Sandler Foundation

What Sandler Foundation does

The Sandler Foundation is a private philanthropic foundation established in 1991 by Herb Sandler and Marion Sandler, organized as a spend-down foundation in its final years of operation. Its stated mission is to invest in strategic organizations and exceptional leaders that improve the rights, opportunities, and well-being of vulnerable and disadvantaged populations, with a focus on national-level policy advocacy rather than direct services. The foundation concentrates on six areas: health (notably asthma research), pocketbook issues (consumer financial protection, affordable housing, good jobs), children's safety and opportunity, environment, science (neuroscience, brain cancer, breakthrough basic research), and American democracy (independent journalism, civil liberties, elections).

The foundation operates with a lean staff and a deliberately selective grant-making model. It does not accept unsolicited proposals, focuses on a limited number of high-conviction grantees, and provides general support funding rather than restricted project grants. The foundation takes a macro-management approach, emphasizing high due-diligence standards, long-term support, and high tolerance for risk. It has demonstrated willingness to launch new organizations outright to fill gaps, most notably ProPublica (2007) and the American Asthma Foundation (2000). Geographic scope is US-national only; the foundation explicitly does not fund locally, regionally, or internationally.

The foundation's business model is grant deployment from an existing endowment rather than revenue generation. Income is not publicly disclosed and the foundation has no commercial product, pricing, or customer base. Strategic relationships include flagship ties to ProPublica and AAF, and core partnerships with UCSF, the ACLU, and other national organizations. The ultimate ownership and control rests with the founding Sandler family, and the foundation is in a planned wind-down phase.

Name

Sandler Foundation

Legal name

Sandler Foundation

Website

https://sandlerfoundation.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1991

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Sandler Foundation is a private philanthropic foundation founded in 1991 by Herb and Marion Sandler. Operating as a spend-down foundation in its final years, it provides general-support grants to a limited number of exceptional US national organizations in health, consumer protection, children's welfare, environment, science, and democracy.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Philanthropic Foundation

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Voluntary Health Organizations (813212), Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321)

akta.pro primary industry

Private Foundations (BPAGAKAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Health & Medical Research Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAL), Environmental & Climate Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAM)

Keywords

• Philanthropic foundation grants
• Strategic grantmaking
• General support funding
• Policy advocacy funding
• Spend-down foundation

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Foundation Grant-Making: Sandler Foundation operates as a private philanthropic foundation that deploys its endowment through grants to exceptional organizations and leaders. As a spend-down foundation in its final years, it is distributing capital rather than generating revenue. Revenue model is primarily based on deploying the foundation's assets to support charitable causes in the public interest.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Sandler Foundation is a private philanthropic foundation that provides meaningful levels of general support grants to a limited number of exceptional nonprofit organizations and leaders across areas including health (asthma research), pocketbook issues, children's safety, environment, science, and American democracy. The Foundation is a spend-down foundation in its final years, distributing its endowment through grants while focusing on national policy advocacy rather than direct services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• ProPublica: Nonprofit investigative journalism newsroom launched in 2007 with support of the Sandler Foundation.

Quantifiable outcome

• 25 million Americans (including 4 million children) benefit from asthma research funding
• +2 more outcomes

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and minor.

• ProPublicaflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 15 October 2007Sandler Foundation founded ProPublica, a nonprofit investigative journalism newsroom, in 2007. This represents one of the Foundation's most significant initiatives to fill gaps when outstanding leadership was available. ProPublica has won multiple Pulitzer Prizes and has become a leading independent, nonprofit newsroom.
• American Asthma Foundation (AAF)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2000The American Asthma Foundation was founded by Sandler Foundation in 2000 to fund innovative asthma research. AAF takes a creative approach to funding, described in a Science Translational Medicine editorial in May 2015.
• UCSF Program for Breakthrough Biomedical ResearchcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSandler Foundation has provided transformative support to UCSF's neuroscience research and care through this program, including a major gift in May 2012. The Foundation has also funded a grant program encouraging breakthrough biomedical research.
• ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSandler Foundation supported ACLU's 10-year plan to expand the capacity of its affiliates. Referenced in Stanford Social Innovation Review Summer 2017 article.
• Human Rights WatchminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSandler Foundation issued a challenge grant in December 2004 to bolster the human rights cause.
• Pew Charitable TrustsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSandler Foundation supported work on credit card safety standards, referenced in March 2009 announcement.
• Johns Hopkins MedicineminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSandler Foundation contributed more than $2 million in gifts to Johns Hopkins patient safety initiatives in October 2008.
• Learning Policy InstituteminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSandler Foundation supported the launch of this national education think tank focused on learning, announced September 2015.
• Bridgespan GroupminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBridgespan Group's Give Smart initiative includes a case study on ProPublica, referencing Sandler Foundation's role. Bridgespan has also conducted interviews with Herb Sandler about philanthropy.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights2 records

Direct peers

• Kresge Foundation: Major U.S. private foundation with a documented multi-year spend-down commitment, comparable focus on health, environment, education, and arts, and a similar unrestricted grantmaking model.
• Ford Foundation: One of the largest U.S. private foundations, with a similarly national and global policy-advocacy orientation and major investments in democracy, economic fairness, and civil society. Highly comparable scale and operating model to Sandler.
• Rockefeller Foundation: Historic U.S. private foundation with comparable scale and parallel investments in health (including historically infectious disease), equity, and democratic institutions.
• Pew Charitable Trusts: Major U.S. private foundation with overlapping focus areas (consumer financial protection, health, environment, civic life) and a documented direct collaboration with Sandler on credit card safety standards.
• Bloomberg Philanthropies: Large, founder-controlled private foundation with national and global focus on public health, environment, education, and democracy — closely aligned with Sandler's thematic priorities and unrestricted-grant approach.
• William and Flora Hewlett Foundation: Large U.S. private foundation with overlapping priorities in democracy, education, environment, and scientific research, and a similar emphasis on long-term, general-support grantmaking.
• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: One of the largest U.S. health-focused private foundations; directly comparable to Sandler's role as the nation's largest private funder of innovative asthma research and its investments in UCSF neuroscience and patient safety.
• Open Society Foundations: A major private foundation explicitly structured as a spend-down vehicle with a founder-led, high-conviction model. Closely comparable to Sandler in operating philosophy, scale, and approach to grantmaking.
• Carnegie Corporation of New York: Legacy U.S. private foundation with strong alignment to Sandler in democracy, education, and international policy advocacy, and a comparable unrestricted-grant philosophy.
• MacArthur Foundation: Major U.S. private foundation with comparable scale, a focus on catalytic giving, and significant commitments to journalism, climate, and equity that overlap directly with Sandler's portfolio.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sandler-foundation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Sandler Foundation