IP Briefing: What’s Going on With Philanthropy in Northern California? | Inside Philanthropy

In a sentence: The Northern California philanthropic ecosystem is extraordinarily rich and intensely various, with an array of funders attempting to deal with urgent challenges together with local weather change and a dearth of reasonably priced housing alongside philanthropic mainstays like science, training and well being. 

What’s occurring

Northern California is San Francisco and Silicon Valley. It’s additionally the agricultural communities and nature of the North Coast and Shasta Cascade areas. It’s a area well-known for its progressivism that additionally incorporates a few of California’s most conservative counties. And it’s a spot the place a few of the greatest challenges of our time are seen in stark reduction: excessive financial inequality and devastating climate-change-related disasters. All of this shapes the area’s philanthropy. 

Northern California is dwelling to a few of the wealthiest folks and strongest firms on the earth, and the area’s philanthropy displays that. However not the entire philanthropic giving that comes from Northern California goes to Northern California nonprofits. A whole lot of giving flows out of the area, and group organizations have needed to advocate and agitate to encourage extra giving to native organizations, particularly in Silicon Valley. 

Our State of American Philanthropy report on the area focuses on giving to Northern California organizations and points. Most of that giving goes to the Bay Space, whereas nonprofits within the North Coast and Shasta Cascade components of the area are funded on a a lot smaller scale. 

New and well-established philanthropy occurs aspect by aspect in Northern California. Actions for social justice have lengthy influenced the area’s nonprofit and philanthropic organizations, and a few Northern California funders have pushed philanthropy to be extra participatory and extra equity-minded. Different donors have not too long ago amassed fortunes via their entrepreneurship and method philanthropy with a concentrate on innovation and particular person influence. 

Urgent points philanthropists are attempting to deal with in Northern California embody wildfires, unaffordable housing, and homelessness. As in lots of areas, funders nonetheless give most considerably to training, well being, and science. 

By the numbers

The Silicon Valley Neighborhood Basis is the nation’s largest group basis. It held $12.2 billion in belongings in 2020, and made greater than 34,000 grants totaling $2.2. billion via DAFs to Northern California organizations from 2014 to 2018, in line with information from Candid. 

Key funders

A number of the nation’s largest non-public foundations are primarily based in and provides to nonprofits in Northern California, together with the Gordon and Betty Moore Basis and the Packard and Hewlett foundations. 

Sobrato Philanthropies is a crucial household basis within the area. Extra not too long ago established institutional grantmakers embody Crankstart and Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. 

California has a powerful community of group foundations, which incorporates the rich Silicon Valley Neighborhood Basis and San Francisco Basis in addition to less-wealthy however extremely influential rural group foundations like Humboldt Space Basis. Northern California can also be dwelling to the nation’s longest-standing LGBTQ+ group basis, the Horizons Basis. 

Lots of the most well-known ultra-capacity donors on the earth stay on this area, from Mark Zuckerberg to Laurene Powell Jobs. Northern California’s billionaires give via a various array of autos, together with DAFs, foundations, and LLCs. 

Main company funders embody Google.org, the eBay Basis, Salesforce, Cisco Techniques, the Blue Protect of California Basis, and the Wells Fargo Basis. 

New and notable

Meals for thought

“Regional philanthropy is ample. There are actually huge thinkers with nationwide and world pursuits. There’s a number of innovation within the space – on each the donor aspect and the nonprofit aspect. On the identical time, that is an space the place there’s nice want… There’s great potential right here… enormous potential and big alternatives round philanthropy due to California’s rising wants.” — Irene Wong, director of native grantmaking for the David and Lucile Packard Basis.

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