Walter & Elise Haas Fund Increases Payout; Commits $3.25M to Protect Civil Society and Communities Facing Federal Threats
The trustees of Walter & Elise Haas Fund have increased the foundation’s grantmaking payout for 2025 by 44 percent, recognizing the acute harms our communities are experiencing amid a relentless barrage of Executive Orders and federal actions, freezes, and cuts—many of them inhumane, cruel, and/or unconstitutional.
As of September 25, 2025, the Fund has moved $3.25 million to primarily local, state, and some national organizations taking collective action to protect and strengthen democratic freedom and the nonprofit sector, as well as provide timely assistance to vulnerable communities navigating challenging conditions.
In doing so, the Fund seeks to nurture the compassion and connection that embody the Bay Area—and the country—at our best. We believe these grants represent our Fund value of Family. We recognize, always, that we are a human family. We are here as the Walter & Elise Haas Fund to contribute to a thoughtful, diverse, and vibrant whole. When we can, we resource efforts that build a better and more just world and, in this case, that might also stop the worst from happening.
The Fund supports building and sustaining a protective shield to enable nonprofits to continue their essential work of serving people, running the gamut, providing childcare to families, subsidized and free food to the hungry, mental and physical health services, legal defense, education, arts enrichment, and more.
We understand that foundations play a critical role in moving money to benefit the social change ecosystem, and we endeavor to be honest about our role, capacity, and positionality. We also want to listen and act in alignment with our community. We spoke with our philanthropic peers and beyond. We paid close attention to our grantee partners who asked us about the Fund’s position in the fight for justice and in defense of our democratic freedoms. We seek to move at the speed of trust.
After hearing from our community, we acted quickly and with intention. We are grateful to have dynamic staff and trustees who possess the desire to rise to meet the challenge and, as a result, have deployed more funds, more promptly. Our caucusing resulted in grants to organizations working in coalition to safeguard people and build robust communities of care.
At the same time, we recognize our limitations. Even with an endowment, the Fund can only make so many substantive grants; there are too many organizations we will not be able to fund.
Still, we move with community to strengthen coalitions and to be in coalition, to support those on the ground who take measures when we as a funder cannot, and to make grants of meaningful amounts that allow organizations to act, rest, plan, and endure.
We aim for our actions to provide hope and cover and offer some comfort and light to those organizations and people working for justice. We want you to know: We see you. What’s happening is cruel, wrong, and painful. You are not alone; we are here with you.
The following represents a partial list of grantees. The grants supported by the Fund’s increased payout prioritize actions to defend and protect civil society; bolster the arts and culture ecosystem, especially organizations affected by the defunding of the NEA; support the resilience and deep care of immigrants and their constitutional and human rights in the face of threats of incarceration and deportation; and advance the crucial work of community foundations possessing deep relationships and knowledge of community needs.
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Bay Area Cultural Funders for Equity at San Francisco Foundation
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Black Freedom Fund
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East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy
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Jobs with Justice San Francisco
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Latino Community Foundation
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National Council of Nonprofits
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Protect Democracy
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Trabajadores Unidos Workers United
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Women’s Foundation California
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(Photo by Bia Octavia on Unsplash)