San Francisco Card

What San Francisco Card does

San Francisco Card (SF CARD) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit disaster preparedness consultancy founded in 1994 in the wake of the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake, headquartered in San Francisco. The organization provides emergency management consulting, training, and planning services to nonprofit organizations, faith-based institutions, schools, and underserved communities across the San Francisco Bay Area, with a stated reach spanning 14 Bay Area Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) jurisdictions and 12+ counties.

SF CARD's service portfolio includes Emergency Response Plan development, Incident Command System (ICS) training, Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP) development, Active Shooter preparedness training, the Students Toward Engagement and Preparedness (STEP) youth program, School Preparedness, and a Climate Resiliency program focused on heat relief in underserved San Francisco neighborhoods. The organization also delivers the Creating Sanctuary series targeting place-based community safety. Service delivery is human-led, cohort-based, and grounded in certified emergency management expertise rather than proprietary technology platforms.

The business model is grant- and donation-funded rather than fee-based. Programmatic support is provided by Bay Area UASI, the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services (CalOES) via Listos/Ready California, the Walter & Elise Haas Fund, the CDC Foundation, and the San Francisco Foundation, with individual donations processed through Zeffy and Stripe. The organization operates with a lean team consisting of an Executive Director and a Program Coordinator, governed by a seven-member board.

Name

San Francisco Card

Legal name

San Francisco Community Agencies Responding to Disaster

Website

https://sfcard.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1994

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

San Francisco Card is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit disaster preparedness consultancy founded in 1994, delivering emergency planning, ICS training, climate resiliency, and youth programs to Bay Area nonprofits, faith-based organizations, schools, and underserved communities across 14 UASI jurisdictions.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Disaster Preparedness Consulting

NAICS

Emergency and Other Relief Services (624230)

akta.pro primary industry

Disaster Preparedness, Risk Reduction & Early Warning (DRR) (BPAGAAAB)

Keywords

• Disaster preparedness consulting
• Emergency response planning
• Nonprofit training services
• Continuity of operations
• Community resilience programs

Headquarters

HQ city

South San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Grant Funding: SF CARD operates as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization primarily funded through government grants from Bay Area UASI, CalOES (Listos/Ready California program), and foundation grants including the Walter and Elise Haas Fund. Services are provided free of charge to qualifying nonprofit and faith-based organizations.
2. Donations: SF CARD accepts public donations through platforms like Zeffy and Stripe to support their disaster preparedness programs and services.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

SF CARD is a nonprofit disaster preparedness and response consultancy that develops Emergency Response Plans, Continuity of Operations Plans, and delivers Incident Command System training, active shooter exercises, and staff emergency response training for nonprofit and faith-based organizations in the Bay Area. Services are delivered free of charge to qualifying organizations and funded through government grants and foundation partners.

Product overview

SF CARD is a nonprofit disaster preparedness and response consultancy serving community and faith-based organizations. The company offers a portfolio of consulting services organized around three core functions: Preparedness, Response, and Recovery. Core service offerings include Emergency Response Plans (ERPs), Staff Emergency Response Training, Incident Command System (ICS) Training and Exercise, Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP) Development, and Active Shooter Training and Exercise. Specialized programs include the Climate Resiliency Program (Heat Relief Centers), STEP youth preparedness workshops, School Preparedness Program, BA UASI Community Preparedness and Training, the Creating Sanctuary Series for faith-based communities, and the Listos/Ready California Partnership for culturally competent disaster education. The company operates as a services-led organization rather than a software product company.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Emergency Response Plans (ERPs)

Named customers5 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• Listos/Ready California (CalOES)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019SF CARD was chosen in 2019 as one of the first participating organizations offering culturally and linguistically competent disaster education for San Francisco County. The partnership expanded to serve over 12 Bay Area counties and provided FREE Disaster Preparedness Kits to communities.
• San Francisco Neighborhood Empowerment NetworkmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerStrong partnership with SF NEN for the heat relief center program. SF NEN serves as a key partner in empowering local nonprofit and faith organizations to activate and operate heat-relief centers.
• San Francisco Department of Emergency ManagementmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in the heat relief center program and Climate Resiliency initiative. Provided funding to expand the program to the Richmond District.
• San Francisco Department of Public HealthmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in the heat relief center program, providing public health expertise for the Climate Resiliency initiative.
• American Red CrossminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBrian Whitlow volunteers with the American Red Cross as part of his personal disaster response involvement.
• Northern California VOADminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBrian Whitlow volunteers with Northern California VOAD (Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster).
• Earthquake Country Alliance (ECA)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBrian Whitlow volunteers with the Earthquake Country Alliance as part of his disaster preparedness involvement.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Mercy Corps: Mercy Corps is a large global nonprofit that helps communities survive and recover from disasters and conflict. While its scale and global footprint far exceed SF CARD, its mission and funding model (grants + donations supporting community disaster preparedness) make it a broad incumbent peer in the same nonprofit disaster space.
• American Red Cross: The American Red Cross is a large national humanitarian organization providing disaster preparedness education, response, and recovery services. It overlaps directly with SF CARD's mission and Brian Whitlow personally volunteers with the Bay Area chapter, making it both a strategic partner and a broad incumbent competitor for the same grant and donor dollars.

Direct peers

• Business Recovery Managers Association (BRMA): BRMA is an industry association for business continuity and recovery professionals; it awarded SF CARD the 2011 Award for Excellence for Community Disaster Preparedness. While broader in scope, BRMA targets the same disaster preparedness and business continuity practitioner audience that SF CARD serves.
• Team Rubicon: Team Rubicon is a nonprofit that unites military veterans with first responders to provide disaster relief and preparedness training. It is comparable to SF CARD as a nonprofit intermediary in the disaster preparedness and response space, though it skews more toward response operations than community preparedness consulting.
• Earthquake Country Alliance (ECA): The Earthquake Country Alliance is a California-based coalition dedicated to earthquake and disaster preparedness education. Brian Whitlow volunteers with ECA, and it overlaps directly with SF CARD's Creating Sanctuary series and STEP curriculum in promoting community-level disaster readiness.
• Northern California VOAD: Northern California VOAD (Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster) is a coalition of organizations that coordinate disaster preparedness and response across Northern California - the exact same geography and constituency (nonprofits, faith-based groups, community orgs) as SF CARD. Brian Whitlow volunteers with VOAD, and it sits in the same intermediary network.
• All Hands and Hearts: All Hands and Hearts is a nonprofit that provides disaster response and preparedness support to communities affected by disasters, with a similar community-facing, nonprofit-driven mission to SF CARD. Both organizations serve as intermediaries connecting resources to vulnerable populations.

Others

• DRI International: DRI International is the leading nonprofit certifying body for business continuity and disaster recovery professionals. Brian Whitlow holds DRI certifications, and SF CARD won DRI's Program Leader of the Year in 2017, positioning DRI as both a credentialing body and an industry ecosystem peer in disaster preparedness.
• Listos California (CalOES): Listos California is a CalOES-administered disaster preparedness program offering culturally and linguistically competent disaster education. SF CARD is itself a community partner delivering Listos programming, making CalOES a funder/partner and adjacent enabling organization in the same disaster preparedness ecosystem.
• CDC Foundation: The CDC Foundation is a nonprofit that connects the Centers for Disease Control with the private sector to build public health preparedness and response capacity. SF CARD was one of only seven organizations awarded a CDC Foundation Grant in 2013, making the Foundation both a past funder and a peer organization in public health/disaster preparedness.

Market position

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sf-card

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 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 San Francisco Card