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IRVINE FOUNDATION

Irvine Foundation

Contact information:
575 Market Street, Suite 3400 (Main Office)
San Francisco, CA 94105
Phone: 415-777-2244
Fax: 415-777-0869

865 South Figueroa, Suite 1320
Los Angeles, CA 90017
Phone: 213-236-0552
Fax: 213-236-0537

Website: http://www.irvine.org/

Type of foundation: Independent

Types of grants: Project, operating, program expansion, planning, capacity-building, evaluation. The Foundation generally does not make capital grants.

Description: James Irvine, a California agricultural pioneer, established the Irvine Foundation in 1937 to benefit the people of California. The Foundation supports programs in:

  • Arts: Promoting a vibrant and inclusive arts environment. In 2011, the Foundation announced a new strategy for its Arts Program. The new strategy recognizes the arts as a “vibrant force for strengthening communities” and seeks to promote engagement in the arts for all Californians. Grants are made through the Exploring Engagement Fund, which is designed to help nonprofit arts organizations experiment with new ways of engaging audiences and participants. Grant awards are intended as risk capital for arts organizations to:
    • Engage low-income and/or ethnically diverse populations that have been traditionally underserved by arts nonprofits.
    • Utilize active participation in the arts (including participation afforded by new technology).
    • Experiment with the use of non-traditional venues for arts experiences in their proposal design.

    The Exploring Engagement Fund is open to arts organizations throughout California. Organizations based in the San Joaquin Valley or Inland Empire should apply to the Exploring Engagement Fund for Priority Regions. See additional eligibility requirements below.

  • California democracy: Advancing effective public policy decision-making. Grants are made in the areas of governance reform and civic engagement.
  • Youth: Improving educational outcomes for low-income youth. The Foundation’s grantmaking in this area emphasizes “linked learning,” an approach that combines preparation for real-world professions with rigorous academics, transforming education into a personally relevant, wholly engaging experience.

Sample grants:

  • $5,150,000 to Families in Schools 
to serve as the intermediary organization for the Families Improving Education Initiative, a regranting and capacity building program to support community based organizations in the San Joaquin Valley and Inland Empire to engage the public in educational decision-making (2012).
  • $2,000,000 over two years to Southern California Public Radio for the James Irvine Foundation Studio at the Southern California Public Radio Broadcast Center, contingent upon a one-to-one matching requirement (2006).
  • $1,250,000 over one year to KCET for California Connected, a TV and radio show about critical state issues (2004).
  • $905,000 over three years to KQED to support statewide radio news coverage of significant policy and governance issues for California, including a special series on governance and fiscal issues in the context of the 2010 gubernatorial election (2009).
  • $600,000 to KQED for statewide radio news coverage of significant governance and policy issues (2012).
  • $600,000 to Southern California Public Radio, KPCC 89.3 for broadcast and web-based news coverage of California governance issues (2011).
  • $500,000 to Center for Investigative Reporting for California Watch (2011).
  • $450,000 to Radio Bilingue to report on environmental and other policy issues from the Central Valley and to connect listeners to related civic-engagement opportunities (2007).
  • $300,000 to Center on Policy Initiatives to involve low-income San Diego residents in budget and economic development decision-making processes (2012).
  • $300,000 to Radio Bilingue for Raices: Art Moments on Radio, broadcasting Spanish-language radio features on multicultural traditional arts in California (2010).
  • $300,000 to Radio Bilingue to report from the Central Valley on California budget and policy issues and inform listeners about related civic engagement opportunities (2010).
  • $250,000 to Pacific News Service to expand capacity of ethnic media to cover California governance reform issues and the 2012 elections (2012).
  • $225,000 from the James Irvine Foundation for news coverage of state and local governance and policy issues (2012).
  • $225,000 to University of Southern California, KUSC-FM for coverage of Southern California arts community on KUSC Radio through broadcast of Spotlight on the Arts and Arts Alive programs (2011).
  • $200,000 to Pasadena Symphony association to support Random Acts of Music, which will offer unexpected classical musical performances in libraries, community centers, banks and shopping malls to reach individuals traditionally underserved Californians (2012).
  • $150,000 to Youth Radio for a program that advances college and careers in digital media, arts, and design for young people not in school (2012).
  • $150,000 to the San Diego Asian Film Foundation to provide mobile exhibitions in nontraditional venues and provide film experiences in underserved communities of color (2012).
  • $150,000 to OutFest for Fusion Lab, temporary micro-cinema/media spaces in store fronts in Los Angeles that will offer filmmaking opportunities for LGBT people of color (2012).
  • $150,000 to White Ash Broadcasting, KVPR Valley Public Radio for Governance Reform and Public Outreach project (2010).
  • $150,000 to George Lucas Educational Foundation to create two multi-media case studies highlighting innovative teaching and learning in California high schools that use elements of the Linked Learning approach (2010).
  • $150,000 to Center for Investigative Reporting to create business development strategy for long-term sustainability of California Watch, nonprofit and independent investigative reporting team (2010).
  • $125,000 to Youth Radio to plan and develop program that advances college and career outcomes of out-of-school youth in digital media, arts and design pathways (2011).
  • $100,000 to Community Partners for two studies involving gender portrayal in the media, to be conducted by an entity such as the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media (2012).
  • $85,000 to EngAge to increase the engagement of low-income seniors and local residents in the arts through active participation at nontraditional venues in Southern California (2012).
  • $50,000 to Media Arts Center San Diego to broaden the participation of urban youth in San Diego by supporting MobileStories, a program that enables teens to become storytellers through the media arts (2011).
  • $50,000 to Valley Public Television for production of Art Is ..., on-air arts instruction series that will broaden audience participation in the Central Valley (2010).
  • $50,000 to Community Television of Santa Cruz County to diversify audiences by engaging South Santa Cruz Latino youth in mobile video production training program to increase relevant media content by residents on public access channels and internet streams (2010).
  • $50,000 to Capital Public Radio to broaden audience participation and to increase ticket sales by providing fifteen-second underwriting credits for arts organizations in rural counties outside Sacramento (2009).
  • $50,000 to KRCB for the extension and expansion of the Voice of Youth radio project for at-risk Latino youth in Sonoma County (2007).
  • $40,000 to Mammoth Art Guild to support an annual festival with programming targeted to increase the engagement of low-income Latinos in the Eastern Sierra (2012).
  • $25,000 to Community Partners for the purposes of changing female portrayal and gender stereotypes in children's media and entertainment through entities such as the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media (2012).

Fit for public broadcasting: The Foundation has a solid history of supporting public media in California. The Foundation provides support to media across its giving areas, including support for reporting and for youth media. Stations interested in exploring new ways to engage Californians with the arts might be candidates for Exploring Engagement grants.

Eligibility: Applicants must be classified as a public charity and tax exempt under 501(c)(3) and 509(a)(1) or (2) of the Internal Revenue Code. The Foundation only supports programs and organizations that directly benefit people in California. Finally, the Foundation will not support organizations that receive more than 50 percent of their revenue from government sources.

The Exploring Engagement Fund supports California-based nonprofit arts organizations that have an annual operating budget between $100,000 and $5 million. The Fund is open to arts organizations located in all regions of the state that fall within the specified budget mentioned above. (Larger organizations may submit Exploring Engagement grant proposals by invitation only.) The Foundation has a separate fund that supports arts organizations located in its priority regions – specifically, the San Joaquin Valley (Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Merced, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Tulare counties) or Inland Empire (Riverside and San Bernardino counties).

The Foundation generally does not support capital projects. It does fund public television, but does not otherwise generally fund film or video. It does not support endowments or significant equipment purchases.

Deadline: There are no deadlines for letters of inquiry to the California Democracy or Youth Programs. There is one annual deadline (in December) for the Exploring Engagement grants.

How to apply: The Exploring Engagement Fund has a two-phase application process. Application instructions are available here. A webinar about the Exploring Engagement Fund is available here. An online letter of inquiry can be submitted for the California Democracy or Youth programs.

Giving range: The initial round of Exploring Engagement grants ranged up to $425,000.

Assets: $1.6 billion (2011).

Total giving: $65 million (2011).

View 2011 Annual Report here.