Heffernan Foundation

Heffernan Foundation is the philanthropic arm of Heffernan Insurance Brokers, based at 1350 Carlback Avenue in Walnut Creek, CA. It is a mid-small corporate foundation with $8,881,384 in total assets (FY2023), up from $2,201,430 in FY2019 - nearly quadrupling in four years, driven almost entirely by fresh contributions from Heffernan Insurance Brokers and its employees rather than investment growth (FY2023 net investment income was just $220,797 against $2,924,193 in contributions received).

The single most important structural fact for any grantseeker: this is an invitation-based nomination model. The application portal (grants.heffernanfoundation.org) is only accessible to nonprofits invited by a Heffernan Insurance Brokers employee. Cold outreach directly to the foundation is unlikely to succeed without first identifying and cultivating a relationship with an HIB employee, board member, or existing grantee who can nominate the organization. Because HIB insures more than 4,000 nonprofits, checking whether your organization (or a board member's employer) already has an insurance relationship with Heffernan is a practical first step toward a nomination.

The grantee profile reveals clear affinities. Education and workforce-development nonprofits dominate, with a striking concentration in the Cristo Rey Network of Catholic work-study high schools: ICA San Francisco Work Study ($194,000 across 2 grants), Cristo Rey San Jose ($156,250 across 4 grants), two Cristo Rey De La Salle East Bay entries ($76,720 and $76,000), and ICA Cristo Rey Academy ($72,000) - nearly $360,000 combined to one network, suggesting a board or leadership connection worth researching. HBCU and university scholarships also feature prominently (Spelman $45,000, Hampton $45,000, Dillard $45,000, UC Santa Cruz $60,000), alongside Bay Area food-security and homelessness direct-service groups.

With 943 tracked grants totaling $4,372,231 (average $4,637), Heffernan is a volume funder making many small, often-repeated gifts rather than large one-time transformational awards - many grantees show sequential "2020 Grant," "2022 Grant," "2023 Grant" entries. The single $510,000 grant to The Affordability Project is a clear outlier and likely reflects a strategic or board-directed initiative, not a template for new applicants. Expect the relationship arc to run: employee nomination, small initial grant ($500-$10,000), then repeat annual funding if the relationship deepens.

FY2023 figures: total assets $8,881,384; grants paid $1,502,671; total giving $2,447,763; total revenue $3,144,653; contributions received $2,924,193 - almost all revenue is fresh giving, not endowment draw. Prior years: FY2022 grants paid $1,009,355 (on a contribution spike of $6,194,977 that year); FY2021 $820,792; FY2020 $850,850; FY2019 $723,561. Web research (Impala.digital) puts FY2024 grants at roughly $1,371,255 to 839 grantees - consistent with a steady upward trajectory, with grants paid nearly doubling from FY2019's $723,561 to FY2023-24's $1.37M-$1.5M, a roughly 90% increase in five years.

Per-grant sizing is the most important number for applicants. The foundation's own reported typical_grant_size (n=191) shows a median of $2,300, an average of $4,297, and a range of $20-$72,000. The broader matched dataset (943 grants, $4,372,231 total) shows a similar average of $4,637. This confirms Heffernan is fundamentally a small-grant, high-volume funder: the median gift ($2,300) sits well below the advertised $500-$30,000 range, meaning most successful applicants should expect awards in the $1,000-$5,000 band, with $10,000+ reserved for deepened relationships or named scholarship commitments.

Geographic concentration is heavily Californian: 682 of 943 grants (72%) went to CA organizations, consistent with the foundation's stated "geographic_focus": ["CA"] and its Walnut Creek base. Secondary clusters appear in MO (66 grants), OR (37), NY (30), PA (21), and AZ (12) - these almost certainly track Heffernan Insurance Brokers' branch office locations and employee nominations rather than an open geographic mandate.

By dollar volume, the top-50 grantee list shows education and Cristo Rey work-study schools as the largest single category (over $700,000 combined among top grants), followed by food-security and homelessness direct-service organizations (Alameda County Food Bank, Bay Area Rescue Mission, Hamilton Families, St. Anthony Foundation, Sacred Heart Community Service) and general "Donation" line items reflecting employee-directed giving or event sponsorships.

All five peers sit within roughly $7,000 of Heffernan's $8,990,446 in assets, but this is purely an asset-size match - the dataset carries no public grants activity, focus statement, or application process for any of the five, and none surfaced a public grants portal in web research, suggesting they are privately run family foundations that give through personal networks rather than structured programs. What differentiates Heffernan within this peer set is transparency and structure: it operates a named grants portal, publishes three explicit funding pillars, and has a searchable history of 943 tracked grants. For grant seekers, this makes Heffernan the more accessible entry point of the group, provided an applicant can first secure the required employee nomination.

The foundation's most visible 2025-2026 activity centers on scholarships and event-based fundraising rather than new program areas. On 2025-07-30, Heffernan marked the 20th anniversary of its Garee Lee Smith Scholarship Program, awarding 12 scholarships of $10,000 each - double the original $5,000 award amount - bringing cumulative program giving past $865,000 since inception. Executive Director Michelle Lonaker-Lavine said the 2025 applicants "inspired us with their passion, determination, and commitment to their communities." Earlier in 2025, the foundation launched the Frank and Lenore Heffernan Scholarship, a three-year commitment awarding five one-time $20,000 scholarships annually ($300,000 total across 15 recipients).

On 2026-03-04, the foundation announced its 2026 community events calendar: a Kentucky Derby Party at Frankie's - Pier 40 in San Francisco supporting its Breast Cancer Walk team, a multi-day Breast Cancer Walk in San Diego, and the 5th Annual Tuscan Fundraiser at Vin Antico in San Rafael (chef-curated by Mike Heffernan and John Prichard Jr.), raising funds for breast cancer research, education, and food-insecurity programs.

Leadership has been stable: Michelle Lonaker-Lavine has served as Executive Director/CEO across all recent filings, with compensation rising from $99,681 (FY2020) to $134,978 (FY2023), indicating continuity rather than turnover. Board governance remains anchored by the founding family - Mike Heffernan (Chairman) and F. Michael Heffernan (President) - alongside a consistent slate of board members (Hieu Tran Williams, Emily Jonas, Rick Allen, Kurt Scheidt, Jeff Hemlin) and officers (Treasurer, Secretary) across multiple filing years.

The 2026 application cycle closes September 15, 2026, with funding decisions communicated in Q1 2027 - plan for a multi-month wait, not a quick turnaround. The single biggest gate is access: the portal at grants.heffernanfoundation.org only opens to organizations invited by a Heffernan Insurance Brokers employee, so the first real task is identifying and cultivating that internal connection, not polishing a proposal. Because HIB insures more than 4,000 nonprofits nationally, check whether your organization (or a board member's employer) is already an HIB client - that existing relationship is a natural nomination path.

Use an organizational or business email address when registering; the application form explicitly rejects personal addresses (Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail). Confirm 501(c)(3) status is current before starting - "applications without 501(c)(3) will not be considered" - and have your determination letter, current-year W-9, and a project budget/outline ready as separate PDF (or DOC/DOCX/XLS/XLSX for the budget) uploads under the 2MB size limit each.

Size the ask to the funder's real behavior, not its advertised ceiling: the median tracked grant is $2,300 and the average is $4,297-$4,637, so a first-time request in the $2,500-$10,000 range is far more realistic than the top of the stated $500-$30,000 band. The one $510,000 grant on record (The Affordability Project) is a clear strategic outlier, not a template.

Emphasize California and Bay Area impact where possible - 72% of tracked grants (682 of 943) went to CA organizations. Out-of-state applicants should identify a specific connection to a Heffernan Insurance Brokers branch office, since secondary grant clusters (MO, OR, NY, PA, AZ) track HIB's office footprint rather than an open national mandate. Frame the proposal explicitly around the foundation's three named pillars - education, food insecurity, shelter - using that language directly, since it appears verbatim on the foundation's site and application. Finally, treat a first small grant as the start of a relationship: the grantee list shows many organizations receiving sequential grants across 2020, 2022, and 2023, so stewardship (impact reports, event participation, thank-you outreach) appears to convert into repeat funding.