California · Grantmakers

Foundations That Fund Arts & Culture in California

Imperigo has identified 1,825 funders that made 35,636 grants totaling $5.3B to 3,874 arts & culture organizations in California, with a median grant of $20K. Every figure below is drawn from IRS Form 990 filings through 2025.

Arts & Culture Funding in California

Total granted $5.3B
Funders 1,825
Grants 35,636
Organizations funded 3,874

Top Funders — page 1 of 4

1. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
7 grants to 1 organization · largest $65.1M · through 2024 · 97.7% of their giving
$387.6M
2. Jewish Community Foundation of San Diego
226 grants to 73 organizations · largest $48.7M · through 2024 · 23.1% of their giving
$173.0M
3. Corporation for Public Broadcasting
223 grants to 20 organizations · largest $17.5M · through 2025 · 7.4% of their giving
$262.5M
4. Music Center Foundation
30 grants to 5 organizations · largest $21.1M · through 2024 · 100.0% of their giving
$65.6M
5. Hollywood Foreign Press Association
91 grants to 41 organizations · largest $48.4M · through 2023 · 72.0% of their giving
$53.4M
6. National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences Inc
14 grants to 2 organizations · largest $5.2M · through 2024 · 93.7% of their giving
$45.8M
7. San Francisco Ballet Endowment Foundation
6 grants to 1 organization · largest $10.8M · through 2024 · 100.0% of their giving
$41.5M
8. California Community Foundation
943 grants to 336 organizations · largest $4.1M · through 2024 · 6.4% of their giving
$128.3M
9. San Diego Symphony Foundation
6 grants to 1 organization · largest $5.9M · through 2024 · 100.0% of their giving
$34.0M
10. The San Francisco Foundation
844 grants to 292 organizations · largest $3.5M · through 2024 · 6.6% of their giving
$79.4M
11. Freedom House
6 grants to 1 organization · largest $8.3M · through 2024 · 15.8% of their giving
$26.4M
12. Academy of Television Arts and Sciences
6 grants to 1 organization · largest $9.3M · through 2024 · 100.0% of their giving
$20.2M
13. SER Jobs Progress National Inc
6 grants to 1 organization · largest $7.5M · through 2024 · 100.0% of their giving
$19.7M
14. The San Diego Foundation
441 grants to 141 organizations · largest $3.3M · through 2024 · 7.8% of their giving
$48.9M
15. Marin Community Foundation
487 grants to 174 organizations · largest $2.9M · through 2024 · 5.5% of their giving
$65.1M
16. Santa Barbara Foundation
230 grants to 79 organizations · largest $1.1M · through 2024 · 13.5% of their giving
$18.9M
17. Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco the Peninsula Marin & Sonoma
407 grants to 132 organizations · largest $2.3M · through 2024 · 5.5% of their giving
$32.4M
18. Orange County Community Foundation
272 grants to 84 organizations · largest $11.0M · through 2024 · 5.5% of their giving
$30.2M
19. Fort Mason Center
12 grants to 8 organizations · largest $2.9M · through 2024 · 94.1% of their giving
$7.4M
20. The Rose Hills Foundation
122 grants to 41 organizations · largest $1.2M · through 2024 · 10.0% of their giving
$12.7M
21. Sweeney Classic
7 grants to 1 organization · largest $1.0M · through 2024 · 100.0% of their giving
$6.3M
22. The Yerba Buena Gardens Conservancy
8 grants to 3 organizations · largest $1.4M · through 2024 · 99.9% of their giving
$6.0M
23. Public Corp for the Arts of the City of Long Beach
88 grants to 32 organizations · largest $244K · through 2023 · 72.1% of their giving
$5.7M
24. California Institute for Biodiversity
16 grants to 3 organizations · largest $2.0M · through 2024 · 37.2% of their giving
$5.7M
25. Silicon Valley Community Foundation
761 grants to 309 organizations · largest $6.0M · through 2024
$120.6M

Funders are ordered by how much of their overall giving goes to arts & culture work in California, not by dollar totals alone — a foundation that concentrates its giving here is usually a better prospect than a larger one for which this is a rounding error. 17 of the funders counted here are donor-advised fund sponsors, which grant on behalf of individual donors and accept no applications; they are marked and ranked last.

Other Causes Funded in California

About This Data

A grant appears here when a funder reported it on its IRS Form 990 and the recipient organization is classified under the NTEE group covering arts & culture work, with an address in California. Grants are counted from the 2025 filing year backward.

Some 990 grant schedules list a recipient by name and address without an EIN, and those grants cannot be matched to a classification — so the totals above represent identifiable arts & culture funding in California, not every dollar that reached the sector. Figures are a floor, not a ceiling.

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Research California funders in depth

Full grant histories, recipient lists, officer compensation, multi-year financials, and exports for every foundation Imperigo tracks.