2025 ANNUAL REPORT
Community well-being is built together.
Envisioning a Bay Area where all people can reach their fullest potential and live with a sense of purpose, dignity, and joy.
EXPLORE THE YEAR
2025 Grantmaking at a Glance
$16.25M
Total grantmaking in 2025
3
Anchor strategies advancing community well-being
44%
Increase in payout over 2024
24
Organizations selected for the WE Initiative
9
Individual artists and culture bearers recognized
5
interconnected program areas supporting the conditions people and communities need to thrive
Reflections
Looking back and learning from
Dear Friends, In 2025, the Walter & Elise Haas Fund reached an important milestone. After a period of deep listening, learning, and reflection, we clarified our central purpose: advancing Community Well-being in the Bay Area. We now organize our work around two interconnected goals—Economic Well-being and Social Well-being—because we believe that communities flourish when people have both the resources they need to prosper and a genuine sense of connection, belonging, and shared purpose. That clarity arrived at a moment when it was needed most.
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Healthy communities depend on healthy nonprofits.
PROGRAM AREAS
Our work advances community well-being.
Through five interconnected program areas, we support the conditions people and communities need to thrive.
PROGRAM AREAS
01
Economic Well-being
Funding nonprofits to win at closing the racial and gender wealth gap, and improving nonprofit worker well-being
100%
- Endeavor Fund$3.5M
PROGRAM AREAS
02
Social Well-being
by strategy
Extending the profound legacies of the Fund’s Arts, Jewish Life, and Racial Justice grantmaking to address the growing crisis of belonging in the Bay Area
- Creative Power Awards$1.56M
- WE Initiative$2.54M
PROGRAM AREAS
03
Supportive Grantmaking
Supporting nonprofit leader wellness, nonprofits imagining and enacting a brighter collective future through owning, claiming, and making physical spaces together, and directing resources to address and transform the systems and conditions that Fund grantees identify as necessary for their community’s success
- Leader Well-being$500K
- Placemaking$1M
- Policy$1.15M
PROGRAM AREAS
04
Mission-related Grantmaking
A flexible response to emerging and changing community needs, addressing key areas of interest that support the Fund’s overall mission
- Board & Staff$293K
- Philanthropy Field-Building$344K
- Responsive Grants$403K
PROGRAM AREAS
05
Corpus Grantmaking
Partnering with other funders to strengthen the safety net for the nonprofit sector and providing timely assistance to Fund grantees as they navigate challenging conditions
- Nonprofit Sector & Civil Society$4.1M
- Grantee Resilience$403K
GRANTMAKING
Our grants. Stronger communities.
The Fund’s grantmaking for community well-being came at a critical time in the Bay Area, aiming to create more resilient communities that can weather economic and social challenges.
TOTAL GRANTMAKING
$16,252,549
GRANTMAKING
While always valuing multi-year unrestricted grants that allow recipients to decide when and how they spend, the Fund is flexible and works closely with grantees to ensure the type of grant works best for their goals.
Detailed 2025 financial information, including audits, tax returns and investment performance, and project descriptions of grants awarded in 2025 can all be viewed on this website.
Walter & Elise Haas Fund Embraces Community Well-Being as Cornerstone of New Strategic Direction
Fund introduces Social Well-being program to complement Economic Well-being work, creating a comprehensive approach to community thriving.
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We are living within a crisis of belonging that threatens the fabric of our communities. Still, despite this polarization, we are fortunate to have a powerful inheritance: a rich history and evolving tapestry of mutual aid and courageous advocacy within local organizations and nonprofit leadership. They continue to light the path toward healing and building deeper connections across all neighborhoods and social spheres.
~Pui Ling Tam, Relationship Manager
Walter & Elise Haas Fund Launches WE Initiative: A $12.5 Million Investment in Bay Area Social Cohesion
The Walter & Elise Haas Fund is investing $12.5 million to fight social isolation and build belonging in the Bay Area. Twenty-five Bay Area nonprofits will receive $500K each over five years — no reapplication required.
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Celebrating Three Decades of Creative Collaboration: CWF Transforms into Creative Power Awards
150 Creative Work Fund (CWF) artists, organization leaders, and philanthropic peers gathered at SOMArts in San Francisco for “Celebrating CWF, Celebrating You,” a milestone event honoring three decades of creative collaboration and unveiling our exciting new direction.
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Nonprofits Need Rested Leaders: Reframing Rest as a Leadership Practice, Not a Luxury
In a sector that typically runs on passion and urgency, taking time away isn’t selfish—it’s strategic for building resilient organizations and sustaining movements.
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Nonprofit worker well-being is not a luxury—it’s infrastructure. It is as essential as our databases, evaluation systems, payroll, and technology. Rest is not an indulgence; it is pragmatic. When we are rested, we are capable of more—more creativity, more courage, more resilience—than when we are depleted by exhaustion.
~Jamie Allison, Executive Director
Fund Increases Payout to Protect Civil Society and Communities Facing Federal Threats
The Walter & Elise Haas Fund increased its 2025 grantmaking payout by 44 percent to defend civil society, support immigrants' rights, and protect vulnerable communities amid ongoing federal executive actions and funding cuts.
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Walter & Elise Haas Fund Announces its Inaugural Creative Power Awards Recipients
$1.575 Million in Unrestricted Funding to Support Bay Area Artists and Cultural Organizations
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Nonprofits Don’t Win Alone: Seven Lessons from the Endeavor Fund
When funders listen deeply, trust grantee expertise, and remain flexible in support, they create the conditions that nonprofits need to thrive.
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