family governance structure means institutional values are deeply embedded and consistent across leadership transitions, but also that relationships with program staff carry exceptional weight in determining who gets funded.

The Haas Jr. Fund's financial data reveals a stable, well-endowed institution with consistent annual giving that has ranged from $29.3 million to $39.9 million over the past decade. Total assets reached $484 million in FY2024, rebounding from a trough of $458 million in FY2022 (a period of market volatility that constrained new commitments). The all-time peak asset base was $557 million in FY2021.

Actual grants paid (cash disbursed within the fiscal year) differ meaningfully from total giving commitments, reflecting multi-year pledge structures: FY2023 saw $24.4 million disbursed against $39.9 million in total giving commitments; FY2022 disbursed $24.6 million against $38.4 million committed; FY2021 paid $20.0 million against $35.5 million; FY2020 paid $19.5 million against $29.7 million; and FY2019 paid $27.4 million against $38.1 million. This consistent gap of $10-15 million per year confirms that multi-year grants (2-3 year commitments) are the norm, not the exception.

Individual grant sizes span a remarkably wide range. The database documents approximately 320 grants with a median of $20,000, an average of $69,531, a minimum of $200, and a maximum of $1,600,000. The large spread between median and average indicates a bimodal distribution: a significant volume of smaller grants in the $5,000-$50,000 range for capacity building, fellowships, and program support, alongside a smaller number of anchor grants of $200,000-$1,600,000 to major democracy and immigration organizations.

Program allocation follows six defined areas, with Democracy and Immigrant Rights commanding the largest share of national dollars. College Success is primarily California-based, focused on Bay Area community college transfer rates and bachelor's degree attainment for low-income students of color. The Leadership program supports nonprofit management development, particularly for organizations led by communities of color. Crissy Field and Season of Sharing are hyper-local Bay Area initiatives — the latter has distributed nearly $220 million in emergency assistance since inception. The 2024 program consolidation and current closed-application status suggest the active grant budget for new relationships is limited to departures from the existing grantee roster.

The Haas Jr. Fund sits within a cluster of mid-size U.S. private foundations with assets ranging from $480 million to $492 million. The table below compares it to four asset-size peers:

The Haas Jr. Fund is uniquely differentiated from this peer group in three important ways. First, it is the only Bay Area-based foundation in the cluster — all others are headquartered in New York or Nevada — giving it a distinctive posture oriented around California civil society, Bay Area communities, and California's role as a democracy and immigration policy laboratory. Second, compared to the Nathan Cummings Foundation (which maintains a partially open LOI process), Haas Jr. Fund's fully closed invitation-only model demands a significantly longer relationship runway — prospective grantees should plan for 12-24 months of pre-application relationship building. Third, while the Leon Levy Foundation is similarly invitation-based, its focus on intellectual and cultural life occupies a completely different landscape from Haas Jr.'s progressive advocacy work on immigration equity, inclusive democracy, and college access for students of color. The Haas Jr. Fund's explicit values-driven posture — including a stated commitment to racial equity, LGBTQ+ rights, and immigrant integration — sets it apart as a movement funder, not simply a charitable foundation.

In early 2026, President and CEO Cathy Cha published "Looking Ahead in Uncertain Times," the Fund's most direct public statement of strategic direction in recent memory. The essay commits the Fund to four new operational modes: deploying capital rapidly during crises, financing experimentation for solutions without existing policy or market support, funding organizations with ambitious visions for an equitable future, and anticipating emerging challenges before they fully materialize. This represents a departure from the prior model of program-by-program grant cycles toward a more opportunistic, movement-responsive approach.

The most consequential new initiative is the California Democracy Partnership, which the Fund anchors alongside peer foundations and California civic organizations. The Partnership centers on establishing California as a replicable model of inclusive multiracial democracy — framed explicitly as a counter to federal voting rights rollbacks in 2025-2026.

On immigration, the Fund launched a "bigger we" solidarity framework in 2025, encouraging broader community support for immigrants facing federal enforcement threats. The related Stand Together Bay Area program provides emergency financial assistance to Bay Area families threatened with deportation, while the Season of Sharing program — now distributing nearly $220 million in lifetime emergency aid — continues to address acute financial crises for Bay Area residents. Several legacy program areas were formally phased out in 2024 as part of a strategic consolidation, and the Fund remains closed to unsolicited proposals as of March 2026.

Because the Haas Jr. Fund does not accept unsolicited grant proposals, conventional advice about perfecting your LOI or tailoring your narrative does not apply. Strategy must focus entirely on earning an invitation. Here is what sophisticated grant seekers should actually do:

Subscribe and monitor actively. Sign up for the Fund's Perspectives newsletter at haasjr.org and read every publication. Program officers publish strategic commentary regularly — the 2026 "Looking Ahead in Uncertain Times" piece is a direct window into what resonates at this moment. Organizations that reference this content in conversations demonstrate genuine alignment rather than transactional interest.

Map and cultivate current grantees. The Fund's grants database at haasjr.org/grants/search lists hundreds of funded organizations in your issue area. Program staff at these grantees have direct relationships with Haas Jr. Fund officers and can make credible warm introductions. Identify the two or three most strategically aligned grantees and invest in peer relationships there.

Appear in coalition spaces. The California Democracy Partnership and Trust Based Philanthropy Project are both active convenings where Fund program staff participate. Being a visible and credible leader in these networks — not simply a grant-seeker — is the fastest pathway to program officer attention.

Use the Fund's language precisely. When any written communication does occur, frame your work in the Fund's vocabulary: "root causes," "bold ideas," "agility," "anticipating emerging challenges," "inclusive multiracial democracy," "AI for good" (for college success work). Generic program descriptions will not distinguish your organization.

For College Success specifically: The Fund has explicitly signaled interest in artificial intelligence applications for expanding bachelor's degree access among low-income students of color. Organizations working at this intersection are well-positioned for the current grant cycle.

When a portal invitation arrives: Gather IRS determination letter, three years of audited financials, board list with bios, organizational budget, and a multi-year implementation timeline with specific milestones before beginning the application. The portal allows multiple colleagues to log in with separate credentials and permits unlimited draft saves — use this feature to ensure all supporting documents are complete before submitting. Contact your assigned program assistant at (415) 856-1400 for any portal or process questions.