Tipping Point Community[1] is a grant-making organization that fights poverty in the San Francisco Bay Area. Founded by Daniel Lurie in 2005, Tipping Point finds the most effective non-profits addressing poverty in the community, funds them, and provides the management assistance necessary to ensure that they succeed. Tipping Point provides this management assistance through the strategic partnerships it builds with private sector corporations and non-profit organizations.
Tipping Point is modeled after the Robin Hood Foundation in New York, and has been praised by the San Francisco Chronicle for giving "young donors a place to make their first foray into the charity world by taking on issues of poverty and class."[1] According to the San Francisco Business Times, "Tipping Point has quadrupled the number of donor gifts and increased the amount it gives away from $450,000 two years ago to $5.5 million this year."[2] Its board is composed of local philanthropists including Katie Schwab, Chris James and former San Francisco 49er Ronnie Lott. Tipping Point’s board underwrites all fundraising and operating costs, enabling 100% of every dollar donated to go directly toward grant-making.
By June 2009, Tipping Point will have granted more than $9 million in funds to Bay Area organizations serving low-income families and individuals in four key areas: