About Cushman Foundation
The Cushman Foundation concentrates its giving locally in San Diego, providing large, unrestricted gifts to major community institutions. Its funding priorities emphasize healthcare systems, Jewish communal infrastructure, and hunger relief, favoring established organizations that serve broad community needs. Grants are typically general/unrestricted, signaling trust in grantees' discretion to allocate funds where most needed.
Focus Areas
Regional hospital system support (Sharp Healthcare/Foundation-level operating support)Jewish community endowments and broad Jewish communal services (Jewish Community Foundation)Food security & emergency food distribution in San Diego (Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank)
Who They Fund
not specified
Giving Approach
Highly concentrated: a very small number of large, unrestricted grants to major local institutions, including repeat support (Sharp received multiple grants).
Funding Style
unrestricted supportgeneral operating support
About Cushman Foundation
A defining feature of The Cushman Foundation is its repeated support for San Diego’s core civic institutions at the top of its recent grant list. In 2025, it gave $1,000,000 to Sharp Healthcare Foundation and another $1,000,000 to Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank, following a 2023 pattern that also included a $1,050,000 grant to the Jewish Community Foundation. Those awards sit alongside a broader stream of unrestricted support to organizations working in healthcare, hunger relief, Jewish communal life, education, children’s services, and senior support. The foundation’s recent awards show a preference for established nonprofits with citywide or regional reach, often allowing recipients to use funds as general support rather than for a narrow project. Its named grant programs point to local community benefit in San Diego County and to flexible funding for nonprofit and humanitarian work. The result is a grantmaker whose identity is tied to place, long-term institutional support, and a consistent reliance on unrestricted grants for organizations serving broad community needs.
What Cushman Foundation Funds
Healthcare appears as one of the foundation’s clearest priorities. In 2025, it gave $1,000,000 to Sharp Healthcare Foundation for general unrestricted support, and earlier grants also went to San Diego Blood Bank for general support. Food insecurity is another recurring area: the foundation awarded $1,000,000 to Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank in 2025 and $50,000 to the same organization in another 2025 grant. Community-based services also show up in grants such as $75,000 to Bayside Community Center and $50,000 to Elderhelp of San Diego, both for general unrestricted support. Arts and civic culture are present too, including $100,000 to San Diego Symphony Orchestra Association and $100,000 to San Diego History Center, again without program restrictions.
How Cushman Foundation Gives
Typical grant size is modest relative to the foundation’s largest awards, with a p25 of $5,000, a median of $7,500, and a p75 of $10,000. The recent-grants list shows both one-time and recurring relationships: Sharp Healthcare Foundation appears multiple times across 2023 and 2025, as do Jacobs and Cushman San Diego Food Bank and Crisis House. The foundation is a regular funder rather than a DAF, does not fund individuals, and does not make program-related investments. Its named general grantmaking program accepts unsolicited requests, while the recurring online grant application is administered by the Jewish Community Foundation.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$3.9M
Total Assets
$37.7M
Total Revenue
$5.5M
Total Expenses
$4.3M
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $5K and $10K, with a median of $8K.
25th Percentile
$5K
Median
$8K
75th Percentile
$10K
Geographic Reach
Local1 state funded
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
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