Grant Guidelines

The Pottruck Family Foundation seeks to improve the lives of young people by supporting community-based organizations working in the area of Foster Care. The Foundation is particularly interested in those working to improve the ability of foster youth to thrive and to support their successful transition from care to adulthood. Priority will be given to organizations in San Francisco, though the Foundation will consider organizations working in the greater Bay Area. Under the Foster Care umbrella, the Foundation is currently focused on Permanency, Mentoring, Educational Attainment, Supported Housing, and Advocacy/Leadership Development. Successful applicants will be those whose missions relate to the foster care system and those impacted by the system, and whose programs and services are designed to serve emancipating/emancipated foster youth. While the Foundation is aware that emancipated foster youth are a subset of transitional age youth, and that transitional age youth have significant and urgent needs, the Foundation’s focus remains steadfast on current and former foster youth. In certain circumstances, grants are awarded to Civic/Community projects that support the community at large - those that all San Franciscans may enjoy and/or benefit from. Please note that the Foundation's responsive grantmaking program is limited to Foster Care; grants in other areas are generally initiated by the Foundation.

The Foundation will review grant proposals from 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organizations that meet the established guidelines and provide the information described above and in the Application Procedure. Organizations are invited to call the Foundation to discuss programs prior to submitting a request for funds. There are no deadlines and proposals may be submitted year round; all requests will be acknowledged in writing. Every effort will be made to include proposals on the docket closest to the date of receipt; incomplete proposals will cause delays in the review process. Please note that there are only two dockets per year (mid-year and year-end). Thus, it could take more than six months after receipt of a request for the Foundation to make a funding decision.