History of The Olympic Club Foundation

In February of 1992, in the spirit of "giving back to the community", The Board of Directors of the Olympic Club created the Olympic Club Foundation, which was initially called "The Winged "O" Foundation. There were seven original directors. The Olympic Club capitalized the Foundation with an initial grant of $25,000.

Building on Olympic Club tradition as the oldest athletic club in the country, the Olympic Club Foundation supports and encourages participation by Bay Area youth in amateur athletics. Most of the Foundation's grants target disadvantaged youth growing up in challenged neighborhoods. The Foundation's mission has stayed consistent through the years: "to grant funds and support programs that share the belief that participation in organized athletics enriches young lives and develops future community leaders."

The first challenge was to use the initial seed capital to increase the Foundation's resources and grant making capacity. For the first major event, Board members decided to hold a charity golf tournament, after asking themselves the question, "Since other charitable organizations in San Francisco use our golf course to raise funds, why shouldn't we do the same?" It was also decided to offer the opportunity to play in the golf tournaments to non-Olympians as an incentive to play the Club's renowned courses. The Board proceeded to publicize and recruit participants and sponsors.

The first Foundation golf tournament was held in 1994 and was successful, attracting a full field of players from all over the country and raising $100,000 for the Foundation. For the next eight years, the Foundation's annual "Classic" golf tournaments have provided the majority of the funds to support the Foundation's grant-making activities. Our event calendar expanded with additional fundraising efforts including The Ultimate Wine Dinner Auction, The Post-Up Challenge Basketball Tournament, The Annual Tennis Auction and the Annual Turkey Shoot. In addition, in 1995, an annual fundraising campaign was initiated, specifically targeting the Olympic Club membership.

A portion of the funds raised from these activities was placed in an endowment fund, and the endowment gradually grew over the years. The endowment is used primarily to generate income to support the administrative costs of the Foundation, assuring that the vast majority of donated funds go directly to support youth athletic programs.