About Us

The Foundation operates in three specific areas of focus—environmental conservation, science, and the San Francisco Bay Area. Within these areas are specific Initiatives that employ a portfolio of strategies implemented through grants that are expected to help achieve targeted, large-scale outcomes. Outside Initiative-based grantmaking, the Foundation has made significant funding commitments to Conservation International and the California Institute of Technology. Additionally, the Foundation awards grants for unique and opportunistic projects within our areas of focus, particularly when the potential outcome is high-impact, long-term and measurable. The Foundation works collaboratively with grantees and other partners, and grantmaking is focused on generating measurable outcomes.

The Foundation was established in September 2000.

The Foundation employs approximately 75 people.

The Foundation’s endowment is approximately $6 billion.

The Foundation typically, although not exclusively, makes a relatively small number of large and longer-term grants and always emphasizes clearly identified outcomes for the work it supports. In 2008, the Foundation awarded 134 grants totaling $261 million.

The Foundation focuses on three areas: environmental conservation, science, and the San Francisco Bay Area.

The Foundation’s Initiatives are focused areas of interest that fall within one of our three overall programs. Initiatives must be approved by the Foundation's Board. The Foundation has organized the majority of its grantmaking around these Initiatives, and each Initiative includes a portfolio of outcome-based grants. We encourage and support collaboration among the grantees involved in our initiatives to achieve the most significant and enduring outcomes possible.

In addition to Initiative-based grantmaking, the Foundation is providing significant funding to Conservation International, the California Institute of Technology, the Thirty-Meter Telescope, and the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing. Long-term funding commitments have been made to support these two organizations on multiple projects that will lead to large-scale outcomes. Currently, the Foundation supports five Board-approved Initiatives and three Commitments:

• Andes-Amazon Initiative
• Betty Irene Moore Nursing Initiative
• Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing Commitment
• California Institute of Technology Commitment
• Conservation International Commitment
• Marine Conservation Initiative
• Marine Microbiology Initiative
• Thirty-Meter Telescope
• Wild Salmon Ecosystems Initiative

Initiatives are major grantmaking efforts within the programs to effect large-scale, long-term change. They include a comprehensive strategic plan and a supporting portfolio of grants designed to transform a field. Initiatives are time-bound and funds are allocated with the goal of reaching a measurable and enduring result at the end of the initiative term. A Commitment is the sum of many inter-related activities that exist under one large long-term grant.

The Foundation does not have any plans to fund Initiatives related to heath care other than the Betty Irene Moore Nursing initiative. We have made some limited investments in the area, including a Program-related investment to the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine and funding basic science research at Caltech, which may ultimately benefit health care. In general, the Foundation will not be funding the medical sciences. Medical science research is already well-funded by other organizations, such as the National Institutes of Health, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, pharmaceutical companies, and the biotech industry. Therefore, there seems to be little need for additional funding from the Foundation at this time.

The Foundation does not accept unsolicited proposals.  Foundation staff research organizations as potential contributors to fill specific niches and achieve the outcomes within the Foundation’s Program areas. Once potential projects and grantees have been identified, the Foundation may request a formal proposal.

In developing and managing our Initiatives, Commitments, and special opportunities, Foundation staff research organizations as potential contributors to fill specific niches and achieve the outcomes within our Program areas. Once potential projects have been identified, the Foundation may request a formal proposal.

The Foundation approaches grantmaking with well-defined objectives. Foundation staff conduct research to identify nonprofit organizations and projects that fit within the goals and strategies of the Foundation’s Initiatives. Once potential grantees are identified, grant teams may request a formal proposal. The Foundation does not accept unsolicited proposals.

The Foundation takes an active and involved approach in its relationship with grantees, and works as a partner to help shape, monitor and evaluate projects to achieve a common goal. The Foundation is invested in the outcomes of its grants and takes a long-term view of how each grant contributes to an Initiative’s success.

The Foundation is dedicated to achieving certain articulated outcomes in the areas in which we work. We focus on measurement to evaluate our progress toward, and attainment of, those goals. The Foundation makes grants that individually have measurable outcomes and collectively, within a portfolio of grants, will lead to large-scale (Initiative-level) outcomes. Grants are structured so that payments are based on milestones or outcomes met by the grantee. In the end, the Foundation holds itself accountable for the effectiveness of its grantmaking.

The Foundation funds international organizations to the extent the work of those organizations falls within the goals and strategies of the Foundation’s Initiatives, Commitments, and special projects.

Please see the employment  page.

If you have a meeting scheduled with someone at our office, please call 650-213-3000 for driving directions.