Hellman Foundation

The Hellman Foundation operates primarily as an invited-only funder for its general grantmaking — staff and directors identify and reach out to organizations whose work aligns with strategic priorities rather than accepting open submissions. The vast majority of the foundation's $43-67M in annual giving flows through long-standing relationships, not open competitions. Organizations hoping to enter this pipeline must first build visibility within San Francisco and Alameda County philanthropic networks where Hellman directors are active.

The Hellman Collaborative Change Initiative (HCCI) represents the foundation's one open, competitive pathway. Operating on a biennial cycle, HCCI targets formal cross-sector collaborations — partnerships that must include nonprofit organizations, public sector entities (government agencies, schools, hospitals, or universities), and community members with lived experience embedded in actual decision-making roles. The initiative has distributed nearly $16 million since 2014, selecting 3-5 awardees per cycle from a highly competitive field.

The September 2023 announcement that the foundation will spend down all assets and close by December 31, 2034 profoundly reshapes how applicants should position requests. Executive Director Annie Ulevitch has described the logic as asking, "What happens if we put a larger amount of money into the community over a shorter time frame?" The board is pivoting toward larger, ecosystem-level investments: the $20 million nutrition equity commitment (November 2023) signals the scale now available through non-HCCI channels. Organizations capable of absorbing and deploying multi-year, multi-million-dollar investments are significantly better positioned than those seeking small project grants.

For HCCI, the typical progression is: join the mailing list, register for the informational webinar, submit a Request for Information by email, advance to a full application if invited, participate in a review process, and receive notification. For general grantmaking, the pathway is relationship-first — no cold application accepted. The foundation's geographic constraint is absolute: only organizations serving San Francisco or Alameda County are eligible, with no exceptions for regional or national work unless it demonstrably and materially benefits residents of those two counties.

Annual grantmaking has varied substantially over six recorded years, reflecting investment returns and strategic decisions rather than a fixed payout target: $24.4M in grants paid (2019), $69.6M (2020), $31.8M (2021), $34.2M (2022), $50.0M (2023), and $43.0M (2024). Total assets peaked at $733.6M in 2021 and have declined to $625.6M by 2024 as the spend-down executes. Expect disbursements to accelerate toward the 2034 closure as the board intensifies impact deployment.

The 2020 spike ($69.6M in grants paid) almost certainly reflects COVID-19 emergency grantmaking to Bay Area communities. Average annual grant spending across 2019-2024 is approximately $42.2M — but the spend-down trajectory points higher in the years ahead. Total giving figures (which include operating program costs like Hardly Strictly Bluegrass) run somewhat higher than grants paid.

Within HCCI — the visible, competitive channel — LAUNCH grants top out at $495,000 over 3 years ($165K/year on average) and GROWTH grants at $825,000 over 5 years ($165K/year). The 2024 HCCI cohort distributed approximately $2.66M across 4 awardees, averaging roughly $665,000 per organization — suggesting most awards fell in the GROWTH tier or near-maximum LAUNCH allocations.

Outside HCCI, the foundation makes substantially larger commitments through invited grantmaking: the $20 million nutrition equity pledge (November 2023), the $12 million UCSF Hellman Fellows endowment (June 2021), and the $2.5 million USA Cycling Foundation grant (2025-2028) illustrate the scale of these relationship-driven investments. Net investment income of $51.4M in 2024 (rebounding from $8.5M in 2023) provides a solid funding base.

Geographically, 100% of tracked grantee spending is California-concentrated, with all identified recipients in the San Francisco Bay Area. Program-area breakdown from public information suggests health equity absorbs the largest share of HCCI funds (maternal health, chronic disease, food as medicine, BIPOC health disparities), followed by education (early childhood, K-12, postsecondary access for underserved students) and opportunity (economic security, housing stability, youth services). The foundation does not appear to make grants below $50,000 or to organizations outside California.

Among comparable foundations by asset size ($615-640M), Hellman's giving volume, geographic focus model, and spend-down clock set it apart.

Hellman's annual grantmaking rate (7-11% of assets) runs well above the standard ~5% for perpetual foundations of comparable size, driven by spend-down urgency. The Cafritz Foundation — similarly geography-bound to Washington, DC — accepts open Letters of Inquiry on a structured calendar and publishes grant deadlines publicly, making it more accessible to new applicants than Hellman. The Welch and Spangler foundations operate primarily on invited or nomination-based models, mirroring Hellman's general portfolio approach. Hellman's HCCI is unique among same-tier peers in offering a genuine competitive pathway, but its biennial cycle and strict cross-sector governance requirements make it far more restrictive than Cafritz's open LOI model. No comparable peer foundation is executing a spend-down on a defined decade-long timeline, making Hellman's current window unusual and time-sensitive for long-term grantee partners.

The Hellman Foundation's most consequential move in recent years was the September 2023 board announcement to spend down all assets and close by December 31, 2034. The decision followed the deaths of founders Warren Hellman (2011) and his widow Chris Hellman (2017); the board ultimately concluded that intensified giving over a defined horizon would produce greater legacy impact than institutional perpetuity.

In November 2023, the foundation committed $20 million toward nutrition equity for vulnerable Bay Area communities, paired with statewide advocacy in Sacramento — among the largest single commitments in the foundation's history and a concrete expression of the spend-down era's appetite for ecosystem-scale bets.

The 2024 HCCI grant cycle selected four organizations: the Alameda County MPCAH Birth Worker Capacity Building Project, Beloved Youth Collective, Recipe4Health, and The HYPE Center, together receiving approximately $2.66 million. Nearly 200 organizations registered for the informational webinar, with only four ultimately funded — a selectivity rate of roughly 2% at the inquiry stage.

The foundation also awarded a $2.5 million grant to the USA Cycling Foundation for women's cycling programs, with $1 million specifically earmarked for 2025-2028 delivery — an unusual departure from its traditional health-education-opportunity portfolio, likely reflecting board-level relationships.

The Hellman Fellows academic program continues across University of California campuses, with the 2025-26 cycle open to faculty in their second or third year of appointment (start dates June 2023-June 2025). The HCCI website notes the next competitive cycle announcement is "forthcoming" as of early 2025, suggesting a 2026 cycle is in preparation.

Susan Hirsch currently serves as Executive Director per the most recent IRS filings (Annie Ulevitch held the role in the period surrounding the spend-down announcement).

For HCCI applicants, timing is the first discipline. The foundation runs biennial cycles — the last open cycle was 2024, making the next competitive window likely in 2026. Getting on the mailing list at hellmanfoundation.org now is the single most important logistical step: announcements go to the list first, and the informational webinar (held before each cycle) is the one venue where staff directly describe current priorities and fielded eligibility questions in the 2024 cycle that shaped who applied.

Cross-sector governance is the most common eligibility failure. The foundation requires a genuine cross-sector collaboration — not a single nonprofit with a few advisors, but an active partnership with formal roles for government agencies, public schools, hospitals, or universities, alongside community members with lived experience embedded in real decision-making (not advisory board tokenism). The backbone organization holds the grant, but governance must be shared and documented. Collaborations that retrofitted their structure to meet HCCI requirements are easy for reviewers to identify.

Geographic alignment is absolute. If your work does not primarily serve San Francisco County and/or Alameda County residents, there is no pathway. Regional or statewide work may be considered only if it produces direct, material, demonstrable benefit to those two counties' populations.

Use the spend-down frame. The board is asking, in every investment decision: does this catalyze something that outlasts Hellman's 2034 closure? Proposals should explicitly address the sustainability of systems change, policy wins, and institutional shifts that will persist without continued Hellman support. Framing around durable infrastructure — not ongoing operating dependence — aligns with current board language.

On track selection: Apply for LAUNCH (up to $495,000 / 3 years) if your collaboration is actively piloting promising solutions and has not yet demonstrated replicable results at scale. Apply for GROWTH (up to $825,000 / 5 years) if you have documented, evaluated outcomes and are ready to expand to citywide or countywide reach and drive policy or institutional change.

For general (non-HCCI) funding, the pathway is entirely relational. Build presence at Bay Area Funders Network convenings, Philanthropy California, and coalitions where Hellman grantees are visible. A warm introduction from a current Hellman grantee is worth more than any cold outreach.