francisco san

francisco san is a hundred thousand dollar fund to make the city and county of san francisco more whimsical through eventures and installations.

grantees can be for parties, pop-ups, puzzle hunts, art, races, (un)conferences, distribution of interesting objects or anything in between or on a different plane. the only requirement is to have a physical component in the city and county of san francisco.

here are some priors on the kind of project that might be funded, refresh for a new one! there is a list of funded projects that may be more informative though!

how do i/we apply for a grant?
fill out this form!

will i/we get a rejection email?
probably not unless it was borderline enough that we feel bad about it.

what can i/we spend the money on?
materials, apparatus, transportation, renting space, hiring people, paying yourselves! maybe a few coins to toss in a fountain for good luck.

does francisco san need anything in return?
please just do the thing well! we also love being able to link to a record of the thing on the site, though it's not very important.

how large are grants?
grants can be anywhere from zero to eighteen thousand dollars. if your organisation is a 501(c)(3) then grants can exceed eighteen thousand.

how will i/we receive the grant?
it's pretty ad-hoc as to how money is transferred and when. it's always an option to receive funds ahead of time. usually venmo or zelle.

how can i hear about francisco san projects?
they’ll be updated on this website when applicable

can i contribute to the francisco san fund?
yes! reach out to [email protected]. currently we are more limited by producers than money, but pledges of more money are appreciated.

what if i am a rich member of technical staff?
if motivating yourself with a bounty is useful, then francisco san is for you! resources can be exchanged for agency to some degree.

can it be a ___?
yes.

total money spent thus far: 41,500

• a scavenger hunt (by people who convinced me they could do a good one), $2000 (executed)
• a dating market musical. $500
• a beyblade tournament $800 (executed)
• flower run where runners give people flowers, $700 (executed)
• vibegala 2024. it's a really good party, please don't expect this for your party! $6000
• vibegala 2025. $1500
• doing archeology with the vesuvius challenge, $25,000
• collars for humans that say "i have been a good bing" with 😊 charms, $100 (executed)
• writers meetup at clio's bookstore, $500
• lil concert for a composer, $350 (executed)
• funding for a long-running community dinner that has yielded two relationships, $600
• a pasta party where the host makes sauces and attendees attempt to bring unique pasta shapes, penalised based on how many people bring their specific pasta shape. $300
• a cute nye party, $500

• $1000 for [surprise]
• $1453 for [surprise]
• $250 for putting up poetry around the city
• $500 lower haight magazine

projects that had offers, but have unfortunately been abandoned

• [redacted], $65 cost funds, $50 bounty
• [redacted] sound installation in [redacted], $300
• semaphore relay race where people send messages on sf hills, $500
• mini figurine art installed into an old tree, $50, $100 bounty for completion
• burying a [redacted] in [redacted] for a spontaneous archeology activity, $150, $50 bounty for completion
• six subsidized skateboarding group lessons for adult females, $600
• buying "do not climb signs" and putting them in places where you have to have climbed up to see, $100
<
• hot tubs on ocean beach, $2250
• a robot dog that poos $50
• a little free library in the panhandle, $500