Th Samueli Foundation today announced it’s awarding $15 million to 89 Orange County-based nonprofits, marking the second year of its Breakaway and Build OC Funds.
Both funds are direct products of a first-of-its-kind needs assessment report that the Samueli Foundation commissioned last spring to identify gaps in the local nonprofit sector. The Breakaway Fund was designed to provide nonprofits with easy to access, unrestricted funds while the Build OC Fund is dedicated to capital and physical infrastructure projects.
The foundation also announced the pilot of an AI platform to make it easier for donors to search through unfunded proposals.
“Why duplicate efforts or be proprietary with our work when we can share in service of encouraging more generosity?” Lindsey Spindle, president of the Samueli Family Philanthropies, said in a statement.
The Irvine-based Sun Family Foundation has already used the platform to invest an additional $1.5 million alongside the Samueli Foundation in organizations that applied through this year’s Breakaway and Build OC Funds.
“As we deepen our work in Anaheim, Santa Ana, Garden Grove, and Westminster, this partnership has introduced us to community organizations already making a difference in those neighborhoods,” Joanna Kong, executive director of the Sun Family Foundation, said.
With the latest grants, the two initiatives have awarded $32 million to 235 organizations in less than a year.
The foundation’s core grantmaking exceeded $130 million in 2025 and is on track to reach more than $180 million in 2026, according to the foundation.
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