The Markkula Foundation’s recent giving is concentrated and locally oriented, supporting a small number of moderately large grants across Bay Area priorities. Grants span sports/community engagement (San Francisco 49ers Foundation), California land and water conservation, Silicon Valley–linked technology/innovation, and regional higher education. Their portfolio suggests an interest in place-based civic and civic-adjacent investments that combine community benefit, environmental stewardship, and local institutional capacity.
Concentrated, few but relatively large grants to distinct local priorities; no evidence of many small awards or broad geographic distribution. Mix of nonprofit foundations, university support, and private/for‑profit tech recipients suggests flexible funding mechanisms rather than only traditional charitable grants.
The Markkula Foundation’s largest recent grant went to the San Francisco 49er Foundation, an unrestricted $75,000 award that sets the tone for a portfolio built around local institutions and community-facing work. In 2023, the foundation paired that grant with other unrestricted support for California conservation, higher education, and Bay Area civic organizations, including The Nature Conservancy of California and Santa Clara University. The giving pattern is narrow rather than broad: a small number of grants, each at a meaningful scale, and all directed to U.S. recipients. Several awards point to a place-based approach that reaches across sports and youth engagement, environmental stewardship, and university capacity-building. The foundation also funded organizations tied to Silicon Valley and the South Bay, alongside a few grants outside California. Across the recent grants list, unrestricted support appears repeatedly, suggesting a preference for flexible funding rather than project-only restrictions.
In sports and youth community programming, The Markkula Foundation gave $75,000 to the San Francisco 49er Foundation for unrestricted support. For environmental work, it awarded $40,000 to The Nature Conservancy of California, also unrestricted. Higher education is another visible thread: Santa Clara University received $28,500 for unrestricted support, and the Hoover Institution received $10,000 on the same basis. The foundation’s portfolio also includes support for institutions connected to technology, civic, and educational activity, with grants such as $50,000 to Certell Inc and $5,000 to the Computer History Museum. These awards show a mix of community engagement, conservation, and institutional support rather than a single-cause strategy.
The Markkula Foundation’s recent grants cluster around a median of $17,500, with a lower quartile of $6,250 and an upper quartile of $37,125. That spread shows a small set of grants with a few larger awards and several mid-sized ones. The grants listed for 2023 are all unrestricted, which points to flexible support rather than tightly designated project funding. The recent record also suggests a one-year snapshot of giving rather than a repeated annual pattern, since only 2023 grants are provided. The foundation does not fund individuals and does not make program-related investments.
$485K
$7.3M
$869K
$536K
Most grants fall between $6K and $37K, with a median of $18K.
25th Percentile
$6K
Median
$18K
75th Percentile
$37K
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Notable grantees: San Francisco 49er Foundation, Certell Inc, The Nature Conservancy of California, Santa Clara University
Giving is local in scope and heavily concentrated in California: 80% of grants went to recipients in the HQ state. Santa Clara, San Francisco, San Jose, and Mountain View appear repeatedly in the recent grants list, showing a Bay Area emphasis. Outside California, the foundation also gave to recipients in Indianapolis, Indiana, and Arlington, Virginia, and Virginia is the top state by grant count overall. All recent grants in the dataset went to U.S. recipients.
The recent grants point to support for sports and youth community programming, California conservation and land stewardship, higher education, and technology or civic institutions. Examples in the list include a sports foundation, a conservation nonprofit, a university, and a museum.
The grant-size distribution is centered in the mid-five-figure range, with a p25 of $6,250, a median of $17,500, and a p75 of $37,125. The recent list also includes larger awards above that range.
Yes. Every grant in the recent list is marked unrestricted, including awards to recipients in Santa Clara, San Francisco, San Jose, Mountain View, Indianapolis, and Arlington.
The foundation gives most often in Virginia by grant count, while 80% of its grants go to recipients in California. The recent grants also include recipients in Santa Clara, San Francisco, San Jose, and Mountain View.
No. The foundation does not fund individuals.
2026
Source: IRS Form 990-PF, fiscal year 2026.
Most recent grants reported to the IRS.
| Recipient | Location | Amount | Year | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CRISTO REY SAN JOSE JESUIT HIGH SCHOOL | San Jose, CA | $275,000 | 2026 | unrestricted |
| San Francisco 49er Foundation | Santa Clara, CA | $111,200 | 2026 | unrestricted |
| Santa Clara University | Santa Clara, CA | $43,500 | 2026 | unrestricted |
| INDEPENDENT INSTITUTE | OAKLAND, CA | $20,000 | 2026 | UNRESTRICTED |
| RESURGE INTERNATIONAL | SUNNYVALE, CA | $10,250 | 2026 | UNRESTRICTED |
| MONTALVO ASSOCIATION | SARATOGA, CA | $10,000 | 2026 | UNRESTRICTED |
| JW HOUSE | SANTA CLARA, CA | $5,000 | 2026 | UNRESTRICTED |
| MILLS-PENINSULA HOSPITAL FOUNDATION | SACRAMENTO, CA | $5,000 | 2026 | UNRESTRICTED |
| Computer History Museum | Mountain View, CA | $4,096 | 2026 | unrestricted |
| CityTeam Ministries | San Jose, CA | $1,200 | 2026 | unrestricted |
| CRISTO REY SAN JOSE JESUIT HIGH SCHOOL | San Jose, CA | $250,000 | 2025 | unrestricted |
| San Francisco 49er Foundation | Santa Clara, CA | $58,500 | 2025 | unrestricted |
| PBS Foundation | Arlington, VA | $50,000 | 2025 | unrestricted |
| Judicial Watch | Washington, DC | $50,000 | 2025 | unrestricted |
| Santa Clara University | Santa Clara, CA | $43,500 | 2025 | unrestricted |
| Pacific Legal Foundation | Sacramento, CA | $25,000 | 2025 | unrestricted |
| The Heritage Foundation | Monterey, CA | $25,000 | 2025 | unrestricted |
| El Camino Hospital Foundation | Mountain View, CA | $20,000 | 2025 | unrestricted |
| Leadership Institute | Arlington, VA | $20,000 | 2025 | unrestricted |
| CATO Institute | Washington, DC | $20,000 | 2025 | unrestricted |
| Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation | Sun Valley, ID | $15,000 | 2025 | unrestricted |
| Renown Health Foundation | Reno, NV | $10,000 | 2025 | unrestricted |
| Recovery Cafe San Jose | San Jose, CA | $10,000 | 2025 | unrestricted |
| Americans for Prosperity Foundation | Arlington, VA | $10,000 | 2025 | unrestricted |
| Hoover Institution | Stanford, CA | $10,000 | 2025 | unrestricted |
| ReSurge International | Sunnyvale, CA | $10,000 | 2025 | unrestricted |
| NPower | Brooklyn, NY | $10,000 | 2025 | unrestricted |
| National Right to Work Legal Defense FDN | Springfield, VA | $10,000 | 2025 | unrestricted |
| Alaska Raptor Center | Sitka, AK | $6,000 | 2025 | unrestricted |
| St Jude Children's Research Hospital | Memphis, TN | $5,000 | 2025 | unrestricted |
| Epilepsy Foundation | Bowie, MD | $5,000 | 2025 | unrestricted |
| St Vincent de Paul Society | Los Angeles, CA | $5,000 | 2025 | unrestricted |
| Wounded Warrior Project | Jacksonville, FL | $5,000 | 2025 | unrestricted |
| Tunnel to Towers | Staten Island, NY | $5,000 | 2025 | unrestricted |
| Shriners Children's | Tampa, FL | $5,000 | 2025 | unrestricted |
| JW House | Santa Clara, CA | $5,000 | 2025 | unrestricted |
| Computer History Museum | Mountain View, CA | $5,000 | 2025 | unrestricted |
| Next Door Solutions to Domestic Violence | San Jose, CA | $3,000 | 2025 | unrestricted |
| LifeMoves | Santa Clara, CA | $2,000 | 2025 | unrestricted |
| Filoli Center | Woodside, CA | $1,100 | 2025 | unrestricted |
| CityTeam Ministries | San Jose, CA | $1,000 | 2025 | unrestricted |
| Avenidas | Palo Alto, CA | $1,000 | 2025 | unrestricted |
| Second Harvest Food Bank | San Jose, CA | $1,000 | 2025 | unrestricted |
| CHP 11-99 Foundation | Costa Mesa, CA | $1,000 | 2025 | unrestricted |
| Woodside-Portola Valley Fire Protection | Portola Valley, CA | $1,000 | 2025 | unrestricted |
| ASPCA | New York, NY | $50 | 2025 | unrestricted |
| San Francisco 49er Foundation | Santa Clara, CA | $75,000 | 2023 | unrestricted |
| Certell Inc | INDIANAPOLIS, IN | $50,000 | 2023 | unrestricted |
| The Nature Conservancy of California | San Francisco, CA | $40,000 | 2023 | unrestricted |
| Santa Clara University | Santa Clara, CA | $28,500 | 2023 | unrestricted |
CRISTO REY SAN JOSE JESUIT HIGH SCHOOL
$275,000unrestricted
San Francisco 49er Foundation
$111,200unrestricted
Santa Clara University
$43,500unrestricted
UNRESTRICTED
CRISTO REY SAN JOSE JESUIT HIGH SCHOOL
$250,000unrestricted
San Francisco 49er Foundation
$58,500unrestricted
Santa Clara University
$43,500unrestricted
The Heritage Foundation
$25,000unrestricted
El Camino Hospital Foundation
$20,000unrestricted
Alaska Raptor Center
$6,000unrestricted
Epilepsy Foundation
$5,000unrestricted
St Vincent de Paul Society
$5,000unrestricted
Tunnel to Towers
$5,000unrestricted
Shriners Children's
$5,000unrestricted
CityTeam Ministries
$1,000unrestricted
Second Harvest Food Bank
$1,000unrestricted
Woodside-Portola Valley Fire Protection
$1,000unrestricted
San Francisco 49er Foundation
$75,000unrestricted
The Nature Conservancy of California
$40,000unrestricted
Santa Clara University
$28,500unrestricted