“The failure of feminism to interrogate race means that the resistance strategies of feminism will often replicate and reinforce the subordination of people of color, and the failure of antiracism to interrogate patriarchy means that antiracism will frequently reproduce the subordination of women.” – Kimberlé Crenshaw, Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics and Violence Against Women of Color.

To strengthen trust and collaboration with our nonprofit partners and funder colleagues, we are providing details about the goals, vision, and operations of the Peggy and Jack Baskin Foundation; we invite questions as part of our commitment to transparent, accountable philanthropy.

We recognize that it can be difficult for nonprofits to plan their future when a foundation’s strategic trajectory is unknown; therefore, we want to share a little about our history, current and future funding capacity, and grantmaking approach with our partners.

 

Mission Focus and Giving Philosophy

The Peggy and Jack Baskin Foundation was founded in late 2007 as a registered 501c3 nonprofit private foundation. The mission of the Peggy and Jack Baskin Foundation is to center the margin, creating and supporting strategies to reach gender and racial equity and justice. The Foundation believes that intersectional feminism is an essential principle in fostering social change and intentionally prioritizes women, girls, and gender-expansive individuals of color throughout all our funding areas. With less than two percent of philanthropic dollars going to women and girls as a whole, and less than half of one percent going to women and girls of color, we are very intentional about funding organizations that fit clearly in our intersectional feminist focus; therefore, we look for mission statements and external messaging that emphasize the intersection of both gender AND racial equity and justice, rather than just one or the other. We focus on amplifying the voices of, and centering the solutions created by, those impacted by racist and patriarchal structures. We hope to inspire other funders to broaden their focus areas to include an intersectional feminist perspective as well.

Region Served

The Peggy and Jack Baskin Foundation awards grants to nonprofit organizations that serve people and communities in Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties (the tribal lands of the Amah Mutsun, Ohlone, Chalon, Awaswas, and Esselen nations), occasionally in the Greater San Francisco Bay Area, and organizations and programs with statewide impact across California or national impact across the United States. Grants are restricted to the U.S.

The Peggy and Jack Baskin Foundation firmly believes nonprofit organizations are at the center of social change and are partners that should be respected and heard. With feminist intersectionality as a core pillar of our mission, we strive to build trust-based, long-term relationships with mission-aligned nonprofit partners while embodying our values in all aspects of our giving.

Advocacy

We see ourselves as advocates and change agents within the philanthropic community, pursuing broader systemic change in addition to financially supporting impactful, mission-aligned programs. We recognize that foundations inherently hold a disproportionate influence over the organizations and institutions they fund. While we believe this imbalance shouldn’t exist and are proactive in the efforts to redress historic power imbalances in the field of philanthropy and the nonprofit sector, we take the responsibility that comes with our position seriously and are committed to using our leverage to pressure powerful institutions to enact more just and equitable practices.

Intersectional Feminist Approach

We hold ourselves accountable to high standards, serving as a model for other funders, by ensuring that our practices are aligned with our mission of increasing gender and racial equity and justice.

Participatory Grantmaking in Board and Committee Make-up

The philosophy that those involved in the decision-making process should include people with firsthand knowledge and experience in the communities where we hope to have an impact is reflected in our:

  • Board: Composed entirely of women, with the majority being women of color, each member brings nonprofit sector experience and a deep understanding of intersectional feminism’s real-world impact.
  • Scholarship Committee: Three members are former Peggy and Jack Baskin Foundation Scholarship recipients; they bring to the selection process the benefits of their life experience, their diverse outlooks, and their local knowledge as they help other students achieve their educational goals.
  • Advisory Board: These members bring diversity, a unique set of skills, and knowledge that complement those of the formal Board members to more effectively fulfill the mission of the Foundation and better serve our community.

Supporting Organizations with Equitable Leadership and Hiring Practices

We prioritize funding organizations that challenge traditional philanthropic structures and advance gender and racial equity and justice, giving preference to nonprofit partners where:

  • Women and gender-expansive individuals of color hold primary leadership roles.
  • Gender equity is embedded in organizational policies, including:
    • Robust parental leave.
    • Childcare.
    • Flexible work schedules.
    • Relationship abuse workplace policies.
    • Anti-harassment and sexual assault prevention policies.

Participatory Grantmaking in the Development of our RFPs

The Foundation recognizes that nonprofits are movement leaders in their own space and bring invaluable knowledge and expertise. Because they work directly in the communities we aim to support, their insights are essential to shaping meaningful and effective collaborations.

  • Consulting the experts: When we create a new RFP, it is crafted in consultation with nonprofit partners who are invited to share their wisdom and lived experience.
  • Consultation fees: Recognizing that women, especially women of color, are called upon to provide a disproportionate amount of invisible or unpaid labor, particularly in terms of sharing their time and knowledge, the Foundation acknowledges and compensates this type of labor appropriately.

Encouraging Other Funders to Embrace Intersectional Feminism

For society to advance the causes of gender and racial equity and justice, intersectional feminism must become part of the mainstream narrative and mindset. Integrating intersectional feminism is an intentional process and every funder has the tools and resources to make it happen. We invite other funders to join us in this commitment to:

  • Embrace feminist and equity-based language without hesitation. They may adopt this language by cutting and pasting directly from our RFPs.
  • Use our RFPs as inspiration for similar funding opportunities and to educate others on gender and racial equity and justice funding priorities.
  • Fund and uplift the work of nonprofit partners with an intersectional approach.
  • Conduct an internal audit of their current portfolio to see how they can integrate gender and racial equity and justice into what they are already doing.
  • Make sure women and gender expansive individuals in their foundation are getting paid as much as men in the industry.
  • Ensure women of color hold substantive leadership roles on boards, staff, and advisory committees with real influence and decision-making power
  • Add Gender Lens Investing to their investment portfolio; ask financial advisors to screen out sexist and racist companies, such as the porn industry, and proactively fund women of color.

Activism

The Foundation believes that our mission to reach racial and gender equity and justice is strengthened by social justice and personal activism, and since its inception, we give our staff members the time and space to engage with this important work by offering:

  • Personal Activist Days: Employees are free to dedicate their time to any causes or campaigns that matter to them. Staff members are encouraged to tackle their personal activist goals, and are not tied to any designated causes, campaigns, or organizations. Personal Activist Days are not on the behalf of the Foundation, wherein staff members are limited by the rules and laws governing a 501c3 private foundation, per Bolder Advocacy.

Intent to Spend Down

From inception, the founders decided to spend down all Foundation assets rather than operating in perpetuity, originally targeting closure in 2045-2050. This approach fundamentally shapes our operations compared to philanthropic institutions with no end date, requiring constant assessment of market volatility, grantmaking strategies, and partner needs to serve our communities until our closing date. Foundation staff considers all of these factors when forecasting the future of the Foundation’s assets and actively assesses whether any changes need to be implemented.

Historical and Current Funding

Founded in late 2007 with $1M starting capital by Peggy and Jack Baskin, the Foundation has donated over $11M to intersectional feminist initiatives, as of 2025. We currently grant ~$1M annually to our nonprofit partners.

The Foundation learned in 2020 that the total funds it would receive would be significantly lower than previously expected. As of September 2025, The Foundation’s portfolio includes $9M in liquid assets (held in a gender lens investment stock portfolio) and $13M in nonliquid assets (equity value of interests in LLCs that hold real estate). Because of an underperforming real estate market, we cannot assume the Foundation will receive funds equal to the equity donated once the remaining interests in LLCs holding real estate are sold, as some of the interests in LLCs that hold real estate were sold at a loss or have significantly decreased in appraised value. Based on current real estate trends, we are projecting that the nonliquid assets will yield ~$10M, if they can be sold.

Impact of Funding on Our Giving Approach

Because the Foundation received less money than expected, we have funded our portfolio to capacity, with all of our funding already allocated to nonprofit partners in all of our grant categories. Since we are committed to providing consistent support to our nonprofit partners, when possible, the Foundation has had less flexibility to be responsive to catastrophic funding cuts and has been unable to:

  • Increase our funding for current partners.
  • Add new projects.
  • Implement our original strategic plan for integrating inflation into our giving; we would have been forced to cut partners after 2020 in order to increase funds for other partners.

Change in Spenddown Date / Closing the Foundation

To maintain current spending levels and meet nonprofit community needs, the Foundation’s final spend down year has been adjusted to 2040 from the original 2045-2050. Conservative estimates are being used in our planning and spending projections; the full amount to be received from our interests in LLCs holding real estate will not be known until those interests are sold. We hope to know more about our future assets by 2027, and whether the life of the Foundation can be extended beyond 2040.

We intend to operate as long as our finances allow, in order to continue to provide stability and maintain the long-term relationships that are beneficial to our nonprofit partners. We promise to be transparent about our plans with nonprofit partners in the future and will communicate if there is ever a change in mission alignment, strategic vision, or grantmaking practices.

Sunsetting a Nonprofit Partner

We will continue to focus on our mission of supporting strategies that emphasize the intersection of gender and racial equity and justice in determining which organizations and programs we fund. There are circumstances in which the Foundation will find it necessary to sunset a funding relationship with a nonprofit partner, such as:

  • A partner’s organization or programming is no longer as aligned with the Foundation’s mission of intersectional feminism.
  • We may need to make hard decisions about funding, based on budget constraints.
  • When the Foundation is approaching its closing date.

We plan to provide at least one year’s notice for organizations to plan and pivot if we need to sunset a funding relationship.

Maintaining Higher than Average IRS Payout

While IRS requirements mandate a 5 percent minimum annual payout for private foundations, we have exceeded this standard, distributing between 10 and 17 percent annually for the first 15 years. We plan to maintain a 9 to 12 percent payout rate, balancing immediate community needs with long-term sustainability as we work toward our spend-down deadline.

Our role as a funder is to reduce barriers with streamlined, flexible grantmaking processes that respect our nonprofit partners’ time; we trust that those closest to the work know how best to do it. We implement the following practices to eliminate unnecessary administrative work for our partners, and we encourage other funders to adopt the same or similar efficiencies.

Trust-Based Philanthropy Project

In addition to our mission and values, we rely heavily on the six principles and practices developed by the Trust Based Philanthropy Project:

Six Principles of Trust-Based Giving Practices of Trust-Based Giving
· Work for systemic equity. · Give multi-year, unrestricted funding.
· Redistribute power. · Do the homework.
· Center relationships · Simplify and streamline paperwork.
· Partner in a spirit of service. · Be transparent and responsive.
· Be accountable. · Solicit and act on feedback.
· Embrace learning. · Offer support beyond the check.

By using these six practices and principles, it is our hope that partners feel valued, respected, and unburdened in their grantmaking relationship with us.

Reducing Administrative Burdens

While the Foundation needs to ensure that we are complying with IRS standards and our fiduciary responsibilities, we believe in conserving as much of our nonprofit partners’ time and effort as possible, allowing them to focus on the important work they do.

General Operating Support:

We offer grants with general operating support whenever possible, trusting nonprofit partners to determine how best to utilize their funding. We understand that there are more than programmatic costs to account for when running an organization.

  • At larger institutions and nonprofits whose programming is not solely focused on gender and racial equity and justice, such as universities or community colleges, and to ensure that no portion of our funding is used for administrative costs that do not align with our mission, we will continue to support grants for specific intersectional feminist projects or programs.

We know that nonprofits cannot function effectively or sustainably without investing in staff wages/benefits, technology, training, and other essentials that keep an organization running. We wish to debunk the overhead myth that lower overhead to program expense ratios equals greater effectiveness. Investment in overhead ultimately leads to greater staff retention, greater program adaptability, better program efficacy, better served communities, and greater impact.

The Peggy and Jack Baskin Foundation leads by example; we offer our employees a living wage, robust health and wellness benefits, professional development opportunities, and more. We feel this expense is necessary to recruit and retain a diverse and knowledgeable staff, which ultimately ensures the success of the Foundation and its mission.

Our Proposal, Renewal and Reporting Philosophy

Because we have limited funding, we have to make hard decisions about who we can fund; therefore, we may ask for a proposal in the beginning of our relationship with a nonprofit partner to help us understand if our intersectional feminist missions are aligned, and request budget information to understand the overall impact of our relatively small grant amounts, which average ~$25,000. To reduce administrative burdens, we offer the following:

  • Proposals by invitation only: In order to avoid wasting a nonprofits’ time, the Peggy and Jack Baskin Foundation does not accept unsolicited proposals.
  • Ask only for what we will use: To save time and effort, we only ask for information or documentation that is required by the IRS or will be used by the Board or Foundation staff in the grantmaking process.
  • Contingency grants: To provide consistency and avoid unnecessary grant writing, we offer 3-year contingency grants, wherein the proposal or grant renewal is valid for three years. In order to ensure that our intersectional feminist missions remain aligned, the grant award is contingent upon a satisfactory annual evaluation for each year the proposal/grant renewal is valid. This is not a pledge, and there is no guarantee of annual or subsequent payments; however, we use our streamlined, trust-based philanthropy practices to guide our annual evaluations.
  • Check-the-box renewal applications: To avoid unnecessary grant writing, we invite current and/or past nonprofit partners, who have previously submitted proposals that were approved for grant funding by the Foundation, to submit check-the-box renewal applications.
  • Pre-filled forms: When administrative forms are required for our own due diligence, we will pre-fill grant renewal applications on behalf of our nonprofit partners to save them time and effort.
  • Encourage cutting and pasting: To conserve time and effort when grant proposals or reports are requested, we encourage cutting and pasting from other grant proposals, renewals, reports (including from other funders), or website content, without requiring adherence to a specific format, page number, or application.
  • Waive grant reports whenever possible: In order to help us understand if our intersectional feminist missions are still aligned, or if there have been significant organizational or programmatic changes from the original proposal, we will occasionally ask for a phone call, brief grant report, or other written documentation, such as newsletters, email updates, or annual reports already generated by a nonprofit partner.
    • We will waive grant reports for non-profit partners with whom we have established a long-term relationship and who have clearly demonstrated their alignment with our intersectional feminist mission over time.
    • We will occasionally partner with a 501c4 nonprofit organization, in which case the IRS requires we exercise expenditure responsibility by obtaining an annual grant report.
  • No required site visits or meetings, so as not to waste the time of our nonprofit partners.

Support and Advocacy Beyond the Grant:

The Foundation wants our relationships with nonprofit partners to be more than just monetary or transactional. It is our responsibility, as funders, to support and advocate for the success of our nonprofit partners beyond the grantmaking process. We are committed to:

  • Expanding the visibility of our nonprofit partners by sharing information about them with other funders, with the intention of helping to build more support for their work.
  • Open communication:
    • Being available for phone calls or meetings when requested by a nonprofit partner.
    • Welcoming feedback and communication from our nonprofit partners to determine processes that would be more helpful to them in the grantmaking process.
  • Offering support in the proposal process by:
    • Providing feedback on the first draft of a grant proposal, before it is sent to the Board, if there is something that will make it stronger.
    • Providing feedback on proposals being submitted to other funders.
  • Acknowledging the value of the time and expertise of our nonprofit partners: We compensate nonprofit partners when they provide feedback or input on Foundation documents or processes.
  • Reaching out to our foundation member networks to share our approach to trust-based philanthropy and the need to be creative and collaborative with nonprofit partners.

This statement is meant to be an opportunity for transparency, open communication, and trust with our nonprofit partners and peer funders. We hope this document:

  • Provides clarity about the Peggy and Jack Baskin Foundation’s mission, funding philosophy, and future direction.
  • Provides a framework for partners and other funders who are interested in adopting intersectional feminism and trust-based practices in working toward a more just and equitable world.

As we move forward, we remain committed to:

  • Centering and amplifying the voices and leadership of women, girls, and gender-expansive people of color.
  • Challenging the norms and power structures within philanthropy.
  • Practicing trust-based philanthropy with accountability.

We welcome questions, dialogue, and collaboration. You can learn more about our funding efforts and nonprofit partner organizations on our Funding History page here:  https://baskinfoundation.org/grant-program/funding-history/.