How much of Dreamforce money stays local? Bay Area schools, police see millions in funding
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- As Salesforce's annual Dreamforce conference wrapped up Thursday, we looked into CEO Marc Benioff announcements about the company's philanthropic contributions to San Francisco, including funding for public schools and public safety efforts.
"We are also deeply committed to San Francisco. With $156 million given to our public school," Benioff said during the conference.
A review of the figures shows Benioff has contributed $156 million to public schools over the past 14 years, including grants awarded this year.
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Benioff also said Salesforce is providing $27 million to local schools this year. However, not all of that funding is designated for Bay Area schools. According to Salesforce, $18 million of the $27 million will go to schools in New York, Indianapolis, San Francisco and Oakland.
San Francisco Unified School District Superintendent Maria Su said SFUSD will receive more funds this year from the Salesforce Foundation compared to last year.
"This year we are receiving $6 million from the Salesforce Foundation," Su said.
Su said the grants have had a significant impact on students and educational programs.
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"We've used the money to do a number of things expand class for our students. We actually used the money to develop a preschool to 12th-grade computer science curriculum for students and because of that we were able to double the number of girls that have access to computer science and triple the number of students who passed the computer science AP course," Su said.
Oakland Unified School District said in a statement that it also received $6 million this year.
"It's really supercharged our science education for our kids," the district said and added, "We're so excited that they continue to support us."
Beyond education, Benioff highlighted support for public safety around Dreamforce.
"We have even given $13 million to our local police force to keep all of you safe," Benioff said.
The San Francisco Police Department said multiple agencies support security operations during the conference.
"There are a number of local law enforcement agencies that we work alongside of in San Francisco and that includes CHP, the sheriff's department," Officer Robert Rueca said.
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Neither Salesforce nor SFPD provided a breakdown of how the reported $13 million is allocated. SFPD said Benioff cannot directly donate money to the department.
"Dreamforce has contracted with the city to additional police officer to the event to provide public safety and the majority are on overtime," Rueca said.
When asked who pays for the overtime, Rueca responded: "Dreamforce, Salesforce."
In addition to grants and public safety spending, Dreamforce is expected to generate more than $130 million in local revenue for San Francisco.
Residents say the conference's economic impact is visible throughout the city.
"It is making it more of an international city bringing in more money," San Francisco resident Sean Manning said.
With more than 43,000 attendees in San Francisco for Dreamforce, city leaders, schools and local agencies are benefiting from both the conference's direct spending and its broader economic impact.
