User:BINK Robin/Tides Foundation draft
American public charity and fiscal sponsor
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tides Foundation is an American public charity based in San Francisco. The organization operates primarily as a donor-advised fund, which pools money from donors — who can remain anonymous — and distributes them to third-party causes and entities on the donor's behalf. It primarily supports causes associated with progressivism. Tides was founded in 1976 by Drummond Pike with assistance from Jane Bagley Lehman. It is affiliated with Tides Network, Tides Center, and Tides Converge. From 1989 to 2025, Tides has provided approximately US$5.9 billion to nonprofit organizations.
 | |
| Established | 1976 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Drummond Pike, Jane Bagley Lehman |
| Founded at | San Francisco |
| Type | Nonprofit |
| Legal status | Public charity |
| Purpose | Social justice, civic engagement |
| Location |
|
Region served | Global |
| Services |
|
Executive director | vacant |
Key people | Janiece Evans-Page (CEO of Tides Network) |
Parent organization | Tides Network |
| Affiliations |
|
| Revenue |  US$350.1 million (2023) |
| Disbursements |  US$690.2 million (2023) |
| Expenses | US$711.6 million (2023) |
| Funding | Private donors |
| Website | tides |
History
Tides was founded in 1976 by Drummond Pike with assistance from Jane Bagley Lehman, granddaughter of R.J. Reynolds. Lehman was the organization's chair from 1976 until her death in 1988; Pike was the organization's chief executive officer until 2010.[1][2] It is named after Tides Bookstore, a defunct bookstore in Sausalito.[3] Tides was conceived as a nationally oriented community foundation, and founded out of Pike's frustration with established philanthropy's perceived neglect of progressive issues.[4]: 133 He envisioned using fiscal sponsorship for progressive political activism.[5]: 69 Fiscal sponsorship uses a tax-exempt charity to provide financial support to a non-exempt project or organization, thereby lending it tax exemption as long as the charity retains control of the way its funds are spent.[5]: 67 In The Givers: Wealth, Power, and Philanthropy in a New Gilded Age, David Callahan wrote that Pike was an "entrepreneurial activist" and that Pike and his "wealthy friends" united to create Tides which "used donor-advised funds to direct resources to progressive causes."[6]: 202 Callahan, who is the co-founder of the think tank Demos, contrasted this with a similar approach taken by Donors Trust, an American non-profit donor-advised fund founded in 1999 to safeguard the "intent of libertarian and conservative donors".[7][6]: 204–205
In 1980, Tides founded People for the American Way with Norman Lear and the National Network of Grantmakers.[8] By the 1990s, Tides was providing more than US$10 million in grants annually.[7] In 2000, Tides launched a program called "Bridging the Economic Divide." It focused on funding living wage campaigns and economic justice coalitions. Tides also launched the Tides Death Penalty Mobilization Fund, which supports the anti-death penalty movement. The Michigan Partnership to Prevent Gun Violence was founded with support from Tides.[9]: 57 [10]
Tides has been the subject of rhetorical attacks by conservative commentators, including Glenn Beck and others on Fox News. In 2010, an assassin attempted to attack the offices of Tides, but was stopped by members of the California Highway Patrol.[11][12] The assassin said they were inspired by what they had seen on Fox News. Following the attack, Pike called for advertisers to pull their sponsorships for programs on the network.[13]
Tides began working with the Wikimedia Foundation in 2016 to manage the Wikimedia Endowment, an income-generating fund supporting Wikimedia Projects. The Endowment raised US$100 million by 2021 and became its own nonprofit entity in 2022.[14] The funds were transitioned out of Tides in 2023.[15] In 2020, Tides conducted a campaign encouraging its donors to move funds from more static donor-advised fund accounts to Tides-led initiatives in one of the organization's grant making areas, spurring spending and grantmaking, leading to Tides providing approximately US$200 million in grants to promote civic engagement and combat voter suppression in 2024.[16]
Funds for the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation (BLMGNF) were managed by Tides beginning in 2017. The relationship between the organizations ended in 2022. BLMGNF sued Tides in 2024 for allegedly withholding funds, which Tides denied, stating that the money was intended for local Black Lives Matter chapters.[17][18] The same year, the United States House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee opened an inquiry into donations from Tides to the United States Chamber of Commerce Foundation (USCCF). USCCF received approximately US$12 million from Tides between 2018 and 2022, which they said was primarily for a program providing job training for military members. Ways and Means chair Jason Smith, a Republican, said that Tides funds anti-business organizations and accepting money from Tides was at odds with USCCF's mission. Tides called the inquiry "a politically-motivated PR tactic during an election year" and said it was led by people opposed to Tides' social justice mission.[19][20]
Tides was one of the 10 largest American funders of LGBTQ causes in 2022 and gave US$18.3 million to organizations supporting LGBTQ people from 2022–23.[21] It provided funds to support ballot measures allowing abortion in elections in the United States in 2024.[22]
The organization has been criticized for its support of pro-Palestinian organizations. In 2023, the Washington Examiner, a U.S. conservative news outlet, reported that the Tides Foundation and its affiliate, the Tides Center, had donated over $1 million to pro-Palestinian groups behind demonstrations pushing for an Gaza war ceasefire.[23] The Washington Free Beacon reported that in 2023, the Tides Foundation gave $286,000 to the Alliance for Global Justice, a group serving as the fiscal sponsor of Samidoun.[24][better source needed] In 2024, Jewish Insider reported that organizations supported by Tides include Jewish Voice for Peace, the Council on American Islamic Relations, IfNotNow, Code Pink, and the Westchester County Peace Action Committee Foundation.[24][25]
In May 2024, Politico reported Tides was funding Columbia University pro-Palestinian campus protests and occupations during the Gaza war via its donations to Jewish Voice for Peace and IfNotNow.[26] Tides has said most protest donations came from small, individual donors. The Chronicle of Philanthropy reported Tides donated approximately US$160,000 to pro-Palestinian groups from 2022 to 2024.[27]
Tides provided approximately US$100,000 in grants to support relief efforts after Hurricane Helene and approximately US$600,000 in grants related to the January 2025 Southern California wildfires.[2][28] Cyndi Lauper raised approximately US$150,000 for the organization's Girls Just Want to Have Fundamental Rights Fund on her farewell tour.[29]
Organization and operations
Tides Foundation is a public charity operating primarily as a donor-advised fund associated with progressive causes.[30][7] The organization pools funds from donors — who can remain anonymous — and distributes them to third-party causes and entities on the donor's behalf.[31] It is affiliated with Tides Center, which provides fiscal sponsorship to social justice organizations, and Tides Converge, which provides office spaces and administrative services to nonprofit organizations in New York City and San Francisco.[2][32] It is associated with Tides Advocacy, an independent lobbying organization.[2][33][32] Tides Network provides administrative support and executive leadership to Tides Foundation, Tides Center, and Tides Converge.[32] Tides supports efforts related to environmental causes, civic and voter engagement, health equity, women's rights, and immigration issues.[2] It is based in San Francisco.[11] In 2023, Tides Foundation reported revenue of US$350.1 million and disbursements of US$690.2 million.[34]
As of April 2025, Tides initiatives and funds include the Healthy Democracy Fund, which aims to improve voter turnout and counter voter suppression; the Women's Environmental Leadership Fund, which aims to develop women leaders of color and address the impacts of climate change in non-white communities; the Immigrants Belong Fund, which provides grants designed to counter xenophobia and fund research into disinformation tactics; the Stronger Together Fund, aimed at assisting "historically underserved communities" and reducing inequality in philanthropy; the Just Health Fund, which sponsors initiatives related to reproductive rights; and the Crisis Response Fund, which provides funding to disaster response organizations.[2] From 2020 to 2024, the Healthy Democracy Fund provided approximately US$46 million in grants to 150 organizations. Tides provided an additional US$75 million through the fund in 2024 to organizations promoting voter turnout.[35] Between 1989 and 2025, Tides provided approximately US$5.9 billion to nonprofit organizations.[36]
Tides Advocacy
Tides is associated with the Tides Advocacy Fund (also known as Tides Advocacy), a liberal lobbying group.[37] In the 2012 election cycle, the Advocacy Fund gave $11.5 million to 501(c)(4) organizations, including $2 million to the League of Conservation Voters, $1.8 million to America Votes and $1.3 million to the Center for Community Change.[38] The Advocacy Fund has also supported the environmentally-focused groups Bold Nebraska, National Wildlife Federation Action Fund, NRDC Action Fund, and the Sierra Club.[39]
In 2008, the Advocacy Fund contributed to campaigns opposing Colorado Amendment 46, Colorado Amendment 47, Colorado Amendment 49 and Colorado Amendment 54.[40] The Advocacy Fund distributed $11.8 million in grants in 2013 to groups promoting mass amnesty for illegal immigrants, increased worker protections, chemical safety legal reform, and increased investment in the solar energy industry.[41]