Community Partner Network

The Community Partner Network is an integral part of SF Parks Alliance and our mission to create, sustain and advocate for parks and public spaces across San Francisco. The program is at the core of our belief that when public spaces are cared for, they unite neighbors and build stronger communities.

The Spring 2024 application cycle for our Community Partner Network is now open! Fill out the application form here.

The deadline for applications is Sunday, March 31. If you are interested in applying but need more time, please reach out to partners@sfparksalliance.org.

Once you’ve submitted your application, you should expect to hear from us by the end of April.

What is the Community Partner Network?

Our Community Partner Network is made up of passionate and knowledgeable stewards that share a vision for improving public spaces across San Francisco. SF Parks Alliance provides these partners with administrative support, guidance for fundraising and project management, and resources for skill sharing and capacity building.

Currently, the Community Partner Network consists of: 80+ fiscally sponsored Community Partners, 150+ additional public space stewards through the Street Parks program, and 25+ mission-aligned organizations.

SF Parks Alliance connects partners through mentorship, knowledge sharing, and ongoing programming and communication. When our Community Partners lean on each other’s wisdom, they come closer to achieving their individual and collective goals. Together, these partners are much more than just a collection of groups receiving our support – they are local leaders working together to make San Francisco a better place to live, play and grow.

What type of work are Community Partners involved in?

SF Parks Alliance supports groups who are actively working to create a more inclusive neighborhood space, and are committed to advancing environmental, social, and economic justice.

Community Partners work across a wide range of public spaces, from small community gardens to major parks. Partners are often formed around a shared desire, such as renovating a playground, transforming a stairway, or maintaining an urban green space.

As their projects evolve, partners may focus on specific project stages, including community engagement, fundraising, capital improvements, or programming. Sometimes, partners do all of these simultaneously. Many groups successfully carry out significant capital improvements – but this alone does not guarantee thriving spaces.

It takes a village to get and keep a project going. Successful community improvement projects require patience, flexibility and the wherewithal to organize your group and navigate complex processes. When successful, these projects bring us closer to becoming a city where every park and public space is welcoming and vibrant, strengthens community connections, and belongs to everyone.

SF Parks Alliance offers Model-A comprehensive fiscal sponsorship. This means that the funds, contracts, and liabilities of each Partner project or initiative are housed within SF Parks Alliance. When a group becomes a Community Partner, SF Parks Alliance assumes both legal and financial responsibility for their project.

Each Community Partner representative is responsible for ensuring that their project is adhering to our Partner guidelines and policies. We believe it is critical that the leadership of the group are the primary decision makers for each project, but SF Parks Alliance has complete authority to intervene and direct operations, if necessary.

Fiscally sponsored Community Partners receive the following services:

  • Membership to our Community Partner Network, with email updates through our Partner Newsletter, invitations to workshops, webinars, and other events; and facilitated connections to other partners based on project needs and opportunities
  • Invitation to the organization’s annual Public Space Summit
  • 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status for tax deductible donations and grant eligibility under SF Parks Alliance
  • Dedicated online webpage on the SF Parks Alliance website
  • Customizable donation page embedded within the Partner webpage, and the ability to track and manage online donations
  • Donor tax receipts
  • Coordination of Insurance coverage and (by request) liability insurance certificate for up to $1 million per occurrence
  • Bi-weekly reimbursement and payment requests
  • Quarterly Financial Reports to track revenue and expenses
  • Grant application review, administration and record-keeping
  • Review of fundraising materials and online campaigns
  • Communication and promotion of events through SF Parks Alliance’s social media

Additional support beyond base services can be provided and results in additional fees. The baseline fiscal sponsorship fee starts at 5% and may increase depending on these additional services. Please note in the application if you believe that you will need support beyond these base services.

Also, note that SF Parks Alliance does not donate to Community Partner projects.

 

  • COMMUNITY Does your project have a team and assigned team leaders?
  • CAPACITY Do you and your team have the capacity to organize volunteer days, review budgets and timelines, and conduct outreach?
  • LONG-TERM VISION Are you and your team prepared to work on your project or initiative for over a year? Do you have a long-term, sustainable vision?
  • COLLABORATION Is there an existing SF Parks Alliance Community Partner who is already working on your site or in your neighborhood? Have you contacted them and asked about collaborating?
Our fiscal sponsorship application is now live! Please note for your application, you will need three letters of support, property owner letter of approval, and a completed budget. If you have any questions about our program or fiscal sponsorship, please reach out to partners@sfparksalliance.org.

The Community Team is made up of three Community Managers providing support and guidance to nearly 90 Community Partners across San Francisco. These Community Managers oversee the North, Southwest and Southeast portions of San Francisco, respectively.

As a team within the Parks & Place Department, Community works closely with our Activation and Capital teams. Each Community Manager is committed to strengthening connections between Community Partners, building their capacity, and promoting stewardship as a means for positive change in parks and public spaces across San Francisco.

Meet Our Community Partners

SF Parks Alliance supports over 80 Community Partners who are working to create better parks and public spaces across San Francisco.

ACED works to bring inspiring and expansive public art experiences to downtown San Francisco. They seek to champion local artists and draw in residents, commuters, and tourists alike. Click here to learn more!

Friends of Allyne Park

Allyne Park

The mission of the Friends of Allyne Park is to foster community around the stewardship of Cow Hollow’s beloved Allyne Park. Click here to learn more!

Alta Plaza Park

Friends of Alta Plaza Park is a group dedicated to making improvements to Alta Plaza Park. They have quarterly workdays and have completed a Master Plan for renovations to the park. Click here to learn more!

In the summer of 2008, a group of neighbors living near the intersection of Athens and Avalon Streets began to talk about turning the hillside at that intersection into a garden. This group has since transformed the hillside into an inviting and beautiful open space for the community. Click here to learn more!

The College Hill Neighborhood Association (CHNA) is an important collaborator on the Bernal Cut Restoration Project, and welcomes neighbors from all sides to help transform the Bernal Cut! Click here to learn more.

Bernal Heights Outdoor Cinema

Bernal Heights Outdoor Cinema organizes an annual film screening of local, independent film makers. Click here to learn more!

Buena Vista Neighborhood Association

Buena Vista Neighborhood Association (BVNA) is one of the larger neighborhood organizations in San Francisco, with over 400 current Members. Click here to learn more!

Burnside Mural

Burnside Mural+ is a resident-led initiative to create a visual representation of the colorful history of Glen Park that will include both a large mural and a tiled stairway. Click here to learn more!

Cabrillo Playground

Friends of Cabrillo Playground is a non-profit, volunteer-driven, grass-roots organization dedicated to the improvement, enjoyment, and safety of Cabrillo Playground in the Outer Richmond neighborhood of San Francisco. Click here to learn more!

Friends of Christopher Park

Friends of Christopher Park formed to identify and fundraise for park improvements, build community, and serve as community liaison with the Department of Recreation and Parks. Click here to learn more!

Comerford Greenway

Comerford Greenway’s mission is to beautify the alley, build neighborhood pride, and make it inviting to pedestrians by cleaning up the alley, planting native plants/removing concrete, installing lighting, and adding murals. Click here to learn more!

Connecticut Friendship Garden

A community garden with roughly 40 members that tend to all sorts of vegetables, fruits and flowers. Click here to learn more!

Corbett Heights Neighbors was formed in July 2004 for the purpose of providing a forum for the residents to discuss common issues and concerns, develop solutions, and guide the direction of the neighborhood. Click here to donate!

The Crosstown Trail connects San Francisco from the southeast to the northwest, with hidden trails, public parks, shopping corridors, tiled stairways, and community gardens. The trail is the work of a small group of local volunteers who believe in building community and healthy adventuring outdoors. Click here to learn more!

Dahlia Society of California

The Dahlia Society of California (DSC) is the San Francisco chapter of the American Dahlia Society. Click here to learn more!

Friends of Daggett Park champions a small but beautiful slice of green space located between Dogpatch and Potrero Hill. Once a brownfield site, the park has since been transformed into a multi-use park for the community to enjoy. Click here to learn more!

The De Haro Street Community Project began over a decade ago when residents of the 1300 block of De Haro started planting various shrubs and trees on the median in front of their homes to beautify the block. Click here to learn more!

detroit steps project

The Detroit Steps Project was launched in November of 2018 and has since become a multi-year community-led beautification project. Click here to learn more!

The Diamond Heights Boulevard Median Project is inspiring neighbors and friends to replant and maintain the median islands along Diamond Heights Boulevard between Duncan Street and Berkeley Way in San Francisco. Click here to learn more!

Dolores Park

Dolores Park Ambassadors is a nonprofit park advocacy and service organization celebrating, preserving and enhancing Dolores Park for all diverse patrons since 2009. Click here to learn more!

Formed to improve not only the physical landscape of Visitacion Valley, but also the cultural and artistic landscape, Ecos SF is a volunteer group that focuses primarily on Visitacion Valley Elementary school. Click here to learn more!

Friends of Esprit Park is a dedicated group of neighbors who hosts monthly cleanups and works to improve the park with new benches, tables, and improved pathways and signage. Click here to learn more!

Far Out West

The Far Out West Garden is a community effort dedicated to creating a productive urban farm and outdoor classroom to serve the Outer Sunset neighborhood and all of San Francisco. Click here to learn more!

Fay Park

The Fay Park Citizens Advisory Committee, formed by the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department and comprised of representatives from neighborhood organizations and Friends of Fay Park, meets quarterly to provide citizen input on Russian Hill’s beautiful and historic Fay Park. Click here to learn more!

Friends of Franklin Square is an all-volunteer organization dedicated to providing neighbors with a safe and attractive park experience in the Northeast Mission. Donate here!

The Geneva Community Garden is a project by District 11 residents of San Francisco to create a community garden in a vacant lot owned by the Recreation and Park Department. Click here to learn more!

The Glen Park Greenway is a green corridor that runs through the heart of the Glen Park neighborhood, connecting Glen Park’s transit hub and urban village to the recreation opportunities in Glen Canyon Park. Learn more here!

Goettingen Neighbors Group is dedicated to building community in the Portola neighborhood by talking with neighbors, cleaning and greening streets, and being proactive in the neighborhood, starting with Goettingen Street. Click here to learn more!

Golden Gate Park Bandshell

The Friends of The Golden Gate Park Band was formed in 2006 to support and promote The Golden Gate Park Band – a musical treasure in San Francisco since 1882. Click here to learn more!

Founded to support the City’s renovation efforts of the Golden Gate Park Dog Training Area, the Friends of Golden Gate Dog Park is an assembly of neighbors from the Richmond and Sunset, as well as lovers of SF’s largest fenced dog park! Donate here.

Working on a first-come, first-serve basis, it is said that the best handball courts in the city belong to Golden Gate Park! Friends of Golden Gate Park Handball Club champion the courts and the sport. Click here to learn more!

GreenTrust SF exists to cultivate a comprehensive plan with associated financing mechanisms to realize a greener Central Waterfront and improve the community’s social and ecological health. Click here to learn more!

Harvey Milk Plaza

This group aims to reimagine Harvey Milk Plaza as a welcoming, vibrant public space that honors Harvey’s life and legacy, celebrates his enduring importance to the LGBTQ+ community, and acts as a beacon of hope to marginalized communities worldwide. Click here to learn more!

McLaren Park

“Help McLaren Park” began as a group of neighbors and activists trying to improve the condition of a huge local park that has been majorly neglected due to repeated budget cuts over many decades. Click here to learn more!

Hidden Garden Steps

Friends of the Hidden Garden Steps is a volunteer-driven, community-based effort to create and maintain the second set of ceramic-tiled steps and public gardens in San Francisco’s Inner Sunset. Click here to learn more!

Howard Langton Garden is a community based garden for the people that live in the South of Market Area of San Francisco. Click here to learn more!

The Friends of the Japanese Tea Garden is a volunteer organization founded to help promote, protect and enhance the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park. Click here to learn more!

Friends of the Amp

Friends of the Jerry Garcia Amphitheatre/Friends of the AMP are working to bring more activity to McLaren Park, especially the park’s unique amphitheater. Click here to learn more!

Jessie Street Drone Shot

Formed in 2019, Friends of Jessie Street is a coalition of local businesses and residents who live and work around the 500 block of Jessie Street in SoMa. Click here to learn more!

The Friends of Joe DiMaggio Playground is a group of North Beach residents who use and care deeply about their local playground. Click here to learn more!

22nd Street Jungle Stairs is on a mission to rehab and beautify the 22nd Street steps between Diamond & Castro. Click here to learn more!

The Kenny Alley Beautification Project was a multi-phased effort to revitalize and beautify the Kenny Alley Stairs, a small passage located between a car lot and an apartment building in SF’s Excelsior’s District. Click here to learn more!

Friends of Kezar Triangle is working to improve and activate the triangle with art, ecology, and community engagement. Click here to learn more!

Kids in Parks teaches local natural history and ecology to students through hands-on exploration and study of the urban parks across San Francisco. Click here to learn more!

La Placita is a public space built for community arts, cultural events and the weekly Mission Community Market. The farmers market takes place every Thursday, rain or shine, from 3pm to 7pm (March-November), on 22nd Street between Mission and Valencia Streets in the Mission District of San Francisco. Click here to learn more!

In 2003, Java Beach Cafe proprietor, Pat Maguire, enlisted the help of local Sunset District residents to convert a desolate lot at La Playa and Judah into a green space with benches. Click here to learn more!

Friends of Lafayette Park (FOLP) is a non-profit volunteer organization dedicated to the enjoyment, safety, and improvement of Lafayette Park in the Pacific Heights neighborhood. Click here to learn more!

Friends of Lakeside Village is an informal group of residents and businesses working to make Lakeside Village a safer, cleaner, and more beautiful neighborhood. Projects include transforming an under-utilized parking lot into an inviting community park for families. Click here to learn more!

Friends of the Lakeview Summit Steps are a community vision to turn an unused hillside in the Ingleside neighborhood into a destination featuring water-wise plantings, gathering spaces and a statement stairway. Click here to learn more!

Friends of Laurel Hill Playground is a non-profit organization dedicated to creating a playful and engaging public space for the Laurel Heights and Jordan Park community. Click here to learn more!

The Friends of Lincoln Park Steps is a collaborative of neighbors whose goal is to repair and beautify the neglected staircase at the eastern edge of Lincoln Park. Click here to learn more!

Once an unremarkable side street in the Hayes Valley neighborhood, Linden Alley is now a thriving pedestrian-oriented destination featuring seating, landscaping, and celebrated local businesses. Click here to learn more!

Minnie and Lovie Ward

The Minnie and Lovie Ward Park Community Recreation Council formed to renovate the community garden at the Minnie and Lovie Ward Recreation Center, and increase outdoor education opportunities for local youth. Click here to learn more!

Mountain Lake Park Playground

Friends of Mountain Lake Park Playground is a group of local residents dedicated to the renovation of Mountain Lake Park Playground as a community gathering space for our children and neighbors. Click here to learn more!

Northridge Community Garden

In 2010, a group of neighbors at Northridge Coop Homes wanted to bring the community together to improve health outcomes. Together, they decided to start a garden. Click here to learn more about the garden and the group behind it!

Friends of Oak Woodlands Golden Gate Park began as a grassroots environmental group more than 20 years ago and has developed into a Natural Resource Division supported organization. Click here to learn more!

Octavia Commemoration Project

The Octavia Commemoration Project’s mission is to inspire and empower future San Franciscans to realize that, through civic engagement of the freeway removal in the Market / Octavia area, you can change the city for the better. Click here to learn more!

OMI Mini Parks

We Are OMI is a neighborhood group dedicated to supporting the OMI community through promoting neighborhood pride, beautification, and solidarity. The group formed Friends of the OMI Mini Parks to support the local green spaces that they believe are vital to maintaining strong communities. Click here to learn more!

Page Slow Street

Page Slow Street aims to activate the streetscape on their local slow street, encouraging residents and visitors to use the space for recreation, socializing, and active transportation. Click here to learn more!

Pennsylvania Street Garden is a beautiful, community-run green space located adjacent to the freeway in the Potrero Hill neighborhood of San Francisco. Click here to learn more!

Friends of Penny Lane formed in 2008 to make improvements to their neighborhood’s public alley, known as Penny Lane. Click here to learn more!

Peru Ave Stairs

Friends of Peru Avenue Stairway is a group of neighbors working to revitalize the 600 block of Peru, located in the Excelsior District. This block holds the potential for native plantings, a vista point, and a swing-set! Click here to learn more.

Pioneer Park

The Pioneer Park Project is a citizen volunteer group that has been working with San Francisco’s Recreation and Park Department since 1997 to improve and maintain the landscape surrounding Coit Tower. Click here to learn more!

The Friends of the Polo Field Cycling Track is a grassroots community group working to improve safety and conditions at the historic Polo Field Cycling Track in Golden Gate Park. Click here to learn more!

Friends of Potrero Hill Recreation Center is a group of community members actively working to improve the Potrero Hill Recreation Center. Click here to learn more!

The Potrero Sustainable Living Group, previously known as the Potrero Garden Committee, was established as part of the Rebuild Potrero initiative in 2009. Click here to learn more!

Neighbors meet monthly to address concerns around Precita Park, organize volunteer clean-ups, and improve the community and merchant visibility of this lively neighborhood. Click here to learn more!

Ridge Lane Neighbors is a group of Ingleside residents who have joined together in an effort to transform Ridge Lane into a beautiful walkway. Click here to learn more!

Rossi Playground

Friends of Rossi Playground is a neighborhood group that loves, cares for, and supports the one and only Rossi Park, located in the Inner Richmond neighborhood. Click here to learn more!

Beekeepers

The SF Bee-Cause uses urban apiculture within San Francisco, and products from this urban apiculture, as means to further causes that benefit San Francisco’s human and bee residents. Click here to learn more!

SF Porchfest

SF Porchfest hosts events that reflect the creativity and diversity of San Francisco through afternoons of music on the porches, backyards, and stoops of the Mission District. Click here to learn more!

SF Urban Riders is a non-profit coalition of recreational cycling advocates who are focused on creating local cycling opportunities in San Francisco. Click here to learn more!

South End Rowing Club

The South End Rowing Club, founded May 5, 1873, is the oldest rowing club west of the Mississippi! The Club embraces people at all athletic levels, providing instruction, camaraderie, and a welcoming, inclusive atmosphere. Click here to learn more!

Convened in 1983, the South Park Improvement Association has been advocating for South Park ever since, providing invaluable amounts of volunteer time, oversight and fundraising towards the improvement of the park and its playground. Click here to learn more!

Skybridge On Stevenson at Night

Friends of Stevenson Street is a group of local neighbors and businesses supporting SkyBridge on Stevenson, the community-led effort to revitalize the 500 block of Stevenson Street into a vibrant hub of arts, commerce, and activity. Click here to learn more!

St. Mary's Park Greening

St. Mary’s Park Greening

St. Mary’s Park Greening is a group of residents working together to increase the number of trees and green, drought tolerant landscaping in the neighborhood. They do this to have a positive environmental impact, add beauty and improve safety, and get to know their neighbors. Click here to learn more!

Sunnyside Conservatory

The Friends of Sunnyside Conservatory began in 1999 with a few neighborhood residents, each discovering the Conservatory and having that Alice-in-Wonderland feeling of entering another world. Click here to learn more!

Sutro Stewards works to conserve and expand the wildlife habitat and trail system on Mount Sutro, allowing the community to enjoy the incredible biodiversity, vistas and peace that Mount Sutro Open Space Reserve has to offer. Click here to learn more!

Goldman Tennis Center

The Tennis Coalition is a tennis advocacy group that champions public tennis in San Francisco by connecting, energizing, and advocating for the local tennis playing community. Click here to learn more!

The Greenhouse Project

The Greenhouse Project is working to develop Portola Farm, a permanent and community-centered urban agricultural hub located at 770 Woolsey, the site of San Francisco’s last remaining historic greenhouses. Click here to learn more!

Once a trash-covered hillside, San Francisco’s Tompkins Stairway Garden is now a safe and welcoming street park, featuring a drought-tolerant garden in year-round bloom and a colorful tiled stairway. Click here to donate!

Tunnel Top Park

Tunnel Top Park, serving both Potrero Hill and Dogpatch, is located on the corner of 25th Street and Pennsylvania Ave. The park is a volunteer driven community greening project, focused on transforming a once vacant lot into a vibrant green space. Click here to learn more!

This lively community hub boasts a popular recreation center and playground, as well as an auditorium, dog run, picnic area and multipurpose field. Bring your tennis racket for a serious workout, or join a pickup game on the exterior basketball court or indoor gym. Click here to learn more!

By cultivating school gardens in San Francisco’s under-served neighborhoods, Urban Sprouts partners with youth and their families to build eco-literacy, equity, wellness, and community. Click here to learn more!

Victoria Manalo Draves Park/ Gene Friend Rec Center

Friends of Victoria Manalo Draves Park is a neighborhood community group dedicated to positively activating Victoria Manalo Draves Park and Gene Friend Rec Center in SoMA. Click here to donate!

Virginia Garden Walk

The Friends of Virginia Garden Walk are the stewards behind an architectural landmark in San Francisco’s Bernal Heights neighborhood. The area consists of a network of footpaths, retaining walls, a sustainable garden, and stairways. Click here to learn more!

The Visitacion Valley Greenway Project was created to provide education to local school children, youth and the community about natural sciences, nutrition, and horticulture, environmental issues and advocacy. Click here to learn more!

Vis Valley Ag Garden

Friends of the Visitacion Valley Greenway Agriculture Garden manages the beautiful community gardens on the Visitacion Valley Greenway. The group aims to build community through gardening and the arts. Click here to learn more!

people in a park outside of a church

The Friends of Washington Square is a group of park stewards whose mission is to facilitate park improvements and raise funds to preserve and beautify the square. Click here to learn more!

Connecticut Friendship Garden

With Honey in the Heart focuses on connecting people to their surrounding environment, educating people about the benefits of pollinators, creating healthy habitat for all pollinators, and elevating the status of bees. Click here to learn more!

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