Overview

Successful grant applications to the Foundation for Change reflect an understanding of who we are and what we are trying to accomplish.  Before applying for a grant, we encourage you to read this overview carefully and to browse the other pages in this section of our website.

Our Grantmaking Philosophy – “Change, Not Charity”

In 1994 the San Diego Foundation for Change incorporated as its own 501c3 corporation and became a member of the Funding Exchange, a network of regionally-based foundations dedicated “Change, Not Charity.”  Where traditional practices of philanthropy aim to meet immediate human need (“charity”), the Foundation for Change seeks to address the root causes of social injustice (“change.”) 

As Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “Philanthropy is commendable, but it must not cause the philanthropist to overlook the circumstances of injustice which make philanthropy necessary.”

The Foundation for Change is rooted in – and committed to –  a culture of community-based organizing. We are committed to growing grassroots movements for social justice in San Diego and Tijuana.

To learn more about “Models of Social Change,” please review this document.

Para ver algunos “Modelos de Cambio Social,” favor de revisar este documento.

Our Grantmaking Practice – Grassroots Decision-Making

Most philanthropic organizations leave decision-making power in the hands of donors themselves or place this power in the hands of professional staff.  At the Foundation for Change, grant making decisions are made by an all-volunteer board composed of leaders familiar with our region’s most under-served and under-represented communities.  Because members of our Grantmaking Committee have “on the ground” knowledge of hard-to-reach populations, we are able to identify promising leaders and address issues and causes before they attract the attention of more traditional philanthropists.  Because members of our Grantmaking Committee conduct in-person interviews with finalists for grant awards, we are able to establish supportive relationships with emerging leaders, helping them to get on the “first rung” of the philanthropic ladder.

To learn more about our Grantmaking Committee, click here.

Our Grantmaking Success – Planting Seeds of Change

Our model of grassroots philanthropy has had its successes here in San Diego. Whether for lack of education, experience, resources or awareness, many leaders from San Diego’s most marginalized communities have been unable to access more traditional funding sources and so have depended on the Foundation for Change to help them launch their grassroots organizations.

The brief list below gives an idea of the kinds of organizations that the Foundation for Change has helped to launch (years funded in parentheses):

- The Environmental Health Coalition (1987, 1990, 1993, and 1996) promotes environmental and social justice by empowering leaders in underserved communities to protect public health and the environment as these are threatened by toxic pollution.

- Supportive Parents Information Network (SPIN) (1999, 2001, 2003, and 2006) helps low-income families break out of the isolation of poverty and achieve self-sufficiency.

- The Employee Rights Center (1999) helps nonunion workers with a host of issues, including unemployment claims, wage disputes and proceedings at the National Labor Relations Board.

- Shakti Rising (2001) provides holistic, gender-specific and trauma-informed services to young women, ages 15–30, who are dealing with multiple issues including substance abuse, body-image issues, interpersonal violence, and depression.

- Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice (2004) was the leading partner in a broad-based coalition that won a Living Wage Ordinance from the San Diego City Council in 2006.

- Gay, Lesbian, & Straight Education Network (GLSEN) (2006) strives to ensure that each member of every school community is valued and respected regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression.

- Sun & Moon Vision Productions (2006) supports local women in producing documentaries, digital video and media art that nurtures a humanitarian vision.

Our Grantmaking Future – Gardening on Both Sides of the Border

The leaders at the Foundation for Change are committed to making a greater impact in our region. We recognize that the social injustices we aim to combat are rooted deeply on both sides of the international boundary. San Diego and Tijuana are sister cities – twins joined at the hip, even – and what ails them cannot be remedied on just one side of the border.

We can see a day in which grassroots groups from San Diego and Tijuana are joined together in mutually supportive ways, working together for more comprehensive social, economic and environmental justice. The list of potential causes is endless – improved access to reproductive and other health services; reduction in transmission rates of HIV and other communicable disease; empowerment of neighborhood leaders fighting for environmental justice; promotion of alternatives to violence in families, schools and neighborhoods; expanded opportunities for children and youth of recent immigrants; improved wages and rights for the working people on the bottom of both the San Diego and Tijuana labor markets; enhanced capacity of culturally-competent organizations addressing the rights of sexual minorities; the list goes on.