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 or out between. 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

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

will i/we get a rejection email? how are granting decisions made?
probably not unless it was borderline enough that we feel bad about it, though you may receive an email that asks questions that results in a rejection. granting decisions are unfortunately a nebulous process of various aesthetic judgements. there is a group of ~seven people who are consulted for grants

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! would be nice to cite francisco san as a funder and for it to be on the francisco san website (usually, sometimes they will be intentionally redacted), though it's not very important and won't impact funding decisions.

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

how will i/we receive the grant?
it's pretty ad-hoc as to how money is transferred and when. it's usually an option to receive funds ahead of time. venmo or zelle (unless 501c3)

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 techie?
if motivating yourself with a bounty is useful, then francisco san is for you! resources can be exchanged for agency to some degree.

what if i've already received a grant?
this makes you way more likely to receive another one provided you did a good job the first time, and we really want people to come back!

can it be a ___?
yes.

total money spent thus far: 50,700

• a scavenger hunt (by people who convinced me they could do a good one), $2000 (sfpursuit.org)
• take 2 of sfpursuit because it was good, $2750
• stickers and a bart ad for sftransit.fun, $1500
• lower haight magazine (lowerhaightlocal.com), $500
• 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
• photobooth at big guacamole contest, $300
• jazz in the neighbourhood, $300
• <neofuturists for performance art, $2000
• lil concert for a composer, $350 (executed)
• boost for a long-running community dinner, $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

• $2000 for [redacted]. (paid)
• $2000 for [redacted]. (paid)
• $500 doing stuff in the POPOs

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
• $250 for putting up poetry around the city
• a little free library in the panhandle, $500