Heart Of Gold Legacy Foundation

Heart Of Gold Legacy Foundation (EIN 51-0562506) is an El Cajon, CA-based 501(c)(3) private independent foundation, tax-exempt since June 2006, classified under the NTEE category "Philanthropy, Voluntarism and Grantmaking Foundations / Private Independent Foundations." The foundation's stated mission is to fulfill its commitment to Rescue, Courage, Compassion, and Vision by rescuing abandoned animals, providing humane care to neglected companions, and promoting the humane treatment of animals across diverse communities. This makes it a narrowly focused animal-welfare funder rather than a generalist independent foundation. The leadership team (Teresita B. Bacani, President; Darhyl Besa, CFO, compensated $28,380; Erlinda G. Buhay, Secretary, compensated $5,950) represents one of the few compensated leadership structures in this batch — an important signal that the foundation is actively staffed, not a purely volunteer-run family vehicle. Mission alignment is the single most important filter: if your organization is not animal-welfare-focused (rescue, humane care, companion animal advocacy), you are almost certainly not a fit. The El Cajon / San Diego County geographic anchor suggests a regional Southern California giving preference, though the stated "diverse communities" language leaves room for broader reach.

Per the 2024 Form 990-PF (fiscal year ending December 2024, filed November 14, 2025), Heart Of Gold Legacy Foundation reported revenue of $243,104, expenses of $345,232, net income of -$102,128, total assets of $6,797,464, and total liabilities of $1,222 (net assets $6,796,242). Charitable disbursements were $270,864 (78.5% of total expenses), with compensation of officers at $34,330 (9.9%) — a relatively lean but not zero overhead profile. The 2024 payout ratio is approximately 4.0% of assets, just under the 5% IRS minimum distribution floor, which means prior-year carryforwards or additional qualifying distributions likely true up the requirement. Revenue composition: dividends $136,903 (56.3%), sales of assets $85,586 (35.2%), contributions $4,712 (1.9%), interest $445 (0.2%) — essentially investment-income-driven with minimal external fundraising. Year-over-year: 2023 revenue was $167,885 against $364,644 in expenses (net loss $196,759), and 2024 narrowed the loss but remained net-negative. Two consecutive years of operating losses suggest the foundation is drawing down corpus to maintain grantmaking capacity. The foundation has filed 990-PFs continuously since 2011.

Heart Of Gold's charitable-disbursement ratio of 78.5% is respectable but lower than the peer average among small private foundations (where 85–90% is common), because of its compensated staff line. Among Southern California animal-welfare-focused funders in this asset bracket, Heart Of Gold is typical in size and mission focus — it likely competes for grantee attention with larger regional peers (e.g., San Diego Humane Society's donor-advised giving). The back-to-back 2023–2024 operating losses are a warning sign: if the portfolio does not rebound in 2025, grant sizes or counts will likely contract.

The 2024 Form 990-PF was filed November 14, 2025. Key financial signals: two consecutive operating-loss years (2023: -$197K; 2024: -$102K), a narrowing trend but still negative. Total net assets declined approximately $100K year-over-year. Charitable disbursements held at $271K in 2024 versus a higher 2023 level (implied by $364K in total 2023 expenses less officer comp), suggesting the foundation is tightening grantmaking in response to corpus pressure. The website (heartofgoldlegacy.org) returned an encoding error during automated scrape attempts in April 2026, which often indicates either an older hosting stack or minimal active web presence. No press releases, news coverage, or programmatic announcements have been publicly documented in 2025–2026. No open RFP cycle has been announced. Compensated leadership (Darhyl Besa, CFO; Erlinda G. Buhay, Secretary) is the most recent structural data point on the 990-PF.

Heart Of Gold Legacy Foundation is a narrowly mission-scoped animal-welfare funder with modest grantmaking capacity and no published open-application process. Practical steps: (1) Mission-gate hard — if your organization does not do animal rescue, humane care, or companion animal advocacy, do not apply. The NTEE classification is generic "Private Independent Foundations" but the stated mission is explicitly animal welfare. (2) Pull the 2024 Form 990-PF from ProPublica (https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/510562506) and review Part XV (Schedule of Grants Paid) to confirm your peer set. If all 2024 grantees are animal shelters or humane societies, that is the target profile. (3) Lead with a San Diego County / Southern California geographic tie if you have one — El Cajon-based foundations of this size typically show regional preference. (4) Size asks conservatively in the $5K–$25K range to match the foundation's typical grant pattern given ~$270K annual disbursements. (5) Given two consecutive operating-loss years, frame requests as matching grants or challenge structures rather than pure general-operating asks, which lets the foundation commit capital contingent on broader fundraising success. (6) Warm introduction through the named officers (Teresita B. Bacani, Darhyl Besa, Erlinda G. Buhay) is the best access path.