View source for Tides Foundation

{{Short description|American public charity and fiscal sponsor}}
{{Infobox organization
| name                     = Tides Foundation
| image                    = 
| logo                     = Tides-Logo 6000px.png
| caption                  = 
| founder                  = [[Drummond Pike]]
| type                     = Public charity
| tax_id                   = 
| registration_id          = 
| founded_date             = {{Start date and age|1976}}
| location                 = [[San Francisco, California]]<br>[[New York City, New York]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Contact Us|work=Tides|url=http://www.tides.org/about/contact-us/|access-date=22 February 2015|archive-date=29 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170629164607/https://www.tides.org/about/contact-us/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| coordinates              = 
| origins                  = 
| key_people               = Janiece Evans-Page <small>(CEO)</small><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.philanthropy.com/article/tides-network-selects-janiece-evans-page-as-next-ceo/|title=Tides Network Selects Janiece Evans-Page as Next CEO|publisher=The Chronicle of Philanthropy|date=2020-10-23|access-date=2021-06-23}}</ref>
| board_of_directors       = 
| area_served              = Worldwide
| products                 = 
| services                 = [[Donor-advised fund]], fiscal sponsorships, collective action funds, consulting services
| focus                    = 
| purpose                  = 
| method                   = 
| revenue                  = $350 million (2023)<ref name=budget>{{cite web |title=Tides Foundation - Nonprofit Explorer |url=https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/510198509 |website=ProPublica |access-date=17 June 2025 |language=en |date=9 May 2013}}</ref>
| expenses                 = $712 million (2023)<ref name=budget/>
| num_volunteers           = 
| num_employees            = 
| num_members              = 
| subsid                   = 
| owner                    = 
| motto                    = 
| former name              = 
| homepage                 = {{URL|http://www.tides.org}}
| dissolved                = 
| footnotes                = 
}}
'''Tides Foundation''' is a left-leaning [[donor advised fund]] based in the United States that manages over $1.4 billion in assets.<ref name=bloomberg>{{cite news |last1=Spoto |first1=Maia |title=BLM Nonprofit Says Tides Foundation Mismanaged $33 Million |url=https://news.bloomberglaw.com/litigation/blm-nonprofit-says-tides-foundation-mismanaged-33-million |access-date=10 September 2024 |publisher=Bloomberg Law |date=May 7, 2024}}</ref> It was founded in San Francisco in 1976 by [[Drummond Pike]]. Tides distributes money from anonymous donors to other organizations, which are often politically progressive.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Wexler |first1=Celia |title=Think Tank Leaders Don't Lack for Ideas, But Fundraising Can Still Be Brutal |url=https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2022/8/10/think-tank-leaders-dont-lack-for-ideas-but-fundraising-can-still-be-brutal |access-date=16 September 2022 |work=Inside Philanthropy |date=August 10, 2022}}</ref> 

==History==
Tides was founded in 1976 by philanthropist [[Drummond Pike]] with assistance from Jane Bagley Lehman, granddaughter of [[R.J. Reynolds]]. Lehman was the organization's [[chair (officer)|chair]] from 1976 until her death in 1988; Pike was the organization's [[chief executive officer]] until 2010.<ref name="NYT1">{{cite news |title=Jane Lehman, 55; Active in Philanthropy |last1= |first1= |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/04/21/obituaries/jane-lehman-55-active-in-philanthropy.html |work=The New York Times |date=April 21, 1988 |accessdate=April 16, 2025}}</ref><ref name="IP4">{{cite web |title=Tides Foundation |last1= |first1= |url=https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/find-a-grant/grants-t/tides-foundation |website=Inside Philanthropy |date= |accessdate=April 18, 2025}}</ref> It is named after Tides Bookstore, a defunct bookstore in [[Sausalito]].<ref name="MIJ1">{{cite news |title=Setting his own course |last1=Ashley |first1=Beth |url=https://advance.lexis.com/document/?pdmfid=1519360&crid=b5583d4e-d59c-4b7a-a9e2-80d968fd6c44&pddocfullpath=%2Fshared%2Fdocument%2Fnews%2Furn%3AcontentItem%3A4F2C-6770-01TH-C09J-00000-00&pdcontentcomponentid=270096&pdteaserkey=sr11&pditab=allpods&ecomp=hc-yk&earg=sr11&prid=e55ba553-98a6-4349-83b2-9a68b50eff97 |work=Marin Independent Journal |date=December 19, 2004 |accessdate=June 10, 2025 |via=LexisNexis}}</ref> Tides was conceived as a nationally oriented community foundation, and founded out of Pike's frustration with established philanthropy's perceived neglect of [[Progressivism in the United States|progressive]] issues.<ref name="Faber">{{cite book |last1=Faber |first1=Daniel |last2=McCarthy |first2=Deborah |title=Foundations for Social Change: Critical Perspectives on Philanthropy and Popular Movements |date=2005 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |location=Lanham, Maryland |isbn=978-0-7425-4988-3 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Foundations_for_Social_Change/UqwBvV7vELcC?hl=en&gbpv=0 |access-date=April 16, 2025 |language=en}}</ref>{{rp|133}}

Pike envisioned using [[fiscal sponsorship]] for progressive political activism.<ref name="Manheim">{{cite book |last1=Manheim |first1=Jarol B. |title=Biz-War and the Out-of-Power Elite: The Progressive-Left Attack on the Corporation |date=2004 |publisher=Lawrence Erlbaum Associates |location=Mahwah, New Jersey |isbn=978-1-135-60999-3 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Biz_War_and_the_Out_of_Power_Elite/gsh4AgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 |access-date=April 16, 2025 |language=en}}</ref>{{rp|69}} Fiscal sponsorship uses a [[Tax exemption|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.{{r|"Manheim"|p=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."<ref name="Callahan1">{{cite book |last1=Callahan |first1=David |title=The Givers: Wealth, Power, and Philanthropy in a New Gilded Age |date=2017 |publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group |location=New York |isbn=9781101971048 |edition=1st |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Givers/5zNODwAAQBAJ?hl=en |access-date=April 16, 2025}}</ref>{{rp|202}} Callahan, who is the co-founder of the think tank [[Demos (U.S. 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".<ref name="IP2">{{cite news |title=Inside DonorsTrust: What This Mission-Driven DAF Offers Philanthropists on the Right |last1=Callahan |first1=David |url=https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2016-3-3-inside-donorstrust-what-this-mission-driven-daf-offers-phila-html |work=Inside Philanthropy |date=August 23, 2017 |accessdate=April 16, 2025}}</ref>{{r|"Callahan1"|p=204–205}}

Tides founded [[People for the American Way]] with [[Norman Lear]] and the National Network of Grantmakers in 1980.<ref>{{cite web |title=1976–2001: 25 Years of Working Toward Positive Social Change |website=Tides |url-status=dead |url=http://www.tides.org/fileadmin/user/pdf/Tides_25-Years_2000.pdf |date=September 14, 2001 |access-date=April 22, 2025 |archive-date=October 20, 2016 |format=PDF |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161020162658/http://www.tides.org/fileadmin/user/pdf/Tides_25-Years_2000.pdf}}</ref> By the 1990s, Tides was providing more than {{USD}}10 million in grants annually.<ref name="IP2"/> 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.{{sfn|Anheier|Leat|2006|p=57}}<ref>{{cite news |title=Capital Against Capital Punishment: Who’s Fighting the Death Penalty? |last1=Rojc |first1=Philip |date=December 13, 2016 |access-date=April 22, 2025 |work=Inside Philanthropy |url=https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2016-12-13-capital-against-capital-punishment-whos-fighting-the-death-penalty}}</ref>

Tides allocated $75 million per year in donor money by 2009, most of which went to fund progressive political causes.<ref name="Callahan_2017">{{Cite book| publisher = Alfred A. Knopf| isbn = 978-1-101-97104-8| last = Callahan| first = David| title = The Givers: Wealth, Power, and Philanthropy in a New Gilded Age| date = 2017 |orig-year=2010|pages=343 }}</ref>{{rp|202}}

Tides has been the subject of rhetorical attacks by [[Conservatism in the United States|conservative]] commentators, including [[Glenn Beck]] and others on [[Fox News]].<ref name ="hs">{{cite book|last1=Hamm|first1=Mark S.|date=2017|last2=Spaaij |first2=Ramón |title=The Age of Lone Wolf Terrorism |publisher=[[Columbia University Press]]|isbn=978-0-231-54377-4|series=Studies in Transgression|location=New York City|pages=84-88|oclc=1023543806}}
*{{cite news |title=Did Glenn Beck's rhetoric inspire violence? |last1=Knickerbocker |first1=Brad |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2010/1016/Did-Glenn-Beck-s-rhetoric-inspire-violence |work=The Christian Science Monitor |date=October 16, 2010 |accessdate=April 18, 2025}}</ref> In 2010, an assassin attempted to attack the offices of Tides, but was [[Oakland freeway shootout|stopped]] by members of the [[California Highway Patrol]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Highway Shooter Targeted Tides Foundation, ACLU |work=KTVU |date=July 21, 2010 |access-date=April 21, 2025 |archive-date=August 3, 2011 |url-status=dead |url=http://www.ktvu.com/news/24327003/detail.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110803230324/http://www.ktvu.com/news/24327003/detail.html}}</ref> 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.<ref name="HuffPo">{{cite news |title=Tides Foundation CEO To Fox News Advertisers: Drop Glenn Beck Or Have Blood On Your Hands |last1=Stein |first1=Sam |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/tides-foundation-ceo-glenn-beck_n_764470 |work=Huffington Post |date=October 15, 2010 |accessdate=April 18, 2025}}
*{{cite web|last=Pike|first=Drummond|date=October 15, 2010|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101018041307/http://blog.tides.org/2010/10/15/dear-fox-advertiser/|title=Dear Fox Advertiser|work=What's Possible: The Tides Blog|access-date=October 18, 2010}}</ref>

Tides received about $90 million in funding in 2011, and awarded about $96 million to various individuals and organizations.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tides.org/impact/grantees/|title=Tides > Grantees|work=Tides }}</ref>

The [[Wikimedia Foundation]], the non-profit organization which manages [[Wikipedia]], has worked with the Tides Foundation since 2016. The multimillion-dollar [[Wikimedia Foundation#Wikimedia Endowment|Wikimedia Endowment]] was created in 2016 to support the Wikimedia projects and was managed by Tides until 2023, when it was spun off into its own nonprofit.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Wikimedia Endowment - Meta |url=https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Endowment |access-date=2022-11-24 |website=meta.wikimedia.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Ramirez |first=Martha |date=2025-03-06 |title=Who’s Funding Wikipedia and Why Is It Under Attack? |url=https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/whos-funding-wikipedia-and-why-is-it-under-attack |access-date=2025-10-08 |website=Inside Philanthropy}}</ref> In 2019, Wikimedia's incoming general counsel, Amanda Keton, had previously served as the general counsel of the Tides Network, the head of Tides Foundation, and the CEO of Tides Advocacy.<ref>{{cite news |date=2019-10-03 |title=Wikimedia Foundation welcomes Amanda Keton as General Counsel |work=Wikimedia Foundation |url=https://wikimediafoundation.org/news/2019/10/03/wikimedia-foundation-welcomes-amanda-keton-as-general-counsel/ |access-date=25 June 2021}}</ref> In 2020, Wikimedia established a $4.5M donor-advised fund, the Wikimedia Foundation Knowledge Equity Fund, at Tides Advocacy.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Knowledge Equity Fund/Frequently asked questions - Meta |url=https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Knowledge_Equity_Fund/Frequently_asked_questions |access-date=2022-11-24 |website=meta.wikimedia.org |language=en}}</ref>

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 grantmaking areas, spurring spending and grantmaking, leading to Tides providing approximately {{USD}}200 million in grants to promote civic engagement and combat voter suppression in 2024.<ref name="IP5">{{cite news |title=Facing Democracy Threats, Tides Foundation Aims to Stay Responsive |last1=Scutari |first1=Mike |url=https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/facing-democracy-threats-tides-foundation-aims-to-stay-responsive |work=Inside Philanthropy |date=November 4, 2024 |accessdate=April 18, 2025}}</ref>

== Donations ==
Organizations that began as projects of Tides include [[Campaign to Defend the Constitution]], [[Higher Education Recruitment Consortium]], [[People for the American Way]], [[Pew Research Center|Pew Internet and American Life Project]], [[Rockridge Institute]], [[Social Venture Network]], Urgent Action Fund, and [[V-Day (movement)|V-Day]].<ref>{{cite web|title=History|work=Tides|url=http://www.tides.org/about/history/|access-date=22 February 2015|archive-date=4 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150504214029/http://www.tides.org/about/history|url-status=dead}}</ref> The Tides website lists 130 current grantees.<ref>{{cite web|title=Project Directory|url=http://www.tides.org/community/project-directory/|publisher=Tides|access-date=22 February 2015}}</ref> As Tides is a public charity, it allows sponsors to donate money to different organizations—including for-profit as well as nonprofit entities—through donor-advised funds.{{sfn|Kellow|2007|p=144}} Donor-advised funds are funds held in accounts by nonprofit organizations, like Tides, that then make grants to third-party entities on the donor's behalf.<ref>{{cite news |title=A philanthropic boom: "donor-advised funds" |url=https://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21719494-rise-dafs-may-be-much-about-tax-charity-philanthropic-boom |newspaper=[[The Economist]] |date=March 23, 2017 |access-date=June 14, 2017}}</ref> Organizations that have partnered with Tides to set up these funds include [[Girl Rising]] and the [[Humble Bundle]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://girlrising.com/faq/girl-rising-fund/|title=What is the Girl Rising Fund?|publisher=Girl Rising|year=2017|access-date=2017-06-24}}{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://support.humblebundle.com/hc/en-us/articles/205501708-Humble-Bundle-Giving-Fund-at-Tides-Foundation|title=Humble Bundle Giving Fund at Tides Foundation|publisher=Humble Support|access-date=October 20, 2017}}</ref>

Tides launched a program called "Bridging the Economic Divide" in 2020. 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.{{sfn|Anheier|Leat|2006|p=57}}

The [[Open Society Foundations]], funded by [[George Soros]], contributed $25.8 million to Tides between 2020 and 2021, earmarking some of its donations for pro-Palestinian causes.  The [[Rockefeller Brothers Fund]] contributed nearly $1 million to Tides in 2023, earmarking the majority of it for Palestine Legal and the Adalah Justice Project. The [[Ford Foundation]] is also a donor to the Tides Foundation.<ref name="ji"/>

The Tides Foundation has funded [[Jewish Voice for Peace]], the [[Council on American Islamic Relations]], [[IfNotNow]], [[Code Pink]], [[Palestine Legal]], the [[Adalah Justice Project]], and the Westchester County Peace Action Committee, which supports [[National Students for Justice in Palestine]] and [[American Muslims for Palestine]].  These organizations have been involved in pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses in [[2024 pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses|2024]] and [[2025 pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses|2025]].<ref name="ji">{{cite news |last1=Harkov |first1=Lahav |title=Dark money group backing anti-Israel campus activity faces scrutiny for its practices |url=https://jewishinsider.com/2024/05/dark-money-group-backing-anti-israel-campus-activity-faces-scrutiny-for-its-practices/ |access-date=17 June 2025 |work=Jewish Insider |date=21 May 2024}}
*{{cite news |last1=Kapos |first1=Shia |title=Who is funding the pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2024/05/05/pro-palestinian-protests-columbia-university-funding-donors-00156135 |access-date=17 June 2025 |work=POLITICO |date=7 June 2024}}</ref>

== Reception and image ==
{{Progressivism}}
Democratic Senator [[Sheldon Whitehouse]] described Tides as a [[dark money]] group on the left, similar to those on the right.<ref>{{cite web |last=Rodgers |first=Jack |date=March 10, 2021 |title=Dark Money Judicial Influence Examined in Senate |url=https://www.courthousenews.com/dark-money-judicial-influence-examined-in-senate/ |access-date=May 30, 2022 |publisher=Courthouse News Service}}</ref> The [[Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation]] sued Tides in 2024, alleging mismanagement of donations. In 2020, BLM was the recipient of $90 million in donations but did not have tax-exempt status.  They used Tides to invest some of the funds and access financial services. The two groups had been partners, with Tides acting as the fiscal sponsor for the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation while it awaited tax-exempt status. [[Black Lives Matter]] ended its partnership with Tides in 2022 and accused Tides of refusing to transfer millions to the group.  Tides denied the allegations, saying the money was reserved in the Black Lives Matter Support Fund for smaller chapters like the Black Lives Matter Grassroots organization, which was no longer part of the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation.<ref name="bloomberg" /><ref>{{cite news |last1=Daniels |first1=Alex |date=May 22, 2024 |title=Why Tides and Black Lives Matter Are Fighting Over $33 Million |url=https://www.philanthropy.com/article/why-tides-and-black-lives-matter-are-fighting-over-33-million |access-date=10 September 2024 |publisher=The Chronicle of Philanthropy}}</ref>

==Advocacy Fund==
Tides is affiliated with the Tides Advocacy Fund (also known as Tides Advocacy), a liberal lobbying group.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Choma |first1=Russ|last2=Vendituoli|first2=Monica|title=Advocacy Fund Spends Millions to Lobby on Immigration |url=http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2013/07/tides-advocacy-fund/| publisher=[[OpenSecrets]]|date=July 22, 2013}}
*{{cite news |last1=Terris |first1=Ben |title=The Washington gambler |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2023/04/26/sean-mcelwee-washington-gambler/ |access-date=13 December 2023 |newspaper=Washington Post |date=26 April 2023 |language=en}}
*{{cite news |last1=Mason |first1=Melanie |title=Butler's lucrative post-union work included a $1M-plus Airbnb payout |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2023/10/17/laphonza-butler-airbnb-payout-00122076 |access-date=13 December 2023 |work=POLITICO |date=17 October 2023 |language=en}}</ref> In the 2012 election cycle, the Advocacy Fund gave $11.5 million to [[501(c) organization#501.28c.29.284.29|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]].<ref name="blumenthal">{{cite news|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/09/koch-brothers-liberal-counterpart_n_5113492.html|title=Nothing Really Compares To The Koch Brothers' Political Empire|date=April 9, 2014|publisher=Huffington Post|last1=Blumenthal|first1=Paul|access-date=22 February 2015}}</ref> The Advocacy Fund has also supported the environmentally-focused groups [[Bold Nebraska]], [[National Wildlife Federation|National Wildlife Federation Action Fund]], [[Natural Resources Defense Council|NRDC Action Fund]], and the [[Sierra Club]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Yachnin|first1=Jennifer|title=Still 'electing the best, defeating the worst' -- but with far greater resources than before|url=http://www.eenews.net/stories/1059991640|access-date=23 February 2015|publisher=E&E Publishing|date=December 11, 2013}}</ref>

The Advocacy Fund contributed to campaigns opposing [[Colorado Amendment 46]], [[Colorado Amendment 47]], [[Colorado Amendment 49]] and [[Colorado Amendment 54]] in 2008.<ref>{{cite web|title=Tides Advocacy Fund|url=http://www.followthemoney.org/entity-details?eid=10243989|website=Follow The Money|publisher=National Institute on Money in State Politics|access-date=23 February 2015}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Blumenthal|first1=Paul|title=Groups With Liberal Ties Tapped To Re-Elect The GOP Establishment|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/29/gop-dark-money_n_6566244.html|access-date=23 February 2015|publisher=Huffington Post|date=January 29, 2015}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Thoreau Center for Sustainability]]
* [[United States Agency for International Development]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book |last1=Anheier |first1=Helmut K. |last2=Leat |first2=Diana |date=2006 |title=Creative Philanthropy: Toward a New Philanthropy for the Twenty-First Century |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781134197651}}
* {{cite book |last=Kellow |first=Aynsley J. |date=2007 |title=Science and Public Policy: The Virtuous Corruption of Virtual Environmental Science |publisher=Edward Elgar Publishing |isbn=9781847208767}}
* {{cite book |last=Manheim |first=Jarol B. |date=2004 |title=Biz-War and the Out-of-Power Elite: The Progressive-Left Attack on the Corporation |publisher=Psychology Press |isbn=9780805850680}}
* {{cite book |last1=McCarthy |first1=Deborah |last2=Faber |first2=Daniel |date=2005 |title=Foundations for Social Change: Critical Perspectives on Philanthropy and Popular Movements |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=9780742549883}}

==External links==
* {{Official website|http://www.tides.org}}
*{{ProPublicaNonprofitExplorer|510198509|Tides Foundation}}

{{Wikimedia Foundation|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1976 establishments in California]]
[[Category:Charities based in California]]
[[Category:Fiscal sponsorship organizations]]
[[Category:Non-profit organizations based in New York City]]
[[Category:Non-profit organizations based in San Francisco]]
[[Category:Organizations established in 1976]]
[[Category:Progressive organizations in the United States]]
[[Category:Wikimedia Foundation]]
[[Category:Left-wing organizations in the United States]]