Our democracy works best when everyday people have the power to make decisions about their lives and communities.
The Bay Area has a long history of leading national movements for civil rights, immigrant justice, and workers’ rights. When neighbors stand up for one another here, we create models that inspire change across the country.
The groups in this guide help build a strong, multiracial democracy by growing local leaders, protecting rights, and making sure every voice counts. Your giving can help communities move from being heard to truly having power.
BAY AREA FOCUS
SFF’s Rapid Response Fund for Movement Building
Grantee: San Francisco Foundation
Purpose: Rapid Response Fund for Movement Building
Give here if… you to support grassroots organizations responding to urgent community needs.
The San Francisco Foundation’s Rapid Response Fund for Movement Building channels collective giving into small, timely grants for frontline organizations. These groups respond to fast-moving situations while building long-term leadership in communities of color and among residents with low incomes. Recent grants have supported “know your rights” trainings, rapid response hotlines, food distribution tied to organizing, and safety resources for community leaders.
Bay Resistance Institute
Fiscal Sponsor: Center for Empowered Politics Education Fund
Give here if… you want to support local groups working to protect civil rights and strengthen community response.
Bay Resistance Institute brings together faith, labor, and grassroots organizations to help communities act together in times of crisis. Through neighborhood “pods,” rapid response teams, and large-scale mobilizations, they train everyday people to look out for one another, stand up to abuses of power, and make fairness and respect part of daily life.
Bay Rising
Fiscal Sponsor: Center for Empowered Politics Education Fund
Give here if… you want to support local networks and local leaders coordinating across the Bay Area.
Bay Rising helps communities across the Bay Area work together to solve real problems and grow local leaders who govern with and for their neighbors. A membership network that spans San Francisco, Oakland, and Silicon Valley, Bay Rising builds lasting relationships with working-class, immigrant, Black, Latinx, and Asian communities year-round. Together, they organize around linked issues like housing, good jobs, schools, and climate. Bay Rising helps local residents become leaders who can shape policies with and for their neighbors.
Young Women’s Freedom Center
Give here if… you want to develop the leadership of young people impacted by public systems.
Young Women’s Freedom Center works with young women and trans youth of all genders who have experienced incarceration, foster care, or deep economic hardship. For over 30 years, they have offered mentorship, employment, and leadership training. Staff meet young people where they are—in jails, on the streets, and in their neighborhoods—helping them heal, organize, and lead campaigns for more just policies. The organization has shaped leaders who now serve as powerful public voices and elected officials.
CALIFORNIA FOCUS
California Democracy Collaborative Fund
Grantee: Silicon Valley Community Foundation
Purpose: California Democracy Collaborative Fund
Give here if… you want to support a statewide effort to make California a model for inclusive, multiracial democracy.
The California Democracy Collaborative Fund is an alliance of racial justice, civil rights, labor, and community leaders. Co-chaired by SEIU California and Catalyst California, it advances a proactive vision for democracy in our state. Ahead of key elections, the partnership works to protect voting rights, reduce the outsized role of big money in ballot measures, and support an “Election Corps” to safeguard voters. It also invests in trusted community messengers who can counter misinformation and encourage turnout in every community.
Million Voters Project
Grantee: California Calls Education Fund
Purpose: Million Voters Project
Give here if… you want to expand who participates in California’s democracy and support an agenda of equity and inclusion.
The Million Voters Project, a program of California Calls Education Fund, brings together community networks across the state. They engage families with low incomes, young voters, immigrants, people returning from incarceration, and working-class communities so they can shape California’s future. By training organizers, registering and educating voters, and creating shared policy goals, they help ensure that government reflects the needs and hopes of all communities.
Power California
Give here if… you want to build the leadership and power of young people.
Power California helps young people become active, informed participants in democracy. Through voter registration and outreach, they have registered tens of thousands of new young voters and have had hundreds of thousands of conversations about elections and civic life. Beyond voting, Power California runs leadership programs that have trained more than 7,000 youth to organize, speak out, and help shape public policy. They blend civic engagement with culture and creativity so young people see themselves as essential to California’s future.
NATIONAL FOCUS
Center For Technology And Civic Life
Give here if… you want to modernize voting systems and support the local public servants who run our elections.
The Center for Tech and Civic Life works across the country to improve how elections are run. They provide election officials with training, secure technology tools, and support in advocating for stable public funding. The Center is a key partner in the Resilient Elections Network, a cross-partisan alliance that helps state and local officials keep elections secure, accessible, and trustworthy. When organizers build people power, the Center for Tech and Civic Life helps ensure that every vote is counted and every voter can participate with confidence.
Institute For Responsive Government
Give here if… you want government to be easier to navigate and more responsive to everyday people.
The Institute for Responsive Government focuses on how people actually experience government. They work to remove barriers in basic civic processes—such as registering to vote or accessing public services—so these interactions are simple, efficient, and respectful. When government works well in daily life, people are more likely to trust it and stay engaged. The Institute is also a core steward of the Resilient Elections Network, strengthening the systems that make democracy work.
Movement Voter Fund
Fiscal Sponsor: Tides Foundation
Give here if… you want to support year-round organizing in the states that shape national outcomes.
Movement Voter Fund directs strategic funding to grassroots organizations in key states, helping them register voters, knock on doors, and build local power. In 2025, Movement Voter Fund directed $6.2 million to 145 national, state, and local groups across 29 states and helped protect state courts, win legislative seats, and pass important ballot measures. Their focus is long-term: they invest early and consistently so communities can defend voting rights, fight misinformation, hold leaders accountable, and train the next generation of candidates and organizers.
RISING MAJORITY
Fiscal Sponsor: Center for Empowered Politics Education Fund
Give here if… you want to support national coordination of social justice movements that strengthens democracy for everyone.
Rising Majority is a nationwide coalition that brings together labor, youth, immigrant rights, climate justice, feminist, and anti-war movements. They help community-based organizations share strategies, build joint campaigns, and plan for long-term governing power—not only short-term wins. By connecting groups across issues and regions, Rising Majority supports everyday people to imagine and build a fairer economy and a more inclusive democracy.
Beyond Giving: Ways to Strengthen Democracy
Your philanthropy is a powerful tool—and there are other ways to support a healthy democracy as well:
- Talk with friends, family, and colleagues about why voting and civic participation matter to you.
- Stay informed through trusted journalism and books and podcasts about organizing and democracy.
- Vote in every election, not just presidential races.
- Join or host conversations that bring people together across differences.
