Walter And Elise Haas Fund

The Walter and Elise Haas Fund operates from a deep Bay Area identity — founded over 70 years ago and now in the middle of a significant strategic reset. Since 2023, the fund has consolidated its grantmaking into two pillars: Economic Well-being (the Endeavor Fund, focused on closing the racial and gender wealth gap) and Social Well-being (the WE Initiative and Creative Power Awards, focused on belonging and cultural vitality). Traditional program areas — Jewish life, standalone arts, racial justice — have been absorbed into this new framework or wound down.

The fund runs highly structured, long-cycle initiatives with pre-selected cohorts rather than open competitive grant cycles. The Endeavor Fund committed $3.5 million each to seven Black and POC-led organizations over seven years. The WE Initiative is awarding $500,000 over five years to 24 organizations selected from 803 letters of inquiry submitted in 2025. Both cohorts are fully seated and funded through 2030.

The Haas Fund's giving philosophy centers on trust and long-term partnership. General operating support is the dominant grant type — well over half of all grants are unrestricted. The fund explicitly states a minimum 25% commitment to social justice strategies (advocacy, organizing, civic engagement), making it unusually willing to fund controversial programmatic work compared to most Bay Area foundations.

Organizations that have succeeded with Haas share consistent traits: BIPOC-led teams with roots in San Francisco or Oakland, annual budgets under $5 million, demonstrated community accountability, and a capacity for collaborative learning. Geographic specificity matters — the fund is not interested in regional Bay Area breadth; it funds neighborhood-embedded organizations in SF and Oakland.

First-time applicants must accept the current reality: most Haas programs are closed to new applicants through 2030. The productive path now is relationship-building — attending Northern California Grantmakers (NCG) events, securing introductions through current grantees like La Cocina Inc., Young Women's Freedom Center, or Oakland Promise, and cultivating visibility with program officers before the next open cycle.

The Haas Fund deployed $13.5 million in grants paid in fiscal year 2023, up from $10.7 million in 2019 — a 26% increase over four years. Total giving (including multi-year commitments booked at once) reached $18.4 million in 2023, with total assets of $252.5 million. As of 2024, assets grew to $262 million, reflecting solid investment returns after a down year in 2022.

Across 980 tracked grants totaling $65.3 million, the average grant was $66,672 — but this mean obscures the bimodal reality of the portfolio. Grant sizes break sharply by program:

• Endeavor Fund: $3.5M per organization over 7 years (7 organizations, $24.5M total)
• WE Initiative: $100,000/year for 5 years ($500,000 total per org; 24 organizations, $12M total)
• Possibility grants: $100,000 one-time (10 organizations, October 2024)
• Policy and supportive grants: Typically $75,000–$225,000/year, often 2–3 year terms
• Capital support: $200,000–$500,000 one-time (building acquisition, renovations, accessibility upgrades)
• Field-building: $200,000–$250,000 per cycle (NCG membership, philanthropy infrastructure)

The top 10 grantees by total dollars illustrate the fund's depth of relationship: Resilient Bayview (A. Philip Randolph Institute) received $1.8M across 6 grants; La Cocina Inc. received $728,000 across 5 grants; Oakland Promise received $623,000 across 4 grants.

Geographic distribution: 87.7% of grants went to California organizations, with the overwhelming majority in San Francisco and Alameda Counties. Washington DC received 45 grants (national policy organizations), New York 49 grants (Jewish and arts institutions during the prior strategy), and a handful of grants went to Illinois, Massachusetts, Oregon, and Texas.

Multi-year grants dominate. Single-year grants ($100,000–$200,000) are typically pilot or capacity-building investments. Organizations demonstrating fit scale to 2–3 year renewals and eventually multi-year cohort commitments. The trend from 2019–2023 shows consistent growth in total giving despite market volatility — the fund maintained its 5–7% annual payout ratio throughout.

The Haas Fund occupies a defined mid-tier position among Bay Area foundations — substantially larger than most community-based funders but operating at a fraction of the scale of the Hewlett or Packard foundations. Its closest strategic peer is the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund, which shares the family name and values-driven approach but operates in distinct issue areas (LGBTQ rights, immigration reform, economic mobility) at a similar asset scale.

Key differentiators: The Haas Fund is notable for its cohort grantmaking model (5–7 year commitments), its explicit 25% social justice mandate, and its budget threshold preference (under $5M operating budget). Among Bay Area peers, the San Francisco Foundation offers the most accessible entry point for new applicants through periodic open grant cycles. Organizations should approach all five funders simultaneously but should not expect rapid Haas engagement without an existing relationship or warm introduction.

The Haas Fund has been highly visible through a major strategic reset since late 2023, with several consequential announcements:

February 17, 2026: Announced 24 WE Initiative awardees — organizations selected from 803 letters of inquiry received in 2025. Each awardee receives $100,000 annually for five years, with first payments distributed in December 2025. Grantees commit to a cohort learning experience in year one, with future cadence co-designed collectively.

November 2025: Distributed Creative Power Awards — $1.575 million in unrestricted support to individual artists and arts nonprofits, evolved from the prior Creative Work Fund which was previously administered in partnership with Hewlett Foundation.

2025 (estimated): Committed $3.25 million to civil society protection, a new defensive infrastructure focus responding to threats to nonprofit independence in the federal policy environment.

October 2024: Launched possibility grants — 10 awards of $100,000 each to Bay Area organizations selected entirely by a BIPOC youth fellows cohort (ages 18–24), including the Anti-Police Terror Project, Center for Empowering Refugees and Immigrants, and Arab Resource and Organizing Center (AROC). The AROC grant generated significant backlash from San Francisco's Jewish community, highlighting the fund's formal departure from its decades-long Jewish philanthropic identity.

November 2023: Officially announced the wind-down of Jewish life grantmaking (70-year program), along with the consolidation of standalone arts and racial justice programs into the new Economic and Social Well-being framework.

2023: Launched the Endeavor Fund — $24.5M committed to seven organizations over seven years. Executive Director Jamie Allison has led this transition, with compensation rising from $302,000 (2020) to $416,350 (2023), reflecting expanded scope.

The most critical piece of intelligence for any prospective Haas applicant: this foundation is not accepting unsolicited applications for most programs in 2025–2026. Strategy must pivot to relationship cultivation and positioning for future cycles.

Know the live deadlines: Policy grants have a posted deadline of June 26, 2026, but these are by invitation in 2025. If your organization does policy work in economic security, arts, or civic engagement, contact Haas program staff now to explore eligibility before the next cycle opens.

Work the NCG network: The Haas Fund is an active institutional member of Northern California Grantmakers (NCG). Haas staff participate in NCG convenings, collaborative tables, and funder learning communities. Attending NCG events is the most reliable non-transactional path to building relationships with Haas program officers.

Secure grantee introductions: Current Haas grantees — La Cocina Inc., Young Women's Freedom Center, Oakland Promise, East Bay Community Law Center, Resilient Bayview — are often asked for peer referrals. A warm introduction from a trusted grantee carries significant weight in a relationship-driven fund.

Mirror the fund's language precisely: Use framing the fund has chosen: 'belonging,' 'racial and gender wealth gap,' 'self-determination,' 'social cohesion,' 'community well-being.' Avoid generic equity language. Name the specific SF or Oakland neighborhood, the specific population (immigrant women entrepreneurs, low-wage Black and Latinx workers), and your specific theory of change.

Lead with BIPOC leadership credentials: Board composition, senior staff demographics, and lived-experience credentials are threshold criteria, not bonus points. These should appear in the first paragraph of any organizational narrative.

Demonstrate cohort capacity: Every major Haas grant requires active participation in learning cohorts — typically 6–8 gatherings per year. Proactively frame your organization as collaborative and peer-oriented, not just a service delivery engine.

For capital projects: Haas makes capital grants ($200,000–$500,000) for building acquisition, renovations, and accessibility upgrades. These have more flexible eligibility than program grants — a compelling community access argument can succeed even without deep programmatic alignment. Use the 'Other Funding Areas' inquiry pathway.