What Glide Foundation does

Glide Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered at 330 Ellis Street in San Francisco's Tenderloin district, operating since 1963 to serve individuals and families experiencing poverty, homelessness, food insecurity, substance use disorders, and systemic inequity. The organization delivers a portfolio of integrated programs rather than a unified product: daily free meals (approximately 655,000 meals served annually), the HEAT (Health Empowerment & Access Team) harm reduction program providing syringe access, HIV/HCV/STI testing, and overdose prevention, healthcare access through a co-located Health Hub staffed with UCSF medical personnel, housing and reunification services, the Unconditional Legal Clinic (operated with the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights), youth and family support centers, a women's center, and a transitional age youth program. Adjacent to direct services, the Center for Social Justice (founded 2013) functions as the policy and advocacy arm, conducting grassroots organizing, running the Social Justice Academy fellowship and the annual Alabama Justice Pilgrimage, and securing government funding through coalition work.

The organization operates under a diversified, donation-dependent revenue model with no commercial pricing: charitable donations from individuals and foundations, government grants secured through advocacy and coalition organizing, signature fundraising events (Annual Holiday Jam featuring performers such as Patti LaBelle, Summer Gala, Runway of Pride), and major donor engagements including Warren Buffett's revived charity lunch auction. Long-tenured philanthropy anchors the model — Buffett has supported GLIDE since 2000 through the charity lunch, raising over $50 million across 22 prior editions — while recent institutional commitments include the Walter & Elise Haas Fund's $12 million WE Initiative grant over five years (2025) and BMO's $8 million California nonprofit commitment (2025). No proprietary technology products are developed or sold; the organization uses standard nonprofit CRM, web, and Salesforce-based volunteer sign-up infrastructure. Go-to-market is community-led, mobilizing 7,528 volunteers annually and engaging directly with vulnerable populations through on-site service delivery, mobile street outreach, and policy coalitions including HESPA and the California Hunger Action Coalition.

Name

Glide Foundation

Legal name

Board of Trustees of the GLIDE Foundation

Website

https://glide.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1963

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Glide Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in San Francisco's Tenderloin, delivering integrated social services — daily free meals, harm reduction, healthcare, legal aid, and housing support — alongside policy advocacy through its Center for Social Justice.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Social Services

NAICS

Individual and Family Services (6241), Community Food and Housing, and Emergency and Other Relief Services (6242), Community Food Services (624210), Services for the Elderly and Persons with Disabilities (624120), Child and Youth Services (62411)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Misc Health & Allied Services, Nec (8090)

akta.pro primary industry

Housing Assistance & Homeless Services (BPAGAEAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Homelessness Prevention, Shelter & Supportive Housing Services (BPAIANAC), Community Foundations (BPAGAKAB), Social Justice & Human Rights Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAN), Youth Housing, Foster Care & Wraparound Support (Education-Linked) Nonprofits (BPAGADAO), Disability Services & Independent Living Support (BPAGAEAG), Financial Assistance & Benefits Navigation Services (BPAGAEAK)

Keywords

• Social services
• Homeless services
• Harm reduction programs
• Social justice advocacy
• Community outreach

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Charitable Donations: GLIDE receives charitable donations from individuals, corporations, and foundations. Major donors include Warren Buffett (who has supported GLIDE since 2000 and matches winning bids from his charity lunch auctions), corporate partners like BMO ($8 million commitment), and foundation partners.
2. Government Grants: GLIDE receives government funding through advocacy work and coalition organizing, including funding for homelessness prevention, housing subsidies, behavioral health services, and harm reduction programs.
3. Event-Based Fundraising: GLIDE raises funds through signature events like the Annual Holiday Jam featuring performances by the GLIDE Ensemble and The Change Band, Summer Gala, and charity auctions.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Glide Foundation delivers free, comprehensive social services to individuals and families experiencing poverty, homelessness, and crisis in San Francisco's Tenderloin district. Core offerings include daily free meals (655,000 meals/year), harm reduction and healthcare access through the HEAT program, family and youth services, transitional housing support, free legal aid, and a faith-based community program. It also runs a Center for Social Justice that conducts grassroots policy advocacy, community education, and leadership training.

Product overview

GLIDE Foundation is a non-profit social services organization offering a portfolio of integrated programs rather than a unified tech product. The core offerings include social services (Daily Free Meals serving 655,000 meals annually, Welcome Center, Health Empowerment & Access Team providing harm reduction and healthcare), community support (Women's Center, Family/Youth Center, Transitional Age Youth Program, Journey Home relocation), advocacy (Center for Social Justice with policy initiatives, Social Justice Academy fellowship, Alabama Justice Pilgrimage), faith community (Glide Memorial Church with Sunday Celebrations and Glide Ensemble), and community engagement (Cecil Williams Ambassador Program). The organization serves the Tenderloin neighborhood of San Francisco with comprehensive care focused on poverty, homelessness, racial justice, and community health.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Center for Social Justice (CSJ): GLIDE's policy advocacy arm that influences public policy on poverty, food insecurity, housing, discrimination, racial justice and human rights through grassroots organizing, community education, and policy development.
• Health Empowerment & Access Team (HEAT)

Products and services

• Daily Free Meals Program Provides free meals to individuals and families in need, serving 655,000 meals every year.
• Health Empowerment & Access Team (HEAT) Harm reduction program providing overdose prevention, syringe access, HIV/HCV/STI testing, substance use treatment, and linkage to healthcare services for homeless and marginally housed individuals.
• Center for Social Justice (CSJ) Policy advocacy hub that influences public policy through grassroots organizing, community education, thought leadership, and legal action to advance racial and social justice.
• Welcome Center Entry point for individuals seeking services, providing information and referrals to various GLIDE programs.
• Family, Youth and Childcare Center Provides comprehensive services for families, youth, and children including resources and support for those in need.
• Women's Center Dedicated services and support for women in the community, providing resources and a safe space.
• Transitional Age Youth Program Services for young people aged 16-24 who are transitioning to adulthood, providing support and resources for independence.
• Journey Home Reunification & Relocation Program Helps individuals reconnect with family or relocate to stable housing.
• Cecil Williams Community Ambassador Program Trains community members to serve as ambassadors providing support and resources to those in need in the Tenderloin.
• Social Justice Academy A 16-week fellowship program that teaches community-based research, organizing, and advocacy skills to positively influence public policy.
• Alabama Justice Pilgrimage Annual pilgrimage to Alabama visiting Civil Rights Movement sites to learn about the history of racism and how it continues through systems of oppression.
• An Officer and a Mensch Non-traditional leadership training for law enforcement that builds understanding and empathy with historically oppressed communities.
• Unconditional Legal Clinic Free legal clinic operated in partnership with Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights providing consultation and legal assistance to underserved residents.
• Glide Memorial Church Inclusive faith community offering weekly Sunday Celebrations, Congregational Life Groups, and music programs including the Glide Ensemble and The Change Band.

Quantifiable outcome

• 655,000 meals served every year
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered supportive and core.

• Brandeis San Francisco SchoolsupportiveStrategic or Co-development Partner · 26 April 2026Brandeis San Francisco School partnered with GLIDE for justice pilgrimage programming, with students volunteering at GLIDE nine separate times, families serving breakfast monthly, and making Welcome Home boxes for newly-housed clients. Head of School Dan Glass joined GLIDE's 12th Alabama Justice Pilgrimage.
• Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation (Curry Family)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 31 March 2026Stephen and Ayesha Curry's Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation has partnered with GLIDE for the revived Warren Buffett charity lunch auction. Proceeds are split equally between GLIDE Foundation and Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation, with Buffett also matching the winning bid amount. The partnership supports children in Oakland through access to nutritious food, literacy programs, and safe places to play.
• UCSF (University of California, San Francisco)supportiveStrategic or Co-development PartnerUCSF nurses and doctors are present at GLIDE's Health Hub on Thursdays and Sundays providing vaccines, wound care, and street outreach. UCSF medical staff also participate in the Healers at the Gate healthcare training program.
• Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay AreacoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerPartnership with Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights to operate the Unconditional Legal Clinic, providing free consultation and legal assistance including representation and referral to the most underserved residents of the Tenderloin. This is the only free legal clinic providing services in the area.
• End Hep C SFsupportiveStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with End Hep C SF for the Orlando Chavez Peer Hepatitis Community Navigation program, providing stipends to participants with lived experience to assist in linking clients to Hepatitis C-related services.
• Sisters of Perpetual IndulgencesupportiveStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-hosted the 'House of GLIDE' Pride event celebrating queer history and futures, featuring panel discussions on LGBTQIA+ issues, community building, and the role of joy in activism.
• Homeless Emergency Service Providers Association (HESPA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThrough HESPA coalition organizing, secured $7.67 million for FY 2022-23 and $16.6 million over FY 2022-23 and 2023-24 for homelessness prevention, housing subsidies, behavioral health, and employment services. Also garnered $53 million for unhoused people in FY 21-22 and 22-23.
• California Hunger Action Coalition (CHAC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGLIDE is a member of CHAC, a statewide coalition committed to ending hunger in California. GLIDE served as Chair of Hunger Action Week in 2021, 2022, and 2023, and helped secure over $500 million in state funding to strengthen the emergency food system.
• SF PridesupportiveStrategic or Co-development PartnerGLIDE partnered with SF Pride for the Runway of Pride fashion show event featuring local celebrities and community leaders, celebrating authenticity, pride, and the interdependence of all life.
• SFDPH Street Medicine TeamsupportiveStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with San Francisco Department of Public Health Street Medicine Team for same-day Suboxone starts and low-threshold MOUD access program at GLIDE's Health Hub.

Scale indicators12 records

Emerging players

• Homeboy Industries: Los Angeles-based nonprofit providing reentry, mental health, substance abuse, and workforce services to formerly incarcerated and gang-involved individuals. Comparable on harm reduction, social-justice mission, and workforce development, though geographic and population focus differ.
• Tenderloin People's Congress / United Playaz: San Francisco Tenderloin-based grassroots nonprofits focused on community organizing, violence prevention, and youth services. Comparable community-led social-justice and youth-development focus in the same neighborhood as GLIDE.

Direct peers

• St. Anthony's Foundation: San Francisco-based nonprofit serving low-income residents in the Tenderloin/SoMa corridor with a daily dining room, free clothing, healthcare, and social services. Most directly comparable peer given overlapping geography, target population, and free-meals service line.
• Hamilton Families: San Francisco-based nonprofit focused on breaking the cycle of family homelessness through housing, prevention, and after-school programs. Direct peer on the family/homelessness service line with overlapping Tenderloin/SF Bay Area operating geography.
• San Francisco AIDS Foundation: San Francisco nonprofit providing HIV/HCV testing, harm reduction (syringe access), substance use services, and housing support. Comparable on the harm reduction, HIV/HCV testing, and street-based outreach service lines overlapping with GLIDE's HEAT program.
• SF-Marin Food Bank: San Francisco/Marin regional food bank distributing millions of pounds of food annually to low-income residents. Comparable on the meals/food insecurity service line with overlapping geographic and demographic focus, though operating a different distribution model.
• Compass Family Services: San Francisco nonprofit serving homeless families and at-risk youth with housing, case management, and educational programs. Comparable family-centered service model and overlapping Tenderloin/SoMa service area.
• Larkin Street Youth Services: San Francisco nonprofit providing housing, education, employment, and health services to homeless and at-risk youth ages 12-24. Comparable service model (transitional age youth programs), overlapping client base, and similar SF geographic footprint.
• Catholic Charities of San Francisco: Faith-rooted San Francisco nonprofit providing shelter, food, immigration legal services, and senior support. Comparable comprehensive-services model and overlapping Tenderloin service footprint.

Broad incumbents

• Salvation Army (San Francisco): Large multi-service faith-based organization with significant San Francisco operations covering meals, shelter, addiction recovery, and family services. Comparable comprehensive-services offering but operates at much larger national scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/glidesf
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/GlideUploads
• Facebookfacebook.com/glidesf
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/glide-foundation
• Instagraminstagram.com/glidesf

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles13 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Glide Foundation