The Zellerbach Family Foundation

The Zellerbach Family Foundation operates as a relationship-first funder with a clear bifurcated structure: only the Community Arts program accepts unsolicited proposals. Every other program area — Safety & Belonging, immigrant rights, youth justice, family resource centers — is by invitation only, cultivated through existing relationships with program staff. This distinction shapes every strategic decision an applicant should make.

Founded in 1956 with $54,600 by Jennie B. Zellerbach, the foundation has grown to $163 million in assets while maintaining an intentional Bay Area focus on Alameda, Contra Costa, and San Francisco counties. President Allison Magee, who has led ZFF continuously since at least FY2019 (growing from $284,332 to $335,812 in annual compensation), describes the foundation as committed to a "very long-game approach" — and the grantee data confirms this. Intersection for the Arts received 56 separate grants totaling $683,900. Youth Law Center accumulated $510,000 across 6 grants. Monument Impact received 11 grants totaling $440,000. These are decade-long partnerships, not one-time project awards.

For Community Arts applicants, the relationship begins with a proposal — but ZFF uses these smaller grants ($5,000, $10,000, or $15,000) as entry points into deeper partnerships. Organizations that demonstrate clear community ties, a public-facing project within the three-county region, and work centering historically underrepresented communities are well-positioned. Contra Costa County organizations receive explicit priority as a region ZFF has publicly identified as underfunded.

For organizations seeking strategic-tier grants — the multi-year, six-figure awards that define ZFF's Safety & Belonging and other invited programs — the path does not begin with a proposal. It begins with visibility. ZFF's program officers participate in Northern California Grantmakers convenings, Bay Area Funders for Cultural Equity, and other sector tables. Being known in these spaces, through peer funders who already have ZFF relationships, is the actual pathway into the invitation-only portfolio. Cultivation typically takes one to three years before an invitation emerges.

The foundation shifted from 4% general operating support in 2014 to 86% in 2024. This means even first-time Community Arts grantees often receive unrestricted funds. Reporting requirements have been relaxed further: Community Arts grantees now submit optional updates rather than formal reports. The foundation's Learning Agenda approach — collaborative, sector-level questions rather than grantee-level output tracking — reinforces that ZFF values systemic learning over accountability theater.

ZFF's annual total giving ranged from $7.8 million (FY2019) to $9.9 million (FY2023), with grants paid specifically running from $5.0 million (FY2020) to $7.0 million (FY2023). The endowment generates more than enough investment income to sustain grantmaking independently — net investment income was $9.7 million in FY2023 alone, exceeding total grants paid — making ZFF resilient to the market-cycle volatility that forces community foundations to cut during downturns.

The portfolio is structurally bifurcated. The Community Arts program distributes approximately $1 million annually in fixed grants of $5,000, $10,000, or $15,000 — roughly 200+ grants per year at low individual amounts. The strategic programs distribute the remaining $4–9 million annually through far fewer, far larger multi-year commitments.

Across 1,122 tracked grants in the IRS database, the median grant is $10,000 and the average is $25,409. The median reflects the Community Arts tier's high volume (most grants cluster at the $10,000 midpoint). The average is pulled upward by strategic grants reaching as high as $172,000 in a single fiscal year. Top grantees accumulated between $200,000 and $687,000 total across sustained relationships with ZFF.

Geographically, 97% of grants went to California — 1,091 of 1,122 tracked grants. The 31 non-California grants went to national advocacy organizations in Washington DC (10 grants), New York (6), Pennsylvania (6), Colorado (3), Oregon (2), and Maryland (2) — organizations like National Center for Youth Law and Youth Law Center that conduct federal-level advocacy relevant to ZFF's Bay Area priorities.

By program cluster, immigrant rights and legal services represents the largest segment by grantee count, with more than 15 distinct immigration-focused organizations funded (Immigration Institute of the Bay Area: $687,000; Monument Impact: $440,000; Catholic Charities Diocese of Santa Rosa: $345,000). Arts and culture is the second-largest segment, anchored by Intersection for the Arts ($683,900) and Dancers Group ($390,000). Youth and juvenile justice reform forms the third major cluster (W. Haywood Burns Institute: $514,000; Youth Law Center: $510,000; Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice: $275,000). Family resource centers and child welfare round out the portfolio (Life Learning Academy: $500,000; Safe & Sound: $410,000).

Note: Asset and giving figures for peer foundations are approximate, based on publicly available tax filings; ZFF figures are from FY2023 990.

ZFF occupies a distinctive mid-tier position among Bay Area social-change foundations — substantial enough for multi-year strategic partnerships exceeding $100,000 annually, but more nimble and relationship-intensive than the mega-foundations like Haas or the San Francisco Foundation. Its true differentiator is depth of commitment over time: multi-decade partnerships with the same organizations are the norm, not the exception. Organizations already funded by Gerbode, Fleishhacker, or Kenneth Rainin in performing arts or immigrant justice will find their credibility recognized at ZFF — these foundations share overlapping grantee rosters and program-officer networks. The Common App coalition (ZFF, Fleishhacker, Kenneth Rainin, Gerbode, InterMusic SF, Theatre Bay Area) formalizes this alignment. Conversely, a ZFF Community Arts grant is widely recognized as a credibility signal when approaching peer funders.

As of November 2024, ZFF publicly celebrated a cumulative milestone: 13,082 grants totaling $158 million awarded to 2,645 grant partners since 1956. This announcement coincided with an Inside Philanthropy profile documenting the foundation's decade-long transformation toward trust-based philanthropy.

Three new funders — Gerbode Foundation, InterMusic SF, and Theatre Bay Area — joined ZFF's Common Application for the Arts coalition in 2024–2025, which already included the Fleishhacker Foundation and Kenneth Rainin Foundation. For applicants, this means a single Common App submission is now portable across five Bay Area funders simultaneously.

Allison Magee has served as President & Executive Director continuously through at least FY2024 (compensation: $335,812), with Thomas H. Zellerbach remaining as Board Chair. Emily Boschwitz joined the board in December 2022, and Nancy Zellerbach Boschwitz transitioned from Vice President & Secretary to board emerita status in July 2022, reflecting a deliberate generational transition in family governance. CFO Susan Au (compensation: $218,583) has been in her role since August 2021.

The #AllInForKids initiative — a public-private coalition focused on domestic violence prevention and behavioral health policy reform through California Children's Trust — continued operating through New Venture Fund as fiscal sponsor, which received $600,000 from ZFF across 5 grants. The October 14, 2025 Community Arts deadline (notification by January 7, 2026) is the next confirmed cycle. No new major program launches or executive departures were announced publicly in 2025.

The Community Arts program is ZFF's only open front door, and navigating it requires precision on both timing and content.

Timing and portal access. Zellerbach runs four application cycles annually with two-week windows, typically opening in early March, June, September, and December. The October 14, 2025 cycle closes at exactly 5:00 PM PT, with notification by January 7, 2026. Register at zellerbach.fluxx.io at least three business days before you plan to submit — the portal sends login credentials by email, and this lag has prevented otherwise-eligible applicants from submitting on time. This is the most common avoidable failure point.

Draft in the Common App first. The Bay Area Common App tool uses identical questions to Fluxx. Drafting there gives you a clean workspace to iterate, share internally, and finalize before committing responses in Fluxx. The Common App also makes the same content portable across Gerbode, Fleishhacker, Kenneth Rainin, InterMusic SF, and Theatre Bay Area applications — one draft, five funders.

Work samples carry significant weight. Submit up to three samples (five minutes total) via video or audio links, or uploaded JPGs and PDFs. Reviewers are arts professionals who engage seriously with this material — they are not reading impact language alone. Submit documentation that demonstrates aesthetic distinctiveness and community presence. Include a brief descriptive note for each sample explaining its relevance to the proposed project.

Budget ceiling is a hard cutoff. Organizations with annual budgets above $2,000,000 are ineligible — there are no waivers. Confirm against your most recent fiscal year actuals, not your current-year projection.

Contra Costa County advantage. ZFF has stated publicly that Contra Costa is an underfunded region within its geographic focus. Arts organizations based in or primarily serving Contra Costa should name this identity explicitly in their applications — it is a deliberate portfolio-balancing factor for reviewers.

What to avoid. Exclude from your proposal: activities that are primarily educational or youth-focused, film or digital media as the primary discipline, fundraisers, private events, retroactive funding, and work outside the three-county area. Fiscally sponsored applicants must include a signed MOU from their fiscal sponsor.

AI tools are permitted. The foundation explicitly allows AI for content generation but advises "significant editing" to ensure authentic voice. Do not submit lightly edited AI output — reviewers flag it.

Strategic program pathway. For invitation-only programs, skip the proposal and invest in relationships. Attend Northern California Grantmakers convenings, join relevant funder collaborative tables (Bay Area Funders for Cultural Equity if applicable), and cultivate peer-funder introductions. Program officers track the field actively; visibility in their networks is the most reliable pathway to an invitation.