Benioff, Salesforce to give $8.5 million to SF, Oakland schools

Teacher Nathan Steller helps a student work on his iPad, purchased with a grant from Salesforce, at S.F.’s Herbert Hoover Middle School. Teacher Nathan Steller helps a student work on his iPad, purchased with a grant from Salesforce, at S.F.’s Herbert Hoover Middle School. Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 4 Caption Close Benioff, Salesforce to give $8.5 million to SF, Oakland schools 1 / 4 Back to Gallery

Four years ago, Salesforce.com chief executive Marc Benioff encouraged San Francisco’s struggling middle schools to think big, while backing their ideas with seven-digit donations.

Since then, his company’s nonprofit foundation has written $13.5 million in checks, and the results are starting to come in, district officials said. Test scores are ticking up, class sizes are down, and the use of technology in classrooms is taken for granted.

Benioff and Salesforce are not done. The foundation is not only donating an additional $6 million to try to keep the momentum going in San Francisco schools, but also spreading its wealth and motivational message to Oakland, where the East Bay school district will get its own $2.5 million check.

Benioff is expected to announce the grants Thursday, joining San Francisco and Oakland officials at Oakland’s Frick Impact Academy.

The foundation, Salesforce.org, is self-funded, sharing in the success of the $50 billion business. When he started Salesforce, Benioff adopted a philosophy that 1 percent of company equity, 1 percent of profit in the form of product donations and 1 percent of employee time should be dedicated to philanthropic efforts.

He also donates his own money to causes related to children’s health care, family homelessness and education — including $200 million to what is now called the UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital.

With the new education grants, the foundation’s donations to the San Francisco and Oakland school districts total more than $22 million. That’s a down payment, Benioff told The Chronicle this week.

“I believe that these gifts will exceed more than $100 million in short order,” he said. “I plan to make this part of my company and career.”

The donation includes a commitment of 20,000 volunteer hours from Salesforce employees.

In San Francisco, district officials credited the Salesforce donation with spurring innovation and improving tech infrastructure to bolster computer science and math instruction.

The money helped pay for additional staff, including math coaches, as well as laptops and teacher training, and ushered in smaller class sizes — to 24 students in eighth-grade math, down from 33.

In addition, every middle school principal has received a $100,000 “innovation grant” each year to use at his or her discretion, money that has bought robotics programs, 3-D printers and new libraries, among other things.

Test scores this year in math were up slightly across district middle schools, with nearly half of students meeting or exceeding state standards. Average math grades also went up.

“I think that (Benioff) saw the benefit of the long game, which we really appreciate, and I think we’re starting to see some return on investment for him,” said San Francisco’s outgoing superintendent, Richard Carranza. “It’s really illustrative to Marc’s dedication to the city and the school district, and embracing the idea that you can’t have a great city without a great school system.”

Test scores might not yet reflect the impact of the funding, but what’s happening in the classrooms does, said Ebony Frelix, senior vice president of philanthropy and engagement at Salesforce.org.

The rows of desks and students with pencils and paper are gone, replaced by clusters of kids huddled over tablets and laptops.

“They are the Jetsons,” Frelix said.

While San Francisco has focused on incorporating computer science into every grade and pushing technology and math in middle school, Oakland will have its own plan for the Salesforce funding.

Benioff met with Oakland principals and other district officials — hosting them at his home more than once — to listen to what they need. Dental care, trauma care and physical safety were among the issues that rose to the top, and they will be addressed, Benioff said.

“That is really important to me to listen to the kids, listen to the principals, listen to the teachers,” he said. “I have to have relationships with these people or I can’t do my job as a philanthropist, as a leader.”

Oakland will also earmark money for technology and math, with a focus on increasing African American and Latino participation in science and tech careers. Some of the money will help pay for “future centers” in middle schools and high schools to promote college tours, internships and job shadowing.

In addition, six middle school principals will get $100,000 innovation grants this year.

“I think what has impressed us is both the willingness of the foundation and Benioff to come into Oakland cognizant of what they learned in San Francisco, but also letting Oakland be Oakland,” said Brian Stanley, executive director of the Oakland Education Fund, which will administer the Salesforce grants.

Unlike many tech donors, Benioff isn’t trying to disrupt or blow up the system, said Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf.

“He is investing in ideas and leaders that are here now, as a partner in scaling successful strategies, but also inviting innovation,” Schaaf said. “We are very cognizant that these types of philanthropic investments (don’t) last forever, but they really can fuel innovation and prove the case for changing how we invest the public dollars.”

Jill Tucker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jilltucker