San Francisco Foundation

Overview

Mission

Founded in 1948, the San Francisco Foundation is one of the nation’s largest community foundations—a grantmaking public charity dedicated to improving life within a specific local region. Our mission is to mobilize resources and act as a catalyst for change to build strong communities, foster civic leadership, and promote philanthropy in the San Francisco Bay Area.

What it reported doing in 2024

Through the generosity of donors, past and present, the foundation funds approximately 3,200 non-profit organizations in the bay area and across the country each year, working on a broad range of charitable purposes in response to the ever-changing needs of our communities. With its programmatic grantmaking, the foundation works to ensure that all people in the bay area are economically secure, rooted in vibrant communities, and have a voice in the decisions that impact them.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 89% of the money available for current operations came from contributions.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 91% of its reported program spending out as grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
010679337
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Website reviewed
Jun 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Headquarters
San Francisco, CA, USA
Rating
86
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Public, Societal Benefit

Official website

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The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The website gives limited detail about important organizational relationships and some related-organization disclosures are missing.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 93
  • Transparency & Controls: 73
  • Accountability: 88
  • Sustainability: 87
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 94.4%; rating input score 94
  • Program expense ratio: 95.1%; rating input score 95
  • Fundraising efficiency: $65.25 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 88.9%; rating input score 89; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 6 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 100
  • Foreign activity oversight: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
  • Grant itemization coverage: 99.4%; rating input score 99; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: No; rating input score 0
  • Public monitoring controls: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
  • Public policy transparency: 2 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
  • Public financial transparency: 4 of 5 controls in place; rating input score 80
  • Impact reporting controls: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
  • Public relationship transparency: No; rating input score 0

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
  • Public governance controls: 1 of 4 controls in place; rating input score 25
  • Zakat policy transparency: Limited

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 29%; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Operating reserve ratio: 7.54; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.06; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 1.5%; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.3% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.1% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.9% per year; rating input score 100; 27th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 4 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 94.4% of revenue deployed · 95.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $242.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $671K · 26 people listed · 6 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 40 of 42 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
  • Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 annual filings from 2010 to 2024
  • Money network: 1718 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1701 filed related-organization links