Resources and Links

In order to support our mission—to help build a healthy, just, and vibrant society in which people feel connected to and responsible for their community—the Fund seeks to go beyond grantmaking. We focus on the "non-monetary" contributions foundations can make. To that end, we offer the following resources and links to facilitate the sharing of knowledge and resources among and between community organizations.


Strengthening the Safety Net: Bay Area Philanthropy's Response & Early Lessons (May 2010)	The 2008 "Great Recession" hit families and individuals hard throughout the Bay Area. In response, Bay Area philanthropy looked for ways to enhance the impact of their individual and collective safety net grantmaking by sharing knowledge about needs, community-based organization capacities, and funding strategies. This report outlines the current scope of Bay Area safety net grantmaking and describes the practices that show promise.

Crossover: How Artists Build Careers across Commercial, Nonprofit and Community Work (October 2006)	Many people inside and outside the art world perceive significant divides among commercial, nonprofit and community sectors. In Crossover: How Artists Build Careers across Commercial, Nonprofit and Community Work, the authors report how artists in the Los Angeles and San Francisco develop their work and careers across the three arenas, how each sector affects their artistic development, and what barriers could be eliminated to facilitate greater crossover.

Project Briefing: Arts for the Schools, by the Schools (November 2006)	In Project Briefing: Arts for the Schools, by the Schools, Haas Fund Program Officer Frances Phillips and Dale S. Rose, of the 3D Group, report on the results of a demonstration project intended to better understand pre-conditions which should be considered — organizational capacity and arts expertise among them — when awarding arts education grants directly to schools and child development centers.

Stanford Social Innovation Review (Spring 2006)	Haas Fund Executive Director Pamela David authored Passing the Torch: Baby boomers face the future, and it's not us, a personal perspective piece printed in the Spring 2006 edition of the Stanford Social Innovation Review. In it, she explores the legacy of her own generation of nonprofit leaders, and its impact as the torch is passed on to the next generation.

Building Assets While Building Community New Report Released (Feb. 2006)	In today’s economy, "working" and "poor" too often go hand in hand. Increasingly, assets serve as the dividing line between those families and individuals who are economically stable and those who are not. The Fund commissioned Building Assets While Building Community because we have learned that, with support and incentives, low-income families can build savings. We hope the report will be a catalyst for further discussion of the interplay between asset development and economic development.

Diversity and Participation in the Arts: Insights from the Bay Area (Oct. 2005)	This research paper investigates the many factors affecting equitable arts participation among ethnic groups, racial minorities, and immigrants. The author argues it can be best fostered not only by measuring broad and participatory arts practices, but also by supporting these practices through policies that sustain arts education programs; support community-based cultural heritage and ethnic, folk, and traditional arts organizations; and promote free and abundant public space.

Spotlight on Arts Education Grantmaking in the San Francisco Bay Area (Oct. 2005)	This Spotlight includes side by side comparisons of arts education giving by primary purpose and by target population, illustrating how funding in the Bay Area compares with funding nationally. A mini-directory of selected San Francisco Bay Area foundations making arts education grants in the Bay Area provides basic contact information along with selected grants.

Joshua Venture 2000-2005: Lessons Learned (Mar. 2005)	In February 2005, the board of directors of Joshua Venture decided to move towards a closedown of the organization. Mindful of the value to be drawn from reflecting on the insights that have emerged from Joshua Venture's life-span as an organization over the past four-plus years, this report has been developed to serve as an overview of some of the major lessons learned. It is offered not as an epitaph to experimentation but rather as a resource for funders and nonprofit organizers committed to social entrepreneurship and the development of a more inclusive and vibrant American Jewish community.

The Creative Work Fund	The Creative Work Fund, a program of the Walter and Elise Haas Fund, invites artists and nonprofit organizations to create new art works through collaborations. It celebrates the role of artists as problem solvers and the making of art as a profound contribution to intellectual inquiry and to the strengthening of communities.

Please note: All hyperlinks to external resources are provided for your convenience. The Fund does not exercise any editorial control over the information, nor should a link be deemed as an endorsement.

Reach Institute for School Leadership

Reach Institute for School Leadership programs develop flexible and dynamic teachers that help increase student learning at schools including Dolores Huerta Elementary in Oakland.

Featured photos by Anne Hamersky