What Bay Area Nonprofits Should Know About the Jonathan Logan Family Foundation

Homelessness is one of the foundation's causes

Homelessness is one of the foundation's causes

Editor's note: This article was revised and updated on 8-11-2021.

The Reva & David Logan Foundation is a family funder based in Chicago that we’ve written about in the past in Inside Philanthropy. This foundation has heavily focused its giving on the Windy City, which is where the late founders called home and where the family board members continue to give to local arts, journalism, and social justice nonprofits. But in late 2016, Jonathan Logan resigned as director of the Reva & David Logan Foundation and created his own grantmaking vehicle. Initial funding to launch it came from the Reva & David Logan Foundation, but from the beginning, it has been its own separate entity with similar funding interests but a different geographic and strategic angle.

While the Jonathan Logan Family Foundation supports national organizations working in several areas—most notably investigative journalism—it's also an important funder for Bay Area nonprofits to know about.

The Foundation Has a Strong Local Focus

The foundation is based in Berkeley and while it doesn’t specifically restrict its giving to this region, this is where many of the grants have been staying.

For example, it has recently given to Bay Area Community Services, which runs the largest program to end homelessness in Oakland and the greater region, and to Blue Bear School of Music, which provides music education at community-based locations throughout the Bay Area. Funding has also supported the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, San Francisco Public Press, and United Way Bay Area. While serving as a chair and a board member of the Reva & David Logan Foundation, Jonathan Logan was instrumental in supporting lots of other Bay Area groups in the realms of arts, investigative journalism, and social justice.

The Foundation Likes Challenge Grants

Since inception, the Jonathan Logan Family Foundation has been very interested in challenge grants that require matching funds. This is often a popular route for up-and-coming foundations to maximize their resources and support more organizations than they could have through other strategies. After all, the Jonathan Logan Family Foundations is still less than two years old.

For example, the foundation recently announced a $25,000 challenge grant to the San Francisco Public Press that is requiring the nonprofit to raise an additional $25,000 in contributions to further its goal of producing local, public-interest journalism in the Bay Area. But since Jonathan Logan has enough assets to spare for groups like this, his foundation released an additional $25,000 gift in unrestricted funding to keep things moving along. Earlier this spring, the foundation awarded a $50,000 challenge grant, in addition to a $100,000 traditional grant, to Bay Area Community Services. And $50,000 of Jonathan Logan’s $125,000-per-year commitment to the First Amendment Coalition is in the form of a matching grant that requires the group to raise that amount to receive the final disbursement.

The Foundation Doesn’t Welcome Unsolicited Requests

Unlike the Reva & David Logan Foundation, which has a detailed LOI procedure in place, the Jonathan Logan Family Foundation does not accept unsolicited grant requests—at least not yet. It offers a phone number and email address to get in touch, but no specific guidelines about how to approach the staff about available funding opportunities. Overall, the foundation supports organizations that work in the areas of social justice, environment, arts, investigative journalism, education, equity and inclusion, and documentary film.

Related: