Sharks Foundation

What Sharks Foundation does

Sharks Foundation is the charitable arm of the San Jose Sharks NHL franchise, operated by San Jose Sharks, LLC (a California LLC). The foundation focuses on three programmatic pillars—Youth Education, Youth Wellness, and Access to Hockey—serving Bay Area youth and families. Its core programs include Youth Education (literacy, Read Across America), Youth Wellness (dental screenings with Healthier Kids Foundation), and Access to Hockey (Pride Scrimmage, Special Olympics athlete engagement). It also funds Community Assist Grants to community organizations (e.g., a $40,000 grant to Scientific Adventures for Girls) and co-sponsors the San Jose Hockey Innovation Competition with NHL, NHLPA, and SAP.

The foundation does not sell products or services in a commercial sense; it raises funds through donations, the Goal for Kids program (which raised $251,000), the 50/50 Raffle presented by Casino M8trix (which raised $711,300, with over $350,000 returned to the Bay Area), merchandise sales via a Shopify storefront, and in-arena events such as Sampling with the Sharks at SAP Center. Its go-to-market is event-driven, leveraging the San Jose Sharks brand and player involvement to drive community engagement and donations. The customer base is a diversified mix of individual donors, corporate partners (PG&E, Casino M8trix, SAP), and an end-beneficiary population of Bay Area youth; revenue concentration risk is therefore modest on the donor side but the foundation is structurally dependent on its parent franchise and a small number of large corporate sponsors.

Operations are anchored in San Jose, CA, with a 24-person staff and a Board of Directors recently expanded in July 2026. There is no proprietary technology; the foundation operates as a community-program nonprofit rather than a technology or product company. The parent company is San Jose Sharks, LLC, which owns the NHL franchise, and the foundation is explicitly linked to the NHL/NHLPA ecosystem through trademark and partnership relationships.

Name

Sharks Foundation

Legal name

San Jose Sharks, LLC

Website

https://sharksfoundation.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Sharks Foundation is the charitable arm of the San Jose Sharks NHL franchise, operating Youth Education, Wellness, and Access-to-Hockey programs for Bay Area youth. It funds operations through donations, the 50/50 Raffle presented by Casino M8trix, the Goals for Kids program, and community grants.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Charitable Foundation / Youth Community Services

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Grantmaking and Giving Services (8132)

akta.pro primary industry

Community Foundations (BPAGAKAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Youth Mentoring & Positive Youth Development Nonprofits (BPAGADAD), Arts, Sports & Recreation-Based Youth Development Nonprofits (BPAGADAJ), Community Health & Prevention Program Funding (HLAJALAF)

Keywords

• Community foundation
• Youth education programs
• Youth wellness initiatives
• Hockey access programs
• Charitable fundraising

Headquarters

HQ city

San Jose

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, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations: Charitable donations from individuals and organizations supporting youth education, wellness, and hockey access programs in the Bay Area.
2. 50/50 Raffle: Raffle program presented by Casino M8trix that generates significant revenue, with a portion directed to Bay Area youth and families.
3. Goals for Kids Program: Dedicated fundraising initiative that raised over $250,000 for youth and families in the Bay Area.
4. Community Assist Grants: Grant funding distributed to community organizations supporting the foundation's mission areas.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The Sharks Foundation is a non-profit charitable foundation that empowers Bay Area youth through education programs, wellness initiatives, and equitable access to hockey. It raises and distributes funds via donations, the Goals for Kids fundraising initiative, the 50/50 Raffle presented by Casino M8trix, Community Assist Grants to community organizations, and event-based programs such as Sampling with the Sharks held at SAP Center.

Product overview

Sharks Foundation is a non-profit community organization that operates as a unified platform offering multiple youth empowerment programs rather than a traditional technology product. The foundation's portfolio includes Youth Education, Youth Wellness, and Access to Hockey as core programmatic pillars, supported by fundraising mechanisms including Goals For Kids, Community Assist Grants, Donations, 50/50 Raffle, Sampling with the Sharks events, and general Fundraisers. These programs collectively work toward the mission of empowering youth through education and wellness while advancing equitable access to hockey for all Bay Area youth.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Donations Program

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

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

• PG&EcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 22 April 2026Sharks Foundation and PG&E partnered to plant the first micro-forest at Walden West Outdoor School, supporting environmental sustainability and youth education through nature-based programs.
• Scientific Adventures for GirlsminorOthers · 24 March 2026Sharks Foundation awarded a $40,000 Community Assist Grant to Scientific Adventures for Girls to support STEM education programs for girls in the Bay Area.
• Casino M8trixcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCasino M8trix presents the Foundation's 50/50 Raffle program, which raised $711,300 with over $350,000 directed to Bay Area youth and families.
• NHL, NHLPA, and SAPflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership supporting the San Jose Hockey Innovation Competition, with Sharks Foundation providing support for this innovation initiative involving NHL, NHLPA, and SAP.
• Healthier Kids FoundationminorOthersPartner organization providing dental screenings at local schools. Sharks Foundation hosts screenings with Healthier Kids Foundation at schools like Lowell Elementary School.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• San Francisco Foundation: Established Bay Area community foundation with multi-decade grantmaking history and broader program scope than the Sharks Foundation — illustrates a larger-scale regional philanthropic operator in the same operating geography.
• Silicon Valley Community Foundation: A large regional community foundation operating in the same Bay Area geography with substantially broader grantmaking scale and donor-advised fund infrastructure — a useful sizing benchmark for the Sharks Foundation's local philanthropic footprint.

Direct peers

• Boston Bruins Foundation: Nonprofit of the Boston Bruins NHL franchise providing grants and youth programs in education, health, and hockey access, with comparable event-driven fundraising and corporate sponsorship structures.
• New York Rangers Foundation: Philanthropic affiliate of the NY Rangers running youth-related community programs and game-night fundraising with corporate partners in a comparative nonprofit structure.
• Vegas Golden Knights Foundation: Charitable arm of the Vegas Golden Knights supporting youth and community programs through in-arena fundraising and corporate sponsorships — a peer NHL franchise foundation.
• Los Angeles Kings Foundation: Philanthropic affiliate of the LA Kings NHL franchise running youth education, wellness, and hockey access initiatives with in-arena fundraising and grant programs in a major California market.
• Edmonton Oilers Community Foundation: Charitable arm of the Edmonton Oilers administering youth-focused grants, education, and hockey access programs funded through game-day 50/50 raffles and corporate partners — a near-identical operational template.
• Chicago Blackhawks Foundation: Charitable arm of the Chicago Blackhawks supporting youth education, wellness, and hockey access through game-night fundraising and community grants — directly comparable sport-affiliated nonprofit.
• Tampa Bay Lightning Foundation: Nonprofit arm of the Tampa Bay Lightning operating community programs, youth hockey access, and grantmaking funded through game-night fundraising and corporate sponsorships in a similar sport-foundation model.
• Pittsburgh Penguins Foundation: Charitable arm of the Pittsburgh Penguins NHL franchise with analogous youth education, wellness, and hockey access programs supported by 50/50 raffles, in-arena events, and corporate partnerships — the closest structural and operational parallel.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/sjscommunity
• YouTubeyoutube.com/sanjosesharks
• Facebookfacebook.com/SJSCommunity
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sharks-foundation
• Instagraminstagram.com/sjscommunity

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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 Sharks Foundation