Firedoll Foundation
/OVERVIEW: The Firedoll Foundation supports community development, entrepreneurship, immigrant issues, human rights, environmental conservation and traumatic brain injury in Northern California. It also awards grants to organizations that fight for vulnerable populations’ rights, such as in the West Bank and Gaza.
IP TAKE: This is an accessible funder that makes grants on a rolling basis. While grants center on the Bay Area and Northern California, Firedoll makes grants at the global level, specifically in the human rights and environmental space. Note that this is a progressive funder, so conservative outfits should look elsewhere. Follow its grantmaking guidelines closely or expect your proposal to be passed on. Make sure your proposal emphasizes measurable outcomes and present your budget in layman’s terms. This funder is wonderfully transparent and accessible, so don’t hesitate to reach out if guidelines seem confusing.
PROFILE: The Firedoll Foundation was established by mathematician and financial consultant Sandor Straus and his wife, Faye. The couple describe themselves as “two unrepentant liberals from the 1960s who still believe in the motto ‘If you aren’t part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.’” Except for its international giving, the foundation’s grantmaking primarily centers on the San Francisco Bay Area and Northern California. It currently has five programmatic Focus Areas: Community Development and Entrepreneurship, Immigrant Issues and Human Rights, Environmental Conservation, Peace Process in the Middle East and Survivors of Traumatic Brain Injury.
Grants for Community Development and Economic Opportunity
The Firedoll Foundation’s grants for Community Development and Entrepreneurship broadly support economic development, housing and human services in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties in the Bay Area, California. The foundation maintains that “government has largely abdicated its responsibility in the area of community development,” and that “although nonprofit organizations should not be in the position of having to fill the gap, they are.” The foundation seeks to support organizations that fill in those gaps in civic leadership. Grantees include Berkeley Food and Housing Project, Contra Costa Crisis Center, Monument Impact, Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center and Sustainable Economies Law Center.
Grants for Global Security, Human Rights, and Immigrants
The Firedoll Foundation’s Immigrant Issues and Human Rights program makes grants “on behalf of vulnerable populations whose basic rights are being sacrificed by repressive governmental or religious policies or for the sake of global economic interests.” It supports organizations that provide “alternatives to detention” and advocate for immigration, especially those that offer legal aid to detained immigrants, asylum seekers and immigrants facing deportation. This program prioritizes organizations located in Contra Costa and Alameda counties in the Bay Area, including California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice, Center for Constitutional Rights, Immigrant Legal Defense, Partnerships for Trauma Recovery, Survivors International and Social Justice Collaborative.
Firedoll’s Peace Process in the Middle East program operates on the principle that “both the Palestinian and Jewish people have a legitimate claim to their common homeland, and that a just and lasting resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is possible.” Its grantmaking currently prioritizes “humanitarian assistance, economic development, and support of civil society” in the West Bank and Gaza. The foundation also funds groups that defend human rights of Palestinians living under occupation and those advocating to bring an end to the current occupation. Grantees include Institute for Middle East Understanding, Jewish Voice for Peace, Jews and Arabs in Defense of Human Rights and American Friends of UNRWA.
Grants for Environmental and Marine Conservation
The Firedoll Foundation’s grants for Environmental Conservation funds a wide variety of approaches to conservation, including “legal action, scientific inquiry, legislative advocacy and direct action.” It particularly prioritizes projects that take a collaborative approach regarding local governments and communities and “combine conservation with environmentally sustainable development.” It supports both land and marine conservation efforts, including forests, rivers, coasts, and oceans, as well as agricultural sustainability efforts. Grantees include American Rivers, Center for Environmental Health, California Trout, Endangered Species Coalition, Pesticide Action Network, Sierra Forest Legacy and Wild Oceans.
Grants for Public Health
The Firedoll Foundation’s grants for Survivors of Traumatic Brain Injury support “community-based, post-acute services for TBI survivors,” especially those that help individuals “participate in and contribute to society.” The foundation refers to TBI as an “orphan disability,” in that “our knowledge of the physical, emotional, and economic impacts of this disability on individuals, their families and society is sorely deficient.” Note that the foundation primarily funds programs that provide direct services for TBI survivors, rather than scientific research into the disease. Grantees include the Janet Pomeroy Center, Shurig Center for Brain Injury Recovery, Services for Brain Injury and San Francisco General Hospital.
Important Grant Details:
Firedoll typically awards from $5,000 to $25,000 per organization, with a total of about $1,500,000 to $2,000,000 distributed during the fiscal year. To learn more about the types of organizations Firedoll supports, explore its grantee lists linked to the areas of focus page. Before applying, grantseekers should ensure that they satisfy the foundation’s geographic eligibility, which varies by focus area.
The foundation typically accepts letters of inquiry from January 1 to March 31 of each year. Returning grantees may apply at any time throughout the year.
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