A Look Inside the Tully and Elise Friedman Fund’s Bay Area Giving
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The War Memorial Opera House, home of the San Francisco Opera. Anne Czichos/shutterstock
A San Francisco investment banker named Tully Friedman created a philanthropic foundation with his wife, Elise, in 1997. The Tully and Elise Friedman Fund has recently reported assets over $7.6 million; however, giving has remained modest and limited. In addition, the Friedman Fund does not have a website and information on its giving practices and priorities is limited.
Yet this is still a funder worth knowing if you run a nonprofit in the Bay Area because of its potential for future giving. Here are some top things to know about the Tully and Elise Friedman Fund and its Northern California grantmaking.
Broad and varied funding interests
The Friedman Fund maintains broad interest areas with its charitable giving. It awards grants in the fields of health, human services, education, youth, and arts and culture. Grants tend to follow personal relationships and family member affiliations. In the San Francisco area, the arts are an especially prominent interest of the Friedmans.
A right-leaning founder
It’s always helpful to have a few details about who’s behind a foundation to understand how the organization operates and the types of charities it gravitates toward. Tully Friedman has served as a trustee of the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute and endowed a chair at the right-leaning Hoover Institution at Stanford University. The Friedmans have contributed to numerous center-right nonprofits, and some of their most significant donations have gone to the American Enterprise Institute, Americans for Prosperity and DonorsTrust. Other Friedman affiliations include the San Francisco Opera Association and the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art.
Typical foundation grantmaking
Grant amounts vary greatly and can range from as low as $250 to $1 million or more. In the Bay Area, the foundation has supported the California Shakespeare Theater, the Junior League of San Francisco, and the Boys and Girls Clubs of San Francisco. Harvard University is also a major grantee of the Friedman Fund. Overall, grantmaking has been lower in recent years than in the past.
No unsolicited requests
Based on the most recent tax records available, the Friedman Fund does not accept unsolicited grant requests. Instead, it only funds preselected organizations and does not publicize its grantmaking guidelines or deadlines. Tully Friedman is the foundation’s president, Elise Friedman is the vice president and Kathryn Hall is the assistant secretary. There are no staff members or paid employees at the foundation.
Learn more about this funder in IP’s full profile of the Tully and Elise Friedman Fund, which is part of our Bay Area & Northern California funding guide.
