Rural communities across California produce much of the state’s food and energy, steward its land and water, and sustain regional economies and cultures. They are also on the front lines of public-sector disinvestment, climate change, housing pressures and economic transition.
The Working Group helps funders understand the challenges and opportunities inherent in these dynamics and consider how philanthropy can support healthy, equitable and sustainable rural communities.
How We Work
The group meets quarterly, combining structured learning with informal conversation among funders. Meetings are shaped by participants’ interests and may include webinars, peer exchange, and site-based learning across California.
We welcome funders based in rural communities and those located elsewhere whose grantmaking reaches rural places.
Recent Focus Areas
Recent conversations have explored community benefits from renewable energy development, affordable housing and displacement, federal funding and workforce cuts, rural economic development, and strategies for strengthening community ownership and local capacity.
Related Learning
• Mending the Net: What Funders Saw in the North State. Summer 2026. Our tour highlighted the emerging North State Inclusive Economic Development Collective, whose members are supported by Sierra Health Foundation and the North Valley Community Foundation, among others.
• Who Gets to Stay: Rural Housing, Displacement, and the Future of West Marin. Winter 2025. This conversation featured multi-pronged work supported by the West Marin Fund.
• Learning from Lithium Valley: What the Salton Sea Tells Us About Energy, Equity, and Community Voice. Spring 2025. A conversation highlighting work supported by the James Irvine Foundation and Waverley Street Foundation, among others.
• Three Strategies for Funders in Rural Places Summer 2025. Rural economists offered lessons on navigating federal workforce cuts, climate risk, and capacity constraints, with guidance on where philanthropy can have impact.
Next Meeting
Our next virtual meeting will take place on September 29, 2026, from 1:00–2:30 p.m. PT. We’ll debrief the recent North State funders tour, then broaden the conversation to what funders working in rural communities need and how this group can be most useful. Learn more and register here.
If you’re a funder currently supporting—or interested in supporting—rural and smaller communities across California, we hope you’ll join us.
Join Smart Growth California
The Rural Funders Working Group is convened through Smart Growth California, an initiative of The Funders Network. If this work is valuable to your organization, we hope you’ll consider joining Smart Growth California and becoming part of our statewide and national community of grantmakers.
Questions? Contact Kriselda Bautista, Program Associate, Diana Williams, Program Director, or Ron Milam, Director.
