San Diego Foundation's grants rose 34% to $137 million as the share from donor-advised funds fell to 65%

San Diego Foundation awarded more than $137 million in grants in its 2025-26 fiscal year, 34% more than the year before, the community foundation said on October 28, 2026, when it published its annual report. The grants went to 2,578 nonprofits, and $110 million, or 80% of the total, stayed in San Diego County.

The foundation set the increase against higher costs, rising demand for services and uncertain funding facing the region's nonprofits. It did not say what drove the rise, but its figures for the last two years show where most of it came from.

Where the growth came from

Donor-advised funds, the accounts that donors open at the foundation and use to recommend grants, supplied 65% of the 2025-26 total, against 76% a year earlier. Applying those shares to the totals, grants from donor-advised funds rose from about $78 million to about $89 million, an increase of roughly 15%. Grantmaking directed by the foundation itself, which the 2025 report said went to its strategic plan priorities, grew from about $25 million to about $48 million, nearly doubling. These are our calculations from rounded percentages, so they are approximate.

Crisis giving was part of the year's work. The foundation said its San Diego Unity Fund, launched in September 2025, has granted or committed more than $30 million to more than 100 nonprofits meeting urgent needs. It did not say how much of that was paid out within the fiscal year.

Fewer, larger grants

The foundation made 914 fewer grants than the year before but reached 26 more nonprofits. The average grant rose from about $11,300 to about $16,800, by our arithmetic. By area, the 2025-26 grants included $51.9 million for family well-being, which covers health care, food security, youth development, employment and human services; $40.7 million for civic vitality, which covers the arts, faith communities, civic and human rights and animal welfare; $35.8 million for education; and $9.1 million for the environment.

These numbers represent more than dollars raised and grants awarded.

The national picture

Community foundations are among the most common hosts of donor-advised funds. Of the 1,512 sponsors of such funds in the United States in fiscal 2024, 803 were community foundations, according to the Donor Advised Fund Research Collaborative. Across all sponsors, grants from donor-advised funds rose 17.9% that year, to $64.60 billion. Our explainer on donor-advised funds sets out how the accounts work.

A campaign closes

The annual report also marks the end of Fifty & Forward, a campaign that began in 2021 and launched publicly in 2024. It raised $1.3 billion and awarded $500 million in grants. The foundation's assets stood at $1.8 billion, against $1.67 billion a year earlier, and it is now moving to a five-year strategic plan with four priorities: family well-being, education, the environment and housing.