December 22, 2022 Meet 20 Top Donors of Color from the Tech Industry December 22, 2022/ Ade Adeniji The booming tech industry has yielded scores of wealthy philanthropists, based in Silicon Valley and beyond. That includes many rising donors of color. Here’s a list of generous givers to watch. Read More
August 12, 2022 An Update on the LaureL Foundation and Its Northern California Commitments August 12, 2022/ Alyssa Ochs The LaureL Foundation has shifted some of its focus and become more accessible to Northern California grantseekers. Here’s an update with what you need to know about this grantmaker.Read More
June 21, 2022 Meet Laura Lauder, a Jewish Venture Philanthropist Committed to the Bay Area June 21, 2022/ Alyssa Ochs The Laura and Gary Lauder Family Venture Philanthropy Fund has existed since 1995. Here are some details about Laura Lauder’s approach to philanthropy to guide grantseekers in the Bay Area.Read More
May 20, 2022 Silicon Valley Community Foundation's Nicole Taylor on Women's Growing Role in Philanthropy May 20, 2022/ Martha Ramirez Leading the nation’s largest community foundation, and as the first Black woman in the role, Nicole Taylor has made equity a lodestar. Here, she weighs in on SVCF’s all-woman executive team, 2020’s challenges, and more.Read More
May 11, 2022 IP Briefing: What's Going on With Philanthropy in Northern California? May 11, 2022/ IP Staff The Northern California philanthropic ecosystem is extremely wealthy and extremely varied, with funders addressing pressing challenges like climate change and housing alongside philanthropic mainstays like education.Read More
April 26, 2022 A Tale of Two Valleys: Five Ways Philanthropy Can Change to Make Silicon Valley More Equitable April 26, 2022/ Martha Ramirez A new report highlights five shifts funders can make to more effectively combat inequality. Though it’s geared toward giving in the Bay Area, its advice rings true for philanthropists across the nation.Read More
March 29, 2022 How Northern California Charities Have Grappled With the Pandemic, Other Fundraising Challenges March 29, 2022/ Holly Hall Northern California’s charities face a set of unique challenges, made all the more difficult by the ongoing pandemic. We spoke with several fundraisers in the region to see how they have fared in tough times. Read More
March 17, 2022 The Personal and the Collective: How Three Generations of the Billionaire Sobrato Family Give March 17, 2022/ Ade Adeniji For the latest in our series on family philanthropy, we take an in-depth look at the Sobrato family’s giving, rooted in a Silicon Valley real estate fortune. Three generations weigh in on how their priorities and practices are evolving.Read More
January 24, 2022 How Philanthropic Partnerships Can Create Lasting Progress January 24, 2022/ Catherine Crystal Foster and Renee Kaplan, Guest Contributors For three years, Magnify Community set out to boost philanthropy serving Silicon Valley. Guest authors from Magnify and The Philanthropy Workshop explain how their partnership will allow the work to continue and expand. Read More
January 12, 2022 What We Learned From a Deep Dive Into Tech Industry Giving January 12, 2022/ Mike Scutari We recently published an in-depth paper on the philanthropy of mega-donors hailing from the tech industry, as part of IP’s State of American Philanthropy project. Author Mike Scutari walks through some of our key takeaways.Read More
December 13, 2021 How the Silicon Valley Community Foundation Is Encouraging Donors to Actually Give in the Region December 13, 2021/ Mike Scutari Silicon Valley’s wealthy techies sometimes get flack for not giving enough in their own backyard. Nicole Taylor, the Silicon Valley Community Foundation’s president and CEO, is working to change that.Read More
November 15, 2021 The LatinXCEL Fund Is Serving a Big Need in Silicon Valley. Here’s Where Its First Grants Are Going November 15, 2021/ Martha Ramirez The LatinXCEL Fund, a collaboration between the Silicon Valley Community Foundation and the Castellano Family Foundation, aims to support Latino nonprofits in the region. Its first round of grants went out this fall.Read More
October 05, 2021 A Giver and a Connector: 8 Questions for Veteran Venture Capitalist Ron Conway October 05, 2021/ Ade Adeniji Silicon Valley VC Ron Conway gives on his own, but he’s also highly active as a catalyst for the giving of others, including tech founders, celebrities and athletes. In this Q&A, Conway explains his philosophy and approach.Read More
September 28, 2021 Silicon Valley Fortunes Grow, but Frustrating Trends in the Region’s Philanthropy Persist September 28, 2021/ Mike Scutari Five years ago, Alexa Cortés Culwell co-authored a report laying out trends in Silicon Valley philanthropy, including less local giving. A lot has changed in the sector since, but Culwell says the donors’ habits have largely persisted.Read More
June 03, 2021 In Silicon Valley, Donors Are Neglecting Latinx Nonprofits. A New Fund Aims to Close the Gap June 03, 2021/ Martha Ramirez A 2020 report found that nonprofits serving and led by Latinx communities in Silicon Valley are vastly underfunded. Two regional foundations fill us in on their new LatinXCEL Fund, a $10 million initiative that seeks to close the gap.Read More
July 09, 2020 How Bay Area Community Groups Mobilized Donors to Keep Vulnerable People Housed July 09, 2020/ Philip Rojc Before COVID-19 made things worse, housing insecurity was a fact of life for many families living in the shadow of the tech industry. A community-led rent relief effort is rallying donors to keep hundreds of vulnerable people in their homes.Read More
February 19, 2019 With Oceans in Grave Danger, Some Donors See Hope in Tech Solutions February 19, 2019/ Julia Travers Salesforce founder Marc Benioff and his wife Lynne are among a growing number of philanthropists focused on ocean health. Like other Silicon Valley givers in this space, they see a role for tech—most recently getting behind an Ocean Solutions Accelerator. Read More
February 11, 2019 A Closer Look at CZI’s Growing Push for Equity in Silicon Valley Communities February 11, 2019/ Alyssa Ochs As philanthropists, Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan have been best known for their big ambitions around biomedical research and education. But they’ve also been major donors in their home region, with CZI moving grants to dozens of local groups. Read More
July 04, 2017 Immigration and More: What's SVCF Been Up to Lately? July 04, 2017/ Alyssa Ochs The Silicon Valley Community Foundation has been rapidly ramping up its giving in recent years, and Trump's election has only accelerated that. Where have grants been going in 2017?Read More
March 22, 2017 Practical Partnerships: How This Funder Is Tackling Financial Education March 22, 2017/ Alyssa Ochs The first two Silicon Valley Community Foundation anniversary grants were recently awarded, and the theme of this round was financial education. We take a look at these grants—and what's next. Read More