Valley Foundation

The Valley Foundation is a private, non-operating foundation based in San Jose, California that has deployed quiet, board-directed philanthropy in Santa Clara County for more than three decades. Founded in 1989 and headquartered at 999 W Taylor Street Suite A, the foundation operates with a lean three-person board — Chairman Phillip R. Boyce, Vice Chairman and Treasurer Dr. Richard Sieve, and Secretary Robert A. Lee — who have held these positions for at least 12 consecutive years. This long tenure signals a highly relationship-driven institution where institutional knowledge is concentrated in a small, stable group compensated at approximately $20,000 each annually (a nominal rate suggesting volunteer-oriented board culture).

The foundation's formal mission centers on improving healthcare and medical services for lower-income households within Santa Clara County, with Candid's profile noting that more than 50 percent of all grants are authorized for this purpose. In practice, the grantee portfolio reveals a broader and ideologically heterogeneous giving philosophy. Healthcare and social services organizations — CityTeam ($1.575M across two grants), Loaves & Fishes Family Kitchen ($525K), and Real Options Pregnancy Medical Clinics ($250K) — form the largest direct-program cluster. But arts organizations (Montalvo Arts Center, $750K across three grants), conservative advocacy groups (Turning Point USA, $500K; Judicial Watch, $200K; Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Foundation, $200K), and community institutions (Santa Clara Boy Scouts, $1M) also receive substantial support, revealing a board that gives across ideological lines.

First-time applicants must understand that this is fundamentally an invitation-only funder. The foundation publishes no open RFPs or formal grant cycles. Organizations seeking entry must begin with an inquiry submission through the foundation portal at valley.org, followed by board review. Approved inquiries may yield a full proposal invitation; cold applications without prior relationship context are unlikely to succeed.

The typical progression is: (1) inquiry submission with a concise project summary, (2) board review with possible meeting or site visit request, (3) invitation to submit a full proposal, and (4) award decision in the next quarterly review cycle. Cultivating relationships through existing grantees such as SVCF, Montalvo Arts Center, or Cristo Rey San Jose Jesuit High School may significantly improve inquiry success. Alignment language should lead with healthcare access for underserved Santa Clara County residents as the primary hook, even if the actual funding target is an adjacent program area.

The Valley Foundation's financial profile shows stable endowment wealth and consistently growing grantmaking. Total assets have ranged from $57.2M (2011) to $75.3M (2020), settling at approximately $70.5M in fiscal 2024 — reflecting investment portfolio volatility but long-term asset preservation. The foundation receives zero external contributions, relying entirely on net investment income ($917K in 2022; $5.1M in 2021; $7.9M in 2020) to fund operations and grantmaking, making it fully independent from any fundraising pressure.

Annual grants paid have grown substantially: $992K (2010), $755K (2014), $2.5M (2018), $3.0M (2019), $3.3M (2020), $4.0M (2021), $3.6M (2022), and $3.52M (2024). This nearly 4x increase from 2014 to 2022 indicates an intentional rise in payout rate to approximately 5–6% of assets annually — slightly above the 5% private foundation requirement.

Grant sizing is bifurcated between DAF pass-through and direct grantmaking. The foundation made approximately $3.45M to Schwab Charitable Donor-Advised Fund in fiscal 2024 alone — representing nearly all of that year's grantmaking. Excluding DAF grants, the direct grantmaking portfolio shows: median grant of $50,000, average of $98,252, and a range from $5,000 (Parti Program) to $550,000 (SVCF).

By sector (excluding DAF), community and civic organizations account for the largest share at approximately 23%: Santa Clara Boy Scouts ($1M), Silicon Valley Community Foundation ($550K). Healthcare and social services follow at roughly 32%: CityTeam ($1.575M), Loaves & Fishes ($525K), Real Options ($250K), NAMI Santa Clara County ($40K), and others. Conservative and policy-advocacy organizations represent approximately 18%: Turning Point USA ($500K), Institute for Study of Western Civilization ($350K), Judicial Watch ($200K), HJTA ($200K). Arts and culture accounts for 14%: Montalvo Arts Center ($750K), Children's Musical Theater ($100K), San Jose Light Tower ($100K).

Geographically, 85% of grants (35 of 41) flow to California-based organizations, with Santa Clara County dominant. The remaining 15% supports out-of-state grantees, primarily reflecting CityTeam's multi-city poverty relief operations in Arizona, Florida, and Colorado.

The table below compares The Valley Foundation to three regional peers with publicly available data.

The Valley Foundation occupies a distinct position among Santa Clara County funders: a well-capitalized private foundation with a narrow governance structure (three-person board) and an invitation-only access model uncommon among peer Bay Area funders of comparable size.

Compared to The Health Trust — which focuses exclusively on healthcare for underserved Silicon Valley residents and runs open competitive grant cycles — Valley Foundation's grantmaking is broader and more ideologically diverse, spanning food security, arts, religious causes, and conservative political advocacy. Silicon Valley Community Foundation dwarfs both in scale and operates as a community foundation model with thousands of donor-advised funds and open competitive cycles averaging approximately $21,000 per Community Action Grant in 2025. Sobrato Philanthropies, also invitation-only and Bay Area-based, focuses more narrowly on housing and education with a strong equity lens and much larger individual grants ($500K–$2M+).

Valley Foundation's willingness to fund conservative-leaning organizations (Turning Point USA, Judicial Watch, HJTA) sets it apart from virtually all other major Bay Area funders, making it a potentially distinctive funding source for ideologically diverse organizations that may find the regional philanthropic landscape otherwise inhospitable.

Web research conducted in April 2026 returned no press releases, news articles, or public announcements directly from or about The Valley Foundation (EIN 94-1584547). The foundation maintains one of the most minimal public profiles among Bay Area funders of its asset class — it has no active social media presence, publishes no annual reports, and does not appear to have issued any grant announcements or public communications in the 2025–2026 period.

Based on IRS 990-PF filings reviewed via ProPublica, fiscal year 2024 data confirms $70.5M in total assets, $1.1M in revenue (primarily dividends of $1.46M, interest of $125K, and asset sale proceeds of $924K), and $3.52M in charitable disbursements. The largest single 2024 grant was $3.45M to Schwab Charitable Donor-Advised Fund, continuing a pattern of DAF-heavy grantmaking.

Leadership has remained unchanged for at least 12 years: Phillip R. Boyce (Chairman), Dr. Richard Sieve (Vice Chairman and Treasurer), and Robert A. Lee (Secretary). Officer compensation rose modestly from $16,000 each (2018–2021) to $19,000–$20,000 each in 2022–2024, totaling approximately $60,000 in annual officer compensation. There are no indications of leadership transitions, succession planning, or governance changes.

The foundation's most notable recent multi-year relationships are with Montalvo Arts Center (cumulative $750,000 across three grants) and CityTeam (cumulative $1.575M across two grants) — both representing the longest-running direct grantee relationships in the available data. Grant seekers should anticipate continuity with these historical patterns rather than expecting a programmatic shift.

Approaching The Valley Foundation requires a fundamentally different strategy than most Bay Area funders. This is not a foundation with an open portal, published RFP cycles, or a program officer available for exploratory calls. Grant seekers must navigate a board-directed, invitation-only process with minimal public guidance.

Lead with healthcare for low-income residents of Santa Clara County. The foundation's stated primary purpose designates more than 50% of grants for healthcare and medical services for lower-income households. Even if your organization's primary focus is adjacent — social services, workforce development, or youth programming — frame healthcare access or health outcomes prominently in your inquiry to trigger the primary mission alignment.

Your inquiry is your first impression with a three-person board. Keep it concise: two to three paragraphs covering your organization overview, specific project description, total budget, amount requested, and Santa Clara County service data. Include one or two concrete outcome metrics from prior work. Long inquiries are likely counterproductive given the board's lean operational structure.

Demonstrate leverage explicitly. Board review criteria include the organization's ability to attract partnerships and leverage resources. If you have a co-funder, matching commitment, or formal collaborative partner, lead with it — this signals both organizational strength and grant efficiency.

Size your ask strategically for a first application. The sweet spot for new grantees appears to be $25,000–$100,000 based on the grantee distribution (median: $50,000). Multi-year grantees like Montalvo Arts ($750K cumulative) and CityTeam ($1.575M cumulative) reached those levels through relationship development over multiple grant cycles, not single large asks.

Recognize the ideological breadth. This foundation has funded Turning Point USA ($500K), Judicial Watch ($200K), and Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Foundation ($200K) alongside progressive social services. Organizations with conservative-leaning missions or programming should not self-select out — Valley Foundation is one of the rare Bay Area funders where this alignment does not disqualify.

Avoid these common mistakes: framing your work as serving the broader Bay Area without Santa Clara County-specific data; asking for endowment or capital contributions without a prior relationship; submitting proposals above $550,000 for a first ask; and expecting a rapid response — allow 60–90 days after inquiry submission before any follow-up.