Let’s Work Together: Community Builders Rule

Today we sing the praises of the individuals and organizations writer Ray Delgado calls “the unsung heroes of every community and region they serve.” Ray is talking about community foundations, which, you may be interested to learn, play a specific and very important role in California’s philanthropic universe.

The League of California Community Foundations (LCCF) defines their role thusly: “Community foundations are conveners and leaders in their communities—they help identify solutions to community issues, then leverage the resources of individuals, families, and businesses to support projects and initiatives led by high-impact local nonprofits.”

The size of their contribution is stunning. California foundations make $3.2 billion in grants to California nonprofits annually. (They send another $2.2 billion to nonprofits outside the state—a story for another day.) The most recent available statistics show that in 2021, LCCF members and their donors pumped $4.18 billion into the state’s economy, all earmarked to help charitable organizations do their work. 

One in every 14 Californians works in the nonprofit sector, which accounts for 15 percent of our Gross State Product.

As you may know, supporting the work of nonprofit community groups lies at the heart of California Local’s mission. So please meet the CEOs of two remarkable institutions that are having dramatic impacts in their areas: Stacy Caldwell of the Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation, and Kerry Wood of the Sacramento Region Community Foundation.

Based in Santa Cruz for most of its 50-plus years, Ecology Action helps people live cleaner, greener lives. In addition to its super successful local programs that make biking to school and work safer and easier, EA works to promote EV adoption statewide, and has provided energy efficiency upgrades for more than 24,000 small businesses throughout California.