We concentrate our resources on the residents of the Berkeley neighborhood generally west of Sacramento Street.
The west and south Berkeley neighborhood includes vibrant business areas such as Fourth Street, the Left Bank and International Market areas. Its residents, however, still include the highest percentage of single-parent families, students with the highest dropout rate at Berkeley High School, and the fewest resources for children, seniors, and disadvantaged families.
In 1993, the Bayer Corporation created a 10-year funding plan to develop a grant program and build an endowment to support the non-profit programs that serve West Berkeley children, seniors and disadvantaged families. This agreement was part of an innovative development agreement with the City of Berkeley that included Bayer plant expansion in West Berkeley.
Non-profit organizations that serve the children, seniors, and disadvantaged residents of West and South Berkeley. Each organization must be a 501(3) c non-profit corporation or have a fiscal agent that qualifies.
There is no minimum or maximum number, but between 20 and 30 grants are usually awarded each year.
The maximum grant amount is $4,500. The board has, however, occasionally chosen to focus its annual resources on one major project such as providing $150,000 in seed money for the building fund of Rosa Parks School, the only elementary school in West Berkeley.
The Foundation has granted over $1,200,000 since 1993.
The grant decisions are made by the full board of directors.
Grant applications become available in May. The grant decisions are announced in August and the grant awards made in September.
The West Berkeley Foundation board of directors includes Berkeley business people and residents who care about giving their neighbors a hand. We volunteer our time. Board member biographies are available here.
The grant process of the West Berkeley Foundation reflects the time-and-resources-strapped reality of West Berkeley non-profit service programs. We make the grant process simple and flexible for folks who often don’t have professional grant writers and can’t afford to take time away from their important work. We expect a grant applicant to give us full information and meet a couple of deadlines, but we keep the formalities to a minimum.
The West Berkeley Foundation is not political. Its supporters come from all facets of Berkeley political spectrum. We do not endorse candidates or propositions. Our philosophy is a simple one: help fund the non-profit programs that serve Berkeley’s most at-risk residents. We count on people to help from every facet of the community: the hills, the flatlands, downtown, the University, the City, the affluent, and those of modest means.
Board members decide on the grant recipients and the amount of each grant.
Each board member also serves as grant manager some of our grantees. This ensures that we get to know the organizations we fund on a more personal basis. It also helps us connect organizations that can collaborate for greater results.
The West Berkeley Foundation is a virtual organization, avoiding rent and overhead to put the most money possible directly into the programs that serve our community. We use our homes, offices, and community meeting spaces for most of the resources we need. The East Bay Community Fund (501[3]c) is our fiscal agent, managing the donations, endowment, and expenses of the Foundation. That allows our board to focus on its essential work: supporting the programs that help Berkeley’s most disadvantaged residents.
