Lisa And Douglas Goldman Fund

The Lisa and Douglas Goldman Fund is a closely held family foundation with approximately $277 million in assets, governed entirely by Goldman family members — Douglas Goldman (President), Lisa Goldman (Secretary), Jennifer Goldman (Treasurer), Jason Goldman, and Matthew Goldman as board members. Day-to-day operations are managed by Executive Director Nancy Kami, who has led the fund for well over a decade at a current compensation exceeding $425,000 annually. This combination of family governance and experienced professional staff produces a stable, values-driven culture where decisions reflect personal conviction more than institutional mandates.

The fund's giving philosophy centers on sustained, multi-year general operating support for organizations demonstrating sustained alignment with Goldman values. The top grantee record is striking: Stern Grove Festival Association has received 28 grants totaling $2.34 million; UC Berkeley Foundation, 23 grants for $1.85 million; Congregation Emanu-El, 17 grants for $2.28 million. Nearly every grant purpose in the database is coded 'GENERAL OPERATING SUPPORT.' This is a funder that backs organizations and leadership teams — not discrete deliverables or project timelines. First-time applicants should frame requests around institutional stability, leadership depth, and long-term track record rather than a single program outcome.

Five program areas are open to new LOI submissions: Democracy and Civil Liberties (national/multi-state only), Civic Education K-12 (national, regional, or multi-state), Environment (national/multi-state or California nature-based solutions), Reproductive Health and Rights (national, regional, California, or multi-state), and Jewish Community (SF Bay Area and/or national). Three additional categories — Health and Recreation, Bay Area Institutions, and Special Projects — are strictly by invitation and represent most of the largest multi-year commitments in the grantee database. First-time applicants must target only the five open program areas and must meet their respective geographic requirements.

The application follows a two-stage process: a Letter of Inquiry through the YourCause portal, followed by an invitation-only formal proposal. The Board meets approximately quarterly. With each organization limited to one submission annually and active grantees prohibited from applying for new funding, strategic preparation matters as much as proposal quality. Pre-submission contact with grantsmanager@ldgfund.org is explicitly encouraged and should be used to validate fit before starting the annual clock.

Over the five most recent completed fiscal years, the Lisa and Douglas Goldman Fund paid between $11 million and $20.7 million in grants annually. The January 2025 press release confirmed $14.3 million paid to 209 organizations in 2024, while the FY2023 Form 990 shows $20.7 million in grants paid — a figure that includes multi-year pledge payments and capital commitments that inflate the 990 total relative to the annual press release figure of $13.6 million.

From 1,468 historical grants totaling $65.8 million in the database, the median grant is $12,500 and the average is $43,634. This barbell distribution — many small grants alongside a minority of large multi-year commitments — reflects two distinct giving tracks: discretionary relationship grants of $5,000–$25,000 to community-connected organizations, and sustained major grants of $100,000–$500,000+ to anchor partners. Capital campaign commitments to by-invitation Bay Area institutions (e.g., $4 million to the Tennis Coalition of San Francisco over four grants, $2.28 million to Congregation Emanu-El over 17 grants) skew the average upward significantly.

For the five open program areas, operational grant benchmarks drawn from named grantees: Democracy and Civil Liberties — National Redistricting Foundation ($850K cumulative), Campaign Legal Center ($425K), Common Cause Education Fund ($625K), League of Women Voters Education Fund ($435K); typical single-year grants in the $75,000–$175,000 range. Reproductive Health — Planned Parenthood Northern California ($720K cumulative), Center for Reproductive Rights ($400K), Midwest Access Coalition ($525K). Environment — Rainforest Connection ($450K cumulative), Earthworks ($320K), Action for the Climate Emergency ($375K). Jewish Community — Jewish Community Relations Council ($769K), HIAS ($425K), Urban Adamah ($316K). Civic Education — iCivics ($325K), Fair Elections Center ($325K).

Geographically, California organizations receive 63% of all grants (931 of 1,468 recorded), Washington D.C. headquarters account for 13% (186 grants), and New York for 11% (161 grants). Total assets grew from $179 million in 2012 to $277 million in 2024, supporting a grantmaking volume increase from $9.8 million (2012) to the current $14–21 million range. Annual giving has trended slightly downward from the $18.2M peak in fiscal 2021.

The table below compares the Lisa and Douglas Goldman Fund to four Bay Area peer foundations using publicly available Form 990 data. Financial figures are approximate; fiscal years vary by institution.

The Lisa and Douglas Goldman Fund occupies a distinctive position among San Francisco family foundations: it holds $277 million in assets and grantmakes at a scale comparable to invitation-only institutions like Koret and Stuart, yet maintains a publicly accessible LOI portal across five substantive program areas. This openness is rare at this asset level and makes Goldman the highest-value accessible foundation in the Bay Area for national organizations working on democracy, reproductive health, or climate policy.

Among peer institutions with overlapping program areas — Jewish community, civic engagement, environment — Goldman is the most accessible entry point for organizations without pre-existing board relationships. For Bay Area-based regional nonprofits, Hellman and Zellerbach serve as accessible peer alternatives at lower giving scales, while Koret remains the closest mission peer for Jewish community organizations but is effectively closed to first-time unsolicited applicants.

The fund's most significant recent announcement came on January 31, 2025, reporting $14.3 million in 2024 grants to 209 nonprofits. The release reinforced longstanding priorities — voter engagement, gun violence prevention, climate resilience, reproductive rights — while explicitly naming antisemitism response and early literacy as distinct emphases. Early literacy as a standalone call-out represents a newer emphasis compared to prior annual reports.

The 2023 cycle (announced January 2024) added $765,000 in special emergency initiatives responding to the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel — covering Israel emergency relief, antisemitism response organizations, and Maui wildfire assistance. This rapid-response giving, deployed outside the regular quarterly review cycle, demonstrates that the fund can mobilize capital quickly on issues of personal significance to the Goldman family, particularly Israel-related causes.

On the leadership front, Executive Director Nancy Kami's compensation rose from $373,081 to $425,000 across recent 990 filings. No leadership changes are apparent for 2025–2026: Douglas Goldman remains President, Lisa Goldman serves as Secretary, and children Jennifer, Jason, and Matthew Goldman continue as board members. The board remains entirely family-controlled with no outside directors. No major program redesigns or strategic pivots were identified in available 2025–2026 sources beyond the heightened emphasis on combating antisemitism and early literacy.

Match geographic scope to program before anything else. The fund's geographic eligibility rules are non-negotiable and are enforced at the portal questionnaire stage. National or multi-state reach is required for Democracy and Civil Liberties, Civic Education K-12, and Reproductive Health and Rights. Environment grants require national/multi-state scope or California nature-based solutions specifically. Jewish Community is the only program where Bay Area-only organizations qualify. Map your actual service geography against the current requirements at ldgfund.org/grant-seekers/interests-priorities/ before drafting a word.

Request general operating support. Nearly every grant in the database is designated 'GENERAL OPERATING SUPPORT' — this is not coincidence. The Goldman Fund backs organizations and leadership, not deliverables. If your organization can absorb unrestricted funds, request them. Project-specific requests are technically accepted but are significantly less common in the grantee record and may invite additional scrutiny about organizational capacity.

Demonstrate co-funding explicitly. The fund explicitly states it rarely covers 100% of a project budget. Attach a list of 2–4 secured and potential co-funders to your LOI. A request representing 25–40% of total project cost is more compelling than a request seeking majority funding from a single source.

Use the one-submission-per-year rule strategically. You have exactly one application opportunity per 12-month period, and organizations with active grants cannot apply for new funding. Email grantsmanager@ldgfund.org or call (415) 771-1717 with a 2–3 sentence project summary before submitting to confirm fit — the fund explicitly encourages this contact and it costs nothing relative to wasting your annual opportunity on a misaligned request.

Time your submission to the quarterly review cycle. The Board meets approximately four times annually. Submitting early in January, April, July, or October maximizes the probability of reaching the upcoming review panel rather than waiting an additional quarter — a difference of up to three months in decision timing.

Mirror the fund's own language in your narrative. Priority phrases like 'informed, active, and equal citizen participation,' 'reducing the influence of money in politics,' 'medication abortion access,' 'industry practices that mitigate climate change,' and 'combating antisemitism in the US' appear in the fund's published materials for a reason — use them to signal genuine alignment, not generic grant-writing boilerplate.

Never request the hard-stop categories. Academic research, events, conferences, documentary film production, deficit budget coverage, and grants to individuals are absolute disqualifiers. These restrictions are applied regardless of mission strength or relationship history.