Towbes Foundation
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The Towbes Foundation

Our Mission

To strengthen the communities of Santa Barbara County.

Our Focus

To partner with local nonprofits in mental health and education.

Foundation Overview

The Towbes Foundation is a family foundation established by Michael and Gail Towbes in 1980. We seek to strengthen the communities of Santa Barbara County by partnering with local nonprofits through grantmaking.

Since its founding, The Towbes Foundation has granted over 20 million dollars to more than 400 organizations on the Central Coast.

While The Towbes Foundation traditionally supported a broad array of nonprofits, we now have a particular focus on education and mental health, targeting educational programs focused on early childhood, K-12th grade, and the transition to college, as well as mental health programs, focused on children, youth, families, and adults.

Two boys with heads together reading and studying

Grant Cycles – Interest Areas – Funding Sources

Regular Grant Cycles

The Towbes Foundation has three grant cycles per year focused on our areas of expertise in education and mental health, enabling us to make a more meaningful impact on our community with our available resources.

Primary Interest Areas

The Towbes Foundation concentrates in two primary areas:

  1. Education: specifically early childhood, K-12th grade, and the transition to college.
  2. Mental Health: specifically direct services in behavioral health programs focused on children, youth, families, and adults.

Understanding Our Funding Sources

Since 2017, the Towbes Foundation’s funds have come through distributions from commercial real estate partnerships as well as more traditional investment assets. These sources are vulnerable to the vagaries of the economy including COVID-19, inflation, supply chain disruptions, and global events such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Commercial real estate is particularly sensitive to local economic factors. In addition, there are a number of complexities for private family foundations owning real estate that we are managing as we continue to pursue our mission.

It is important for applicants to understand that our funding streams are not always stable and the amount of funds available for grant-making may vary significantly from year to year.

Eligibility & Grant Guidelines

Please review the eligibility and grant guidelines for more information about our grant opportunities each fiscal year.

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Towbes Foundation

Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 20130, Santa Barbara, CA 93120-0130

Physical Address:
33 East Carrillo Street, Suite 201, Santa Barbara, CA 93101

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