Cheeryble Foundation makes a small number of mid-to-large grants that concentrate on supporting entertainment industry workers and a cluster of civic institutions in the Santa Barbara area. Its giving blends emergency/worker relief in Hollywood with place-based investments in arts, cancer care, libraries and local social services, with an occasional out-of-region health grant to Hawaii. The foundation favors established nonprofits providing direct services or cultural infrastructure rather than many small awards.
Cheeryble Foundation’s largest recent grant went to the Entertainment Community Fund for film and television workers and Hollywood writers, signaling a clear interest in direct support for entertainment industry labor. That award sits alongside a second large 2025 grant to The Thriving Initiative in Goleta, showing that the foundation pairs sector-specific worker relief with local community investment. Its recent giving also reaches Santa Barbara cultural and civic institutions, including museums, the public library, family services, and health organizations. The foundation’s pattern is not one of many small awards across a broad landscape. Instead, it makes a limited number of grants that are often unrestricted and directed to established nonprofits. In Santa Barbara, that has meant support for the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, the Santa Barbara Public Library, the Cancer Center of Santa Barbara, the Cancer Foundation of Santa Barbara, and Family Service Agency of Santa Barbara. Outside California, the foundation has made occasional grants to organizations in Hawaii and Washington, DC, but its core footprint remains centered in California.
Entertainment-industry support is one of the foundation’s clearest themes. In 2024, it gave $200,000 to the Entertainment Community Fund for film and television workers and Hollywood writers. In Santa Barbara-area arts funding, the foundation awarded $78,820 to the Santa Barbara Museum of Art in 2023 and followed with additional support of $15,000 in 2024 and $14,000 in 2025. It also backed the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art with $25,000 in 2025 and $9,200 in 2024. Health-related grants include $76,636 to the Cancer Center of Santa Barbara in 2023, $66,185 and $15,450 to the Cancer Foundation of Santa Barbara in 2024 and 2025, and $5,150 to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network in 2025. The foundation also supported Family Service Agency of Santa Barbara with $55,190 in 2024.
Cheeryble Foundation’s typical grant size is modest, with a p25 of $1,000, a median of $1,200, and a p75 of $5,000. The recent record shows a mix of very large awards and many smaller unrestricted grants, which suggests a portfolio that combines flagship grants with continuing support for established organizations. Several recipients appear in multiple years, including the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara Public Library, Monterey Bay Aquarium, Tma (third Millennium Awakening), and the Cancer Foundation of Santa Barbara. The foundation does not fund individuals and does not make program-related investments.
$268K
$2.7M
$157K
$275K
Most grants fall between $1K and $5K, with a median of $1K.
25th Percentile
$1K
Median
$1K
75th Percentile
$5K
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Concentrated portfolio of 6–8 mid-to-large grants per cycle with a few very large gifts (one six-figure anchor grant), preference for established regional institutions and repeat-place-based giving rather than widely distributed small grants; occasional one-off out-of-region health grants.
Notable grantees: Entertainment Community Fund, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Cancer Center of Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara Public Library
Grant recipients are concentrated in California, which accounts for 71% of grants. Santa Barbara appears repeatedly as a recipient city, alongside Goleta, Malibu, Monterey, and Los Angeles. The foundation also makes occasional grants outside California, including Kamuela and Honolulu in Hawaii, Washington, DC, Amherst, Massachusetts, and Falls Church, Virginia. Its geographic scope is regional rather than national.
The foundation supports entertainment-industry worker relief, Santa Barbara arts and cultural institutions, cancer-related health services, public library and literacy work, and local family or social services. Recent grants include funding for museums, libraries, hospitals, and community service organizations, often on an unrestricted basis.
Yes. Most grants go to California recipients, but the recent record includes organizations in Hawaii, Washington, DC, Massachusetts, and Virginia. The grant count is still concentrated in California, with 71% of grants going to recipients in that state.
The foundation’s typical grant size is small: p25 is $1,000, median is $1,200, and p75 is $5,000. At the same time, its recent history includes larger awards such as $200,000 to the Entertainment Community Fund and $100,000 to The Thriving Initiative.
Some recipients receive support in multiple years. The Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara Public Library, Monterey Bay Aquarium, Tma (third Millennium Awakening), and the Cancer Foundation of Santa Barbara each appear more than once in the recent grants list, while many other grants are one-time awards.
2025
Source: IRS Form 990-PF, fiscal year 2025.
Most recent grants reported to the IRS.
| Recipient | Location | Amount | Year | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| THE THRIVING INITIATIVE | GOLETA, CA | $100,000 | 2025 | UNRESTRICTED |
| THE ERIC CARLE MUSEUM OF PICTURE BOOK ART | SANTA BARBARA, CA | $25,000 | 2025 | UNRESTRICTED |
| CANCER FOUNDATION OF SANTA BARBARA | SANTA BARBARA, CA | $15,450 | 2025 | UNRESTRICTED |
| SANTA BARBARA MUSEUM OF ART | SANTA BARBARA, CA | $14,000 | 2025 | UNRESTRICTED |
| WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN | WASHINGTON, DC | $12,311 | 2025 | UNRESTRICTED |
| MONTEREY BAY AQUARIUM | MONTEREY, CA | $10,000 | 2025 | UNRESTRICTED |
| TMA (THIRD MILLENNIUM AWAKENING) | MALIBU, CA | $8,000 | 2025 | UNRESTRICTED |
| DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SOLUTIONS | SANTA BARBARA, CA | $6,000 | 2025 | UNRESTRICTED |
| PBS HAWAII | HONOLULU, HI | $6,000 | 2025 | UNRESTRICTED |
| SANTA BARBARA PUBLIC LIBRARY | SANTA BARBARA, CA | $6,000 | 2025 | UNRESTRICTED |
| SANTA BARBARA ZOO | SANTA BARBARA, CA | $5,300 | 2025 | UNRESTRICTED |
| PANCREATIC CANCER ACTION NETWORK | MANHATTAN BEACH, CA | $5,150 | 2025 | UNRESTRICTED |
| HEARTS OF THERAPEUTIC EQUESTRIAN CENTER | SANTA BARBARA, CA | $5,145 | 2025 | UNRESTRICTED |
| FAMILY SERVICE AGENCY OF SANTA BARBARA | SANTA BARBARA, CA | $5,000 | 2025 | UNRESTRICTED |
| THE GRANADA THEATRE | SANTA BARBARA, CA | $5,000 | 2025 | UNRESTRICTED |
| HAWAII PUBLIC RADIO | HONOLULU, HI | $3,600 | 2025 | UNRESTRICTED |
| WOMENS FUND | SANTA BARBARA, CA | $3,500 | 2025 | UNRESTRICTED |
| INLAND VALLEY HOPE PARTNERS | POMONA, CA | $3,000 | 2025 | UNRESTRICTED |
| KCLU RADIO | THOUSAND OAKS, CA | $3,000 | 2025 | UNRESTRICTED |
| HEAL THE OCEAN | SANTA BARBARA, CA | $2,500 | 2025 | UNRESTRICTED |
| TEAM | WHEATON, IL | $2,200 | 2025 | UNRESTRICTED |
| NRDC | NEW YORK, NY | $2,000 | 2025 | UNRESTRICTED |
| ORGANIC SOUP KITCHEN | SANTA BARBARA, CA | $1,250 | 2025 | UNRESTRICTED |
| PAWS CO | DENVER, CO | $1,050 | 2025 | UNRESTRICTED |
| SAVE THE MUSIC | NEW YORK, NY | $1,050 | 2025 | UNRESTRICTED |
| GREATER GOOD CHARITIES | SEATTLE, WA | $1,046 | 2025 | UNRESTRICTED |
| SPECTRUM SAILING | IOP, SC | $1,033 | 2025 | UNRESTRICTED |
| CANCER RESEARCH INSTITUTE | NEW YORK, NY | $1,030 | 2025 | UNRESTRICTED |
| SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER | MONTGOMERY, AL | $1,030 | 2025 | UNRESTRICTED |
| MIRACLE LEAGUE LOS ANGELES | LOS ANGELES, CA | $1,030 | 2025 | UNRESTRICTED |
| LINUS PROJECT | BELTON, MO | $1,029 | 2025 | UNRESTRICTED |
| MPTF | WOODLAND HILLS, CA | $1,026 | 2025 | UNRESTRICTED |
| DIRECT RELIEF | SANTA BARBARA, CA | $1,024 | 2025 | UNRESTRICTED |
| DR LORNA BREEN HEROES' FOUNDATION | CHARLOTTESVILLE, VI | $1,023 | 2025 | UNRESTRICTED |
| CALIFORNIA FIRE FOUNDATION | SACRAMENTO, CA | $1,000 | 2025 | UNRESTRICTED |
| WOMEN FOR WOMEN INTERNATIONAL | WASHINGTON, DC | $1,000 | 2025 | UNRESTRICTED |
| LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO | CHICAGO, IL | $1,000 | 2025 | UNRESTRICED |
| THE SAN MARCOS HIGH SCHOOL | SAN MARCOS, CA | $1,000 | 2025 | UNRESTRICTED |
| NATIONAL DISASTER SEARCH DOG FOUNDATION | SANTA PUALA, CA | $1,000 | 2025 | UNRESTRICTED |
| TOGETHER RISING | FALLS CHURCH, VA | $618 | 2025 | UNRESTRICTED |
| LOS ANGELES MISSION | LOS ANGELES, CA | $600 | 2025 | UNRESTRICTED |
| ENSEMBLE THEATER COMPANY | SANTA BARBARA, CA | $500 | 2025 | UNRESTRICTED |
| FIRST TEE | SANTA BARBARA, CA | $500 | 2025 | UNRESTRICTED |
| MONTECITO COMMUNITY FOUNDATION | SANTA BARBARA, CA | $155 | 2025 | UNRESTRICTED |
| ENTERTAINMENT COMMUNITY FUND | LOS ANGELES, CA | $200,000 | 2024 | SUPPORTING FILM AND TELEVISON WORKERSSUPPORTING HOLLYWOOD WRITERS |
| CANCER FOUNDATION OF SANTA BARBARA | SANTA BARBARA, CA | $66,185 | 2024 | UNRESTRICTED |
| FAMILY SERVICE AGENCY OF SANTA BARBARA | SANTA BARBARA, CA | $55,190 | 2024 | UNRESTRICTED |
| SANTA BARBARA MUSEUM OF ART | SANTA BARBARA, CA | $15,000 | 2024 | UNRESTRICTED |
| TMA (THIRD MILLENNIUM AWAKENING) | MALIBU, CA | $12,000 | 2024 | UNRESTRICTED |
| WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN | WASHINGTON, DC | $10,450 | 2024 | UNRESTRICTED |
THE THRIVING INITIATIVE
$100,000UNRESTRICTED
THE ERIC CARLE MUSEUM OF PICTURE BOOK ART
$25,000UNRESTRICTED
SANTA BARBARA MUSEUM OF ART
$14,000UNRESTRICTED
WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN
$12,311UNRESTRICTED
MONTEREY BAY AQUARIUM
$10,000UNRESTRICTED
TMA (THIRD MILLENNIUM AWAKENING)
$8,000UNRESTRICTED
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SOLUTIONS
$6,000UNRESTRICTED
PBS HAWAII
$6,000UNRESTRICTED
SANTA BARBARA PUBLIC LIBRARY
$6,000UNRESTRICTED
SANTA BARBARA ZOO
$5,300UNRESTRICTED
HEARTS OF THERAPEUTIC EQUESTRIAN CENTER
$5,145UNRESTRICTED
THE GRANADA THEATRE
$5,000UNRESTRICTED
HAWAII PUBLIC RADIO
$3,600UNRESTRICTED
INLAND VALLEY HOPE PARTNERS
$3,000UNRESTRICTED
KCLU RADIO
$3,000UNRESTRICTED
TEAM
$2,200UNRESTRICTED
PAWS CO
$1,050UNRESTRICTED
SAVE THE MUSIC
$1,050UNRESTRICTED
SPECTRUM SAILING
$1,033UNRESTRICTED
MIRACLE LEAGUE LOS ANGELES
$1,030UNRESTRICTED
LINUS PROJECT
$1,029UNRESTRICTED
MPTF
$1,026UNRESTRICTED
THE SAN MARCOS HIGH SCHOOL
$1,000UNRESTRICTED
TOGETHER RISING
$618UNRESTRICTED
LOS ANGELES MISSION
$600UNRESTRICTED
FIRST TEE
$500UNRESTRICTED
MONTECITO COMMUNITY FOUNDATION
$155UNRESTRICTED
SUPPORTING FILM AND TELEVISON WORKERSSUPPORTING HOLLYWOOD WRITERS
SANTA BARBARA MUSEUM OF ART
$15,000UNRESTRICTED
TMA (THIRD MILLENNIUM AWAKENING)
$12,000UNRESTRICTED
WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN
$10,450UNRESTRICTED