Philanthropy 831 Blog

Feed Local Kids’ Souls, Now and Forever

Fri, 16 Nov 2018 21:18:34 GMT

New swimmers from the Watsonville YMCA., a program supported by the Shoebox for Kids Fund.

Ever met a 22 year-old who plans to live forever? In the case of the Shoebox For Kids Fund, it’s not a fantasy, it’s the truth. Established in 1996 by a donor who prefers the spotlight be on giving, the fund was set up as an endowment, providing a permanent resource for enriching the lives of local youth.

Broad Interests, Deep Impact

For the Shoebox for Kids Fund donors, their vision was to provide children with services beyond the basic needs of food, shelter, health care, and the like. They saw an opportunity to improve youth’s lives through afterschool and enrichment programs, arts, science, recreation and sports programs. In the donors’ words, efforts that would "feed their souls."

The fund has powered dozens of soul-feeding programs like Boys and Girls Club’s Live Oak afterschool club, Food What’s personal growth work with teens, and recreation programs at the Watsonville YMCA. This year, the fund supported a pioneering teen mentoring program led by Big Brothers Big Sisters and profiled on our blog.

A Flexible Way to Accomplish Charitable Goals

Shoebox for Kids is an endowed field of interest fund, an attractive choice for donors looking to fund areas of need they care about, in perpetuity. Field of interest funds are flexible enough to fund a variety of recipients and to adapt to changing community needs over time. If preserving your anonymity or facilitating collaborative giving by family members and friends is important to you, it can do those things too.

Earnings Add Up to a Legacy of Good

Over its 22 year history, the Shoebox for Kids Fund has attracted about $16,000 a year in gifts, for a historic total of nearly $400,000. In that time, over $165,000 in grants have been awarded. Had the money been squirreled away in an actual shoebox, the balance remaining would sit at $235,000. Instead, invested for long-term growth by the Community Foundation, the fund balance has crested the $500,000 mark. That’s the power of endowment. That’s an enduring legacy of looking forward and giving back.

Would you like to learn more about how an endowment might serve your charitable goals? We’d be happy to help by answering your questions and assisting you in developing your charitable vision. To speak with our team, please contact Sam Leask, Philanthropic Services Director, at sleask@cfscc.org or (831) 662-2060.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Santa Cruz County Pioneers TransMentoring Program

Thu, 15 Nov 2018 22:57:27 GMT

We tend to characterize childhood as a carefree phase of life, a blissful time before the responsibilities of a job, taxes, or car payments bring the weight of the world down upon our shoulders. It’s true, childhood can be full of joy and laughter, but growing up is also hard. School can be stressful, both academically and socially, life at home is rarely perfect, and we often grapple with our own identity well into our 20’s. The majority of the children and youth served by Big Brothers Big Sisters Santa Cruz County live in poverty and many come from single-parent homes. Big Brothers Big Sisters acknowledges all these challenges, and our local Santa Cruz affiliate is also showing the nation how openly recognizing the question of gender identity can make all the difference in the world for children.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Santa Cruz County (BBBS) has always been open and inclusive, striving to ensure that every child feels welcome in the program and is comfortable being themselves. As one of 38 affiliates taking part in the LGBTQ mentoring initiative pilot program, the organization is taking a more thoughtful approach to issues of gender identity and fluidity. They’re carefully choosing the language they use when communicating with Littles (the youth they serve) and Bigs (the adults who volunteer as mentors), adapting their interview and training process, and making small changes to the office environment, like the addition of trans and rainbow flags at the front desk and pronoun guides and other signs of acceptance.

The first of its kind

In 2015, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Santa Cruz County started their official TransMentoring Program, matching trans-children/youth with trans-adult mentors — the first BBBS program of its kind. “We’re very lucky to live where we do,” says Executive Director Marie L. Cubillas. “We’ve had no pushback.”

In fact, it was the community that came to BBBS in the first place asking them to start the program. Stuart Rosenstein of the Queer Youth Task Force and Ben Geilhufe came to BBBS with the idea for a program that matched trans-Littles with trans-Bigs. With the additional help of Heidi Koronkowski, local mom and founder of the TransFamily Support Group of Santa Cruz County, they’ve matched six children with six adult mentors and have updated their volunteer training program to address gender identity. (In total, BBBS of Santa Cruz County currently has 87 open, or active, matches and 66 Littles waiting for a match.)

Learning to support Littles as they explore their gender identity

The TransMentoring Program includes updated training for board, volunteers, and staff that helps those involved with BBBS understand and talk openly and sensitively about gender identity and fluidity.

“Being involved with this [LGBTQ] initiative has made us more mindful of covering this topic, presenting it to mentors and parents,” says Program Manager Soledad Arciga-Alvarado. “We want to make sure everyone who comes to us knows we are welcoming to everybody.”

Spreading awareness amongst the community that BBBS of Santa Cruz County is truly open to all children and adults may be the most important piece of the new program. The outreach they conduct is intentional and aims to engage more trans children and mentors. One Santa Cruz Little who identified as female when he first entered the program was able to come out to a BBBS case manager as trans because he knew he’d be supported.

“They were a little bit concerned because this was a female-to-female match and this Little was no longer identifying as female,” explains Arciga-Alvarado. “But just knowing that we have this trans match program and knowing that we support all Littles and mentors throughout the course of them changing, if needed, they were able to come out and tell us. They felt so relieved that we weren’t going to close their match. Just knowing that I won’t lose a service just because I’m happy with who I am and starting to share that with others is huge.”

“Or having to hide,” adds Cubillas. “Who wants to hide who we are?”

Even though the Santa Cruz organization is one of the smallest BBBS organizations with just two full-time and one part-time staff member providing bilingual services, their TransMentoring Program has become a model for other BBBS affiliates across the nation for what is possible. BBBS staff from other states are calling Cubillas to ask, ‘How can we do this at our organization?’ And, ‘How do you get your leadership within the organization on board?’

“We’re the little engine that could,” says Cubillas. “And small steps is how we’re getting there. One of those small steps was that Little coming out to us as trans.”

Small steps, life-changing impact

The small steps that Cubillas and her team of dedicated staff and volunteers are making are adding up to life-changing impacts for Santa Cruz County youth. One girl had the confidence to tell a BBBS case manager she was trans simply because she saw a handkerchief-sized blue, pink and white trans flag mounted on the front desk. She is now matched with a trans mentor. “With this child, in particular, this has been a life-saving thing,” says Cubillas. “Just having a little flag out … it can be that simple and easy.”

One of the first trans matches has lasted through an international move. Even though they’re thousands of miles apart, the mom, Big Sister, and Little Sister still stay in touch regularly through Skype. They’ve maintained the relationship outside of BBBS because the mom realized she couldn’t provide the support her daughter needed like someone who was living her experience. The mom shared, “Being a part of Big Brothers Big Sisters has been a transformative, healing experience for our family. Our daughter not only has someone whose focus is solely on her, but she also has someone with whom she can discuss things we simply do not have answers to, and for those of us who are dealing with broken relationships with family members as a result of being ‘out’ our match has been a balm.”

Challenges & goals for the year ahead

The two biggest challenges BBBS of Santa Cruz County faces in the year ahead are ones they’re all too familiar with: recruiting volunteers and raising enough funding. The $20,000 grant from the Community Foundation will largely support the TransMentoring Program, and help ensure all new and existing volunteers receive the updated training. Their goal with the grant funding is to serve 10% more youth than last year and to provide the new training for the 43 additional volunteers required to meet that goal. It won’t be easy getting all existing, long-term mentors up to speed, however.

“We’re utilizing the monthly check-ins in the first year [of the match] or quarterly check-ins for those longer than a year,” says Arciga-Alvarado, “but we would ideally like to have something in person. There’s a big difference between doing ongoing training via email or phone communication than to actually sitting down together in one room. You can take a lot more from those interactions versus remote interactions.”

As the program expands and evolves, this will be an ongoing challenge given the staff’s limited time with their mentors. “To get mentors to come together for a 4-hour training on a Saturday … that’s difficult,” says Cubillas. This means the organization will get creative to meet their goals.

“With the limited time that we have,” asks Arciga-Alvarado, “how can we create the best kind of training to ensure that we cover as much as we want and need to cover, and have as many people have access to it as possible?”

BBBS is always looking for more volunteers so that youth in need of a mentor can get matched more quickly. Currently, Littles can be on the waitlist for over a year. Fortunately, once on the waitlist, the families immediately begin receiving BBBS services. “As soon as we enroll families and children into our program they’re receiving our services,” says Arciga-Alvarado. “They get invited to all of our events, have access to resources and referrals, but we want to make that transition a lot shorter.”

Cubillas encourages anyone with an interest in becoming a Big Sister or Big Brother to give the Agency a call (831-464-8691) or fill out an application on their website. “One thing that I hear from all of our volunteers is, ‘I wish I would have started doing this when I started thinking about it. I’ve gotten more out of this than I think my Little has,’” she says. “These are incredible relationships. Making a difference can be easy and it can be really fun.”

For more information about Big Brothers Big Sisters of Santa Cruz County, visit their website: http://www.santacruzmentor.org. And make sure to subscribe to our newsletter to hear our follow-up story with BBBS after they’ve put their plans into action.

Stay Connected

Educators Seek to Improve Student Math Success

Mon, 10 Sep 2018 17:48:00 GMT

Santa Cruz County Office of Education Math Coordinator Kevin Drinkard with local teachers taking part in the Summer Math Institute at Shoreline Middle School.

This August, Santa Cruz County College Commitment, also known as S4C, brought together nearly 100 educators for the Summer Math Institute led by the Silicon Valley Mathematics Initiative (SVMI). Over three days, the Shoreline Middle School gymnasium crackled with the infectious energy of teachers rather than teenagers, as they received hands-on coaching and professional development.

Men and women from across districts gathered to craft and perfect new teaching strategies, develop curriculum, and take part in hands-on workshops. Teachers laughed, bonded, and shared ideas in this rare extended time with colleagues. They brainstormed new approaches to better engage their students and fervently scribbled ideas onto large sheets of butcher paper with colored markers.

Everyone had chosen to be there, even though they were still on summer break. Their enthusiastic engagement was in part for the opportunity to hone their skills, collaborate with colleagues and find ways to help their students excel in the new year.

Advocating for teachers is a core component of S4C’s work. Their mission is to ensure that every student in Santa Cruz County has access to a post-secondary education, regardless of their circumstances. And that means ensuring educators have the necessary tools to help their students succeed in all subjects, but especially in math.

The Mathematic Hurdles to a Post-Secondary Education

For too many students, college becomes an unattainable mirage when faced with the prerequisites for enrollment. To pursue a postsecondary education, you must successfully get through three years of high school math. CSU’s and UC’s require a minimum number of math courses before you’re even eligible to apply, and most majors in a 4-year university require you to take college-level math.

To attend a community college, like Cabrillo, you don’t need a specific number of courses under your belt, but you are required to take a math placement test. In fall of 2016, more than half of Santa Cruz County graduates who enrolled at Cabrillo tested into remedial math. Of those students, half ended up failing the course.

“We know that being placed in a remedial course decreases your chances of persisting towards a certificate or degree significantly,” says S4C Executive Director Cristine Chopra. “That’s concerning and we must better prepare students.”

Teacher Success Means Student Success

To improve the odds for more Santa Cruz County graduates, S4C recently applied for a grant to focus on chronic math underachievement. We awarded S4C $275,000 to help more students meet or exceed the expectations of their math grade level and to graduate high school well prepared for college. The Community Foundation sees this grant as a first step to students becoming successful in math. We anticipate a multiple year commitment to the project – assuming successful implementation and promising results.

A large part of this grant is dedicated to professional development, and to support this initiative, the County Office of Education has created a new Math Coordinator position filled by Kevin Drinkard. An educator with nearly three decades of experience supporting both students and teachers in math, Drinkard is now helping S4C deliver professional development to math teachers throughout Santa Cruz County.

Paid opportunities like the Summer Math Institute and a 7-session ‘Twilight Series’ motivate teachers to continually adapt their classrooms to meet their students’ diverse needs. In one classroom a teacher may have students that are learning English as a second language, students who associate math with feelings of inadequacy and embarrassment, and those who need a more rigorous curriculum.

“What we want is for students to become powerful thinkers,” says Drinkard, “to have them grapple with a problem that makes sense in that sweet spot of cognitive demand. If it’s too hard they’ll get frustrated, if it’s too easy they’ll get bored. We’re trying to help teachers find the appropriate level of cognitive demand for their students.”

Santa Cruz County Office of Education Math Coordinator Kevin Drinkard with S4C Executive Director Christine Chopra.

The Challenges Ahead

Santa Cruz County’s under achievement in math can’t all be attributed to a lack of professional development for teachers. Chopra and Drinkard explain that below-living wages, coupled with the high cost of housing, make it hard to recruit and retain teachers, particularly those with advanced degrees in math. Also, there’s a growing number of English Language learning students but few bilingual math teachers. (Only two out of a hundred teachers at the Summer Math Institute spoke both English and Spanish.) In addition, many students in our county (25% when you take into account the cost of housing and access to services) are living in poverty.

While S4C may not have the resources to tackle these larger societal issues, the organization has long-term plans to increase teachers’ content knowledge and confidence, improve classroom practice, and support administrators in providing instructional leadership in mathematics. Already, these plans are having an impact across districts. Participants of the Summer Math Institute, for instance, said the training led them to rethink and adapt some of their teaching practices.

Our grantmaking to S4C is an important investment in improving the instruction and support that helps students excel in math. As the project yields bright spots and insights, they’re being shared from Bonny Doon to the Pajaro Valley. It’s a complicated formula to solve, but when teachers have what they need to be successful, we know results aren’t far behind. On this, every student in Santa Cruz County should be able to count on: a great education equals opportunity, prosperity, and mobility.

For more information about S4C, check out their website.
Make sure to also
subscribe to the Community Foundation newsletter for our follow-up with S4C after they’ve put their plans into action.

Agency Fund Spotlight: Jacob's Heart

Fri, 24 Aug 2018 03:02:24 GMT

Lymphoma survivor Mariela Medina with Jacob's Heart Founder and Executive Director Lori Butterworth

Over 40 non profits in our community trust the Community Foundation to steward funds for current and future use. While some of these funds are long-term, revenue-producing endowments, the Community Foundation also offers nonprofits a way to invest surplus money without committing those funds to a permanent endowment in non-endowed agency flex funds.

FLEXIBLE BY DESIGN

For Jacob’s Heart, an agency flex fund at the Community Foundation was the right solution. The children’s cancer support service group saw a way to save non-endowed dollars in a professionally managed long-term fund that will generate investment income over time. The big upside was that the principal and the earnings would remain fully accessible with a vote of the nonprofit's board.

“It’s reassuring to have the money in a flex fund. It gives our board the confidence that if we need to make a strategic investment of capital in our operation, the money is there,” said Lori Butterworth, Founder, and Executive Director. We welcomed the Jacob’s Heart Stewardship Fund for Santa Cruz County to the Community Foundation in 2015.

“As the incidence of childhood cancer continues to rise, the Jacob’s Heart board has committed to ensuring that we will be able to meet this growing need in the future,” said Lori. “The flex fund is our investment in improving the quality of life children and families who will, unfortunately, need our support in the coming years.”

The flex fund frees Lori and Jacob’s Heart from the responsibility of actively managing investments and investment managers. That means more time for doing what they’re the best in the world at – offering extraordinary service to children with cancer and their families on the Central Coast.

EXPERT HELP WITH COMPLEX GIFTS

An added benefit to being an agency fund holder is that our experienced staff can assist with complex gifts that a donor may offer. In 2015, when Lori learned that a generous donor hoped to make a gift to Jacob’s Heart from the sale of a property in another part of the state, she called us.

“The donor wanted to give a portion of an undeveloped parcel in Riverside County that she was about to inherit. We were able to help Lori and her board through the due-diligence process that is so essential in considering the acceptance of any real estate gift,” said Foundation Philanthropic Services Director Sam Leask.

“After examining the findings of the an environmental report, a title report and market estimate of the property’s value, Lori’s board felt comfortable in accepting the proposed gift. They later offered the donated property for sale and the resulting six-figure proceeds provided a very welcome financial boost to the organization,” said Sam.

Lori recounted how easy it was working with our team. “We were not prepared to handle this transaction by ourselves. We needed an expert that knew the options, how to meet the donor’s intent, and how to maximize benefits for Jacob’s Heart. Sam made the whole thing easy,” said Lori.

Lori Butterworth being interviewed by intrepid journalist and brain tumor survivor Ben.

MISSION FOCUSED AT (JACOB'S) HEART

While they can watch their fund’s earnings grow, Lori and her team can return to the currency they prefer to deal in: smiles for brave kids, high-fives for superhero siblings and loving support for weary parents. Most importantly, the flex fund helps ensure that until there’s a cure, Jacob’s Heart will be here.

To learn more about how an agency fund may benefit your nonprofit, please contact Philanthropic Services Director Sam Leask at 831.662.2060 or sleask@cfscc.org.

FoodWhat?! Youth Cultivate Community, Leadership, and Empowerment at Local Farms

Fri, 01 Jun 2018 22:38:10 GMT

In a commercial kitchen near the FoodWhat Farm three teenagers and two adults prepare mini pie crusts for an event the following morning. The dough they’re rolling out and gently pressing into cupcake-sized tins will be filled with fresh strawberries grown and harvested at FoodWhat’s north county site on the UCSC Farm by local high school students. After preparing the soil, planting the berries, and finally harvesting the fruit, the students have not only cultivated a healthy crop, but each have had spurts of personal growth along the way.

The group is part of FoodWhat a youth empowerment and food justice organization that works with low-income and struggling high school teens in Santa Cruz County. Through its farming and culinary programs located on their farm sites in Watsonville and Santa Cruz, FoodWhat gives youth the opportunity to provide financial support to their families while gaining job and leadership skills and healthy eating habits. Perhaps most importantly though, it provides a safe space where teens can explore their identities, find their voice, and step into their power.

“We provide a supporting, nurturing, and loving community that creates the space to find your own path,” says FoodWhat Director, Doron Comerchero.

QUANTITY and QUALITY

Over the past three years FoodWhat has received nearly $150,000 from the Community Foundation, thanks in part to contributions from donor-advised fundholders like John M. Sobrato. This has allowed the nonprofit to serve more youth without sacrificing the quality and depth of their programming. “We will only expand if we can maintain that depth,” explains Comerchero. “The only way we can do that is with support like that provided by the Community Foundation.”

This funding allowed FoodWhat to respond to an ever increasing demand for their programming. After spring internship applications spiked from 154 to 250 youth in 2017, they were able to add a Watsonville cohort. The number of spring interns grew by 50% and they nearly doubled the number of paid fall job positions for youth from 27 to 49. All youth served bring home paychecks and fresh food to their families. Seventy high school students participated in their core programs and an additional 750 teens and community members took part in youth-led events, peer-to-peer in school education, affordable farm stands, and outreach at community events. As of January 1, 2017, FoodWhat became an independent 501(c)3 nonprofit, growing their team from 3 to 7 senior staff.

BUILDING BRIDGES WITH FOOD

Evelyn, one of the pie-makers and a high school senior, learned to cook through FoodWhat and now enjoys spending time in the kitchen making tofu scrambles and tending her garden. “Being here really saved my life,” says Evelyn. “I also discovered my passion for horticulture and cooking.”

Eustolia, a reserved teenager with big brown eyes and a soft voice, joined FoodWhat after her father passed away. “I was grieving and just living in my own small bubble,” she says. “There are a lot of positive people at FoodWhat and I learned how to communicate and be a leader and how to turn a negative situation into a good one.”

As they roll out pie dough side by side, chatting about their parents and classes, there’s an ease and openness to the girls’ conversation that’s rarely found amongst teenagers. Eustolia and Evelyn may have unique stories and struggles, but they’re able to connect and overcome their obstacles together over the shared experience of working in the soil and cooking in the kitchen.

“Food is so universal,” explains Comerchero. “Food and farming creates a positive space for anybody in any possible context with any possible identity. No matter who you are, rich or poor, you gotta eat. Food is a bridge builder.”

WHAT'S NEXT

FoodWhat currently pays its program participants a stipend in the spring and an hourly wage of $11 in the summer, but the organization is looking at how they can raise that wage to provide additional stability. “We just did a survey and saw that close to 100% of youth we serve contribute to their family income,” says Comerchero. “So now we’re asking, what would it look like if we raised their salary above minimum wage and contribute to an even greater level of family stability? What can emerge from that?”

In order for FoodWhat to provide their core programming or this additional stability to Santa Cruz County’s youth, reliable funding is critical. “Core program support is key for ongoing operations,” says Comerchero. “Partners like the Community Foundation give us the capacity to have a vision beyond what we’re doing now, creating the ground for innovation.”

And that innovation is changing the lives of our teens and creating the space for them to reach further than they thought possible. It’s providing them with the opportunity to grow, unencumbered by the weight of the world on their shoulders. Aurelio, a recent high school graduate with dark glasses and a ready smile has the perfect analogy:

“It’s super healing for me to go into the land and just take the weeds out and watch the plants grow. Some things in our lives are like weeds and if we don’t take care of them, they can take over. If we take care of the weeds, we have more resources and we flourish.”

Make your investment meaningful to you and your community. Learn how you can invest in nonprofits like FoodWhat through the Community Foundation.

Cooking Up A Menu of Opportunity With El Pajaro CDC

Mon, 14 May 2018 20:18:53 GMT

How do you go from struggling to get by to getting ahead in Santa Cruz County?

To find out, we recently caught up with Carmen Herrera-Mansir and her team at El Pajaro Community Development Corporation. On a tour of their business incubation programs in Watsonville, we learned about companies like RVS Technology Group, El Nopalito Produce, and Lidia’s Oaxacan cuisine stand at the Watsonville Farmer’s Market.

What do they have in common? All three were founded by immigrants who, like so many before them, strived to turn their dream of economic independence into reality. All three are successful graduates of El Pajaro Community Development Corporation’s small business development programs.

The recipe is a familiar one: equal parts ingenuity, work ethic, and a willingness to take risks. But the secret ingredient was the sprinkles of help they got along the way from El Pajaro CDC in the form of expert technical assistance, business incubation, and micro-lending. El Pajaro’s offerings are bilingual, culturally relevant, and targeted to low-income and minority business owners, a reflection of the nonprofit’s dedication to promoting equal access to economic opportunity.

Thanks to generous contributions from donor-advised fundholders like John M. Sobrato and the Driscoll’s Charitable Fund, the Community Foundation has invested over $150,000 in El Pajaro CDC’s mission work since 2012.

Our tour showed off some of the 30 businesses who make the commercial kitchen facility a vibrant regional food hub. In a state of the art facility, a new generation of Pajaro Valley entrepreneurs turn local farmers’ harvests into delectable treats, healthy snacks, and edible products ready for market. We learned of their investment in a new co-packing facility that will help clients scale-up their production by turning over the manufacturing to El Pajaro staff.

At the Plaza Vigil in the heart of Downtown Watsonville, we walked the storefronts and heard stories of how access to prime retail space and tailored business support keyed success for dozens of low-income entrepreneurs. Ricardo Rocha’s recipe for success included a Cabrillo College computer science degree, business development consulting from El Pajaro, and office space in Plaza Vigil in which to grow his customer base.

RVS Technology has taken flight, moved to a bigger location, hired more staff, and grown its portfolio of clients including Second Harvest Food Bank, Scurich Insurance, and Erik’s Deli. Each year more than 200 individuals like Ricardo get help nurturing their businesses thanks to El Pajaro’s services.

Our visit satisfied our hunger for insight into the real economic gains of investing in entrepreneurship. Local giving blended with proven solutions helps those who dream turn “one day” into “day one.” Now that’s something to savor.

Lightning Speed Grant Payments!

Fri, 11 May 2018 16:46:46 GMT

It’s a bird, it’s a plane, no it's Foundation funds flying out to nonprofits!

Are you a nonprofit partner and want to get grant funds faster? Want to make lost grant checks a thing of the past? Skip those pesky lines at the bank? Well, never fear, Community Foundation Santa Cruz County’s electronic payment system is here!

Payments for donor-advised and other grants are now available via ACH (Automated Clearing House - a network used for electronic payment). Payments that used to take a week through the mail can now be completed in 1 or 2 business days.

Whether you receive one check a year or twenty from us, consider the advantages of going digital. The busy community health providers at Santa Cruz Community Health Centers were quick to take advantage.

“The speed and ease of electronic grant payments from the Community Foundation is a lifesaver. ACH payments are fast, reliable, and secure and help us concentrate on our core mission.”

-J. Guevara, Development Director, Santa Cruz Community Health Centers

Our donors love knowing their giving can be put to good use even faster. We’ve enrolled 150 organizations in ACH to date and we want you to be next. Connect with our caped philanthropic services assistant Alexa Klingler at aklingler@cfscc.org or 831.662.2062.

The Light in Their Eyes

Fri, 13 Apr 2018 19:55:39 GMT

Imagine the good fortune I feel every day when I see passion, ambition and dedication light up the eyes of our neighbors as they describe how they plan to make Santa Cruz County a better place. So much joy!

Here at the Community Foundation, people bring us their dreams. Indeed, I feel we are collecting dreams each and every day and helping launch them into reality. I’ve been here almost six months and I continue to take daily delight in these dreams. They are just too exciting to not share a few with you!

The first fund agreement I had the pleasure to sign was an endowed fund for the animal shelter. Read more about the light in Joanie DeNeffe’s eyes when she made a gift for the future of the shelter. She joins Melanie Sobel, Shelter General Manager and Pam Lowry in their dream to grow the education, sheltering and support services for our community’s animals. These women are intrepid animal welfare experts – ensuring our community is a place where humans and their animals thrive.

Have you had the enjoyment I have of walking the San Lorenzo River with Greg Pepping of Coastal Watershed Council? You can’t miss the fire in Greg’s eyes when he describes his dream for the last three miles of the River: a place where we all want to play, walk, meet neighbors, dine, bike, enjoy art and delight in the restored habitat. Greg started out laser-focused on water quality but quickly learned that without economic and building development, public safety, fun programs and a friendly atmosphere, the quality of the river water would never improve. So, Greg embarked on a journey to bring together everyone who lives, works and plays at the San Lorenzo to make Santa Cruz a place with a river that brings us closer. Greg helped me earn my watershed ranger badge and soon we’ll meet with other environmental leaders to plan future work between the Foundation and those that care deeply about our county’s very special natural places.

Ian Macgruder, a Santa Cruz County schools grad and son of a teacher, lights up when he dreams of educators buying homes in the communities they serve. He joined the team at Landed to do just that. Our recent investment in Landed is part of our commitment to find affordable housing solutions for our county’s workforce. Hear Christina Canavan, the first teacher to benefit from the Santa Cruz County program, talk about how it helped unlock the dream of homeownership for her family. This program is so popular, that we opened a new fund, the Community Investment Revolving Fund, to give donors an easy way to contribute to this dream and get capital working on behalf of people in the county. Stay tuned for even more dreams realized through impact investments that inject capital into community solutions.

Erica Padilla Chavez has a light in her eye! Did you know that she is leading Pajaro Valley Prevention and Student Assistance (PVPSA) to new heights? Her team is just $500,000 away from raising their $3.2 million capital campaign goal. Erica lights up when she describes the double win of expanded mental health support for children, youth and their families and how a new building for these services will revitalize an important corner of downtown Watsonville. We are honored that PVPSA recently opened an agency fund at the Foundation and we will invest those funds to support the capital campaign. We love that when agencies invest funds here – our strong returns help build the strength of their nonprofit and enrich our community.

I want everyone to share in my good fortune of seeing the light in the eyes of our neighbors. Some of us are donors, some of us are do-ers, many of us are a little (or a lot!) of both. Whatever it is that puts that light in your eye, tell people about it. That fiery light is what has made us such a special place and will only make us stronger.

Susan True is the CEO of Community Foundation Santa Cruz County. Contact her
at STrue@cfscc.org.

Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter Endowment Supports Compassionate Change

Tue, 20 Mar 2018 20:40:31 GMT

In this guest blog post, Teresa Ruiz Decker takes a deeper look at what sparked Joanie DeNeffe (above, right) to create a new endowment for Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter's community education programs.

There’s a quick flash of fire in Joanie DeNeffe’s eyes whenever she talks about protecting animals in our community. As a dog trainer and decades-long supporter of the Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter, Joanie (pictured above right) has become intimately familiar with the challenges and powerful community impact of the county’s only open-admission animal shelter.

“The shelter isn't just here to help animals,” said Joanie. “It's also here to help people who love animals and create programs to support those people with the resources and knowledge they need to be better animal caretakers.”

The steadfast shelter volunteer saw the positive impacts of community programs but also understood how challenging it is to sustain programs. So after years of hands-on involvement and watching the shelter bloom with its current leadership, Joanie decided to start an endowed fund for the shelter. She partnered with Community Foundation Santa Cruz County to create a fund focused on educational programs that target animal homelessness and abuse. Joanie sees education as an opportunity to change human behavior and in turn create more compassion, kindness, and empathy for animals and our community as a whole.

“Animals allow us to see our softer side without asking anything in return, and they give us so much love,” said Joanie. “We need to be able to get in touch with that softer side, especially in these times. For me, that means we need to step it up in a bigger way.”

Joanie also gave other animal lovers a way to contribute to the future of animals in our community. Any community member may now add to the endowed fund through current contributions or as gifts from a will or living trust.

“That flash in Joanie’s eyes is a symbol of the passion I’ve seen in so many people I meet and speak with around Santa Cruz County. Seemingly every day, people are feeding a passion to make our community an even better place,” said Community Foundation Santa Cruz County CEO Susan True. “I feel Joanie is part of a larger movement of people in the county finding meaningful ways to contribute their resources of time, money and expertise. I’m moved by their generosity each and every day.”

The shelter plays a unique role in animal welfare by taking in any animal in need including cats, dogs, horses, rabbits and more. The shelter also responds to emergency calls related to animals, provides medical aid, takes in all lost pets and pets surrendered by owners, provides fostering and adoption services, the county’s only comprehensive free/low-cost spay and neuter program, and community education programs.

In 2017 alone the Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter took in nearly 5,000 animals. These are staggering numbers that reflect a larger problem locally and nationally. That’s exactly why Joanie and Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter General Manager Melanie Sobel say education and proactive programs play such a pivotal role in animal welfare at the shelter and in the community.

“This is about changing people's behavior. You have to do that through proactive programs and services that offer prevention, training, humane education and community outreach. Otherwise, you are spinning your wheels,” said Sobel. “You can’t adopt your way out of this problem.”

While many of shelter’s services are supported by county funds, education typically falls outside of county financial support. Private gifts from donors like Joanie become critical sources of income not only for education, but also for staff like Carla Braden, the shelter’s animal behavior, and training coordinator.

Carla focuses on behavior modification for undersocialized dogs that come to the shelter. She uses her background as a certified professional dog trainer and behavioral consultant to address special behavioral challenges – from never being on a leash or being confined to a backyard, for example. With her expertise and border collie Wren at her side, Carla helps dogs overcome fear or aggression, putting them on a path for adoption and happier, healthier lives overall.

“An important part of this is also assessing the animals for safety in the community and for matchmaking. We want the animals to be happy in their future lives, and we also want the adopters to be happy with their animals,” said Carla. “We can do a lot more behavior modification here than I could by doing one-on-one sessions with potential owners. Resource wise, I wouldn’t be able to go to 60 different people’s homes and make the kind of progress that we can make here at the shelter.”

While it’s clear Carla’s work plays a pivotal role in healing animals and the eventual match-up with appropriate adopters, her position is still considered a luxury in the animal shelter world. Carla said her job and educational programs just wouldn’t be possible without private donations.

“That's why the endowment is really special. It enables people to have a greater commitment to and understanding of the animals in our community,” said Sobel. “It's our hope the endowment will grow and support programs like Humane Education, Planned Pethood (offers free and low-cost spay and neuter, microchips, and rabies vaccinations) and Door to Door (provides education and resources for pets and families in need), which help us reach different communities, too.”

Perhaps the animal shelter’s tagline “Open Door Open Heart” perfectly sums up what makes the shelter so different from other animal agencies and so worthy of our community’s support. By providing an open door to help animals in our community, the shelter teaches us all to have greater compassion for animals and each other.

Honoring Laura Brown: A Champion for Community Causes

Wed, 17 Jan 2018 00:05:17 GMT

I was saddened by the news of the recent passing of Laura Brown. Like many in Santa Cruz County, I considered her a trusted colleague and advisor.

Laura with her husband Jess Brown, long-time supporters of the Community Foundation.

The Regional Water Management Foundation (RWMF), a subsidiary of Community Foundation Santa Cruz County, might not exist were it not for Laura and the people she helped bring to the table when she served as general manager of the Soquel Creek Water District.

The future of our county depends upon ensuring a sustainable water supply. Our region is entirely dependent on local sources from groundwater and streams and these sources are managed by multiple agencies.

As a founding member of the RWMF’s board of directors, Laura was instrumental in making the connection between the mission of local water agencies to provide a safe and reliable supply of water and the Community Foundation’s mission to make Santa Cruz County a better place to live for all residents.

Laura understood that the planning, coordination and collaboration were required to address the range of local water resource challenges in our community. She helped forge the partnerships between groups participating in this integrated regional water management and the Community Foundation that led to the creation of the RWMF in 2007.

In the decade since, working in close coordination with our partners, the Community Foundation has received nearly $15 million in grant funding to support local planning and projects for water supply, water quality and watershed restoration. Our ability to get this funding for local water needs was made possible by the leadership Laura provided.

We all benefited greatly from her vision, pragmatism, determination and deep community knowledge. Laura wasn’t all business. We will all miss talking with her about life, family and events. We are saddened, too, that Laura's passing follows the loss of Karen Christensen, another RWMF founding leader. They both left Santa Cruz County a far better place.

Laura’s collegiality and can-do spirit are what comes to mind when I think of her. I owe a debt of gratitude to Laura for her role in fostering and supporting the RWMF. I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to have known her and worked with her and for her efforts to secure water for all of our futures.

Tim Carson is program director of the Regional Water Management Foundation. He joined the Foundation in 2008 to support efforts to increase funding for local water resource planning and projects.

Grantseekers Find Improvements Using New Foundation Directory Online!

Tue, 14 Nov 2017 21:40:56 GMT

Good news for grantseekers!

In September, the Foundation Center revamped the way you use their database Foundation Directory Online. FDO is the Center’s online search tool for nonprofits and other grantseekers looking for funding.

FDO now uses a natural language interface that responds to your normal everyday phrases versus making you enter technical keywords. Simply put, it makes your searching for grants easier.

Go to the FDO homepage and using your own words type in what kind of project you want funded. To get you started helpful examples appear in the search box, such as “food pantry in Dallas.” You can even use your mission statement (if not too long). Or, words that describe who you’re serving, where they're located and what you’re doing to help them.

FDO then goes to work. It searches its database of 140,000+ foundations, corporations and federal agencies, and return results that best match what you're looking for. It’s a faster, smarter way to research funding than in the past when many of you felt perplexed by the varied ways to frame a search.

Use the new FDO for free in our resource library at the Community Foundation.

You can also learn about the new FDO enhancements and tools to accelerate your prospect research in a free webinar on Monday, December 11, 11:00 a.m. to 12 noon. Register now!

Kim White (née East) is a communications associate at the Community Foundation. In addition to help with print and social media, she is the supervisor of the resource library, part of the Funding Information Network of the Foundation Center. Kim is a runner (she completed a Boston Marathon) and serves on the board of Wharf to Wharf.

No Sad Goodbyes You'll Find Me At The Tannery!

Tue, 17 Oct 2017 21:41:39 GMT

From the time I wrote my first successful grant application more than a dozen years ago, I imagined working here at Community Foundation Santa Cruz County.

For the past two and a half years I’ve had the honor of doing just that, working with our team in partnership with amazing organizations that make our community a better place.

I’ve learned so much, about the breadth and depth of services, about the people who dedicate their lives, treasure and time, and about the ongoing unmet needs in our community. That is why it is so hard to leave, especially as the Foundation begins this new chapter of its story with Susan True as CEO.

At the same time I am excited to be returning to Arts Council Santa Cruz County as Deputy & Tannery Director. I’ll help them begin a new chapter as well, launching new programming at the Tannery Art Center and a new plan that promises to expand the impact of our incredible creative community.

My last day at the Foundation will be October 23. I hope to continue working with many of you in my new role, so please keep in touch!

Jim Brown was the program officer/grants manager at the Community Foundation and has since rejoined the staff at Arts Council Santa Cruz County. He was also executive director of the Diversity Center. Jim served as a board member for Santa Cruz NEXT and a member of our Diversity Partnership committee. Email him at Jim@artscouncilsc.org.

Jim Brown is the program officer/grants manager at the Community Foundation. Previously, he was the grants and technical assistance program manager at Arts Council Santa Cruz County and the executive director of the Diversity Center. He has served as a board member for Santa Cruz NEXT and a member of our Diversity Partnership committee.

Three Ideas to Make Your Social Media Inclusive

Thu, 25 May 2017 18:15:23 GMT

[We asked our community foundation colleague and friend Eva Penar, from The Chicago Community Trust, if we could repost and share with you what she wrote about making your social media #accessible. We invite your feedback below.]

Social media is something that I never really thought of as being exclusive, but it is. A tweet or post is not experienced in the same manner by everyone.

About 11% of Illinois’ population has a disability, according to the Disability Statistics Compendium. But social media and technology have not advanced to make complete accessibility for people with disabilities automatic.

After attending a great panel discussion on access and social media at the Nonprofit Technology Network's 2015 Conference in San Jose, I came back to the Trust ready to re-evaluate our practices.

Presented by BJ Wishinsky from Benetech and Chad Leaman from the Neil Squire Society, the session was titled “Accessibility Rocks.” With Mark Fisher from the American Heart Association sitting next to me in the audience, we both found ourselves inspired to rethink our social media habits. Fisher, a change agent working with AHA’s social channels, was a patient guide in answering all my questions and offering sound advice.

Here are three ideas I took away that everyone can do right now to be more inclusive:

1. Include closed captions on all your videos

All videos you share should be closed-captioned. If you post a video without captions to Facebook, it’s difficult to go back and embed them—so do it before you post. YouTube can automatically generate captions, which you can review and improve before you publish.

There are also companies like rev.com that can transcribe for you. You upload your video file, or provide them a link to your video, and they create a caption file for you to add to the video before you share it.

Update: Facebook USA is now generating automatic captions for videos. As a page admin, when you upload a video, you’ll see a button in the video editor labeled “generate” to instantly create captions. Facebook allows you to review and approve their suggested captioning before publishing to your page.

However, something will inevitably come up on social media that isn’t completely accessible—for example, at the time of writing, Facebook Live cannot produce captions in real time.

In these cases, you should acknowledge the limitation and provide a second option that is accessible. In the example of Facebook Live, plan to post a captioned version of the video as soon as possible after the live broadcast, and be sure to mention that it’s coming during the live video and in your description.

2. Use CamelCase for hashtags

In order for a screen reader to read your hashtag out loud correctly, you must use camel caps: capitalizing the first letter of each word you string together. #WeLearnedThisTheHardWay. All our printed material promoting the On The Table initiative included the hashtag #onthetable—and then we found out how it sounded when a screen reader tried to pronounce it as a single word. We had to stop and update all our collateral just before printing with the corrected hashtag, #OnTheTable.

3. Provide image descriptions

If you add a photo to your Facebook post, include a narrative caption of what is going on so someone who can’t see the photo can experience it. Yes, Facebook has automatic image description, but the technology is not very accurate. It can’t get as specific as “A mother and two kids kayaking on Lake Michigan,” for example, and might instead write “Three people by water.” On Twitter, the newest app update allows you to turn on an image description feature. Every time you tweet a photo, you’ll be prompted to provide a description, which has a separate character count.

Becoming more fully accessible is definitely a work in progress for us at the Trust, but there are easy ways that every organization can create a more inclusive social media community.

More Ideas

Find more ideas for making your organization’s communications fully accessible in Chapter 6 of Renewing the Commitment: An ADA Compliance Guide for Nonprofits.

Eva Penar is director for marketing and communications for The Chicago Community Trust. During her tenure, she developed the branding, messaging and marketing for the “We Are Chicago” $1 billion campaign for the Trust’s endowment. In 2009, Time Out Chicago recognized her as a “Super Connector” who goes above and beyond in networking. Eva is a member of NTEN and co-founder of the NTEN Nonprofit Tech Club Chicago Chapter.

Podcasts The Sweet Spot Where Storytelling Meets Reporting

Sun, 23 Apr 2017 22:37:33 GMT

[We're exploring the possibilities of podcasts, as a way for us to get and share audio stories. So, when we saw our friend Crystal Birns' April 7 post on her Facebook page about podcasts, we asked her to expand on it through this guest blog post.]

What's a podcast?

A podcast is a series of online recordings you can subscribe and listen to, whenever.

First mentioned by Ben Mammersley in a 2004 Guardian news article the name is morphed from (Apple’s) iPod, plus radio broadcast, giving us podcast.

There are two ways you can listen. Go to the podcast’s website, press "Play" and listen online (this is called streaming). Or, download and play on your phone, tablet or computer.

Some of the most successful podcasters work with small budgets, producing shows from their garage. Other podcasts come from large media entities like NPR, CNN, or the BBC.

Podcasters typically post shows on varying schedules (i.e., daily, weekly, monthly or occasionally). Many are also radio shows (like NPR’s Fresh Air), available in multiple formats.

I listen to podcasts everyday!

For me, long form interviews are the sweet spot, where storytelling meets reporting.

These longer broadcasts capture my imagination or make me curious about something I otherwise knew nothing about.

Here are three of my recent favorites:

The Axe Files (David Axelrod) - I started listening to this podcast after the 2016 presidential election. I appreciate David's interview style and ability to speak with folks who hold a a variety of viewpoints and positions. Two recent ones I liked were interviews with former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and former Iran Peace Treaty negotiator Wendy Sherman.

WTF (with Marc Marcon) - My recent faves are his interviews with Sam Quinones, who just wrote a book about opiates in America and Raoul Peck, director of "I Am Not Your Negro."

Fresh Air (with Terry Gross) - A few great shows I've recently listened to were an interview with graphic novelist Emil Ferris and an interview with T.R. Reid, who just wrote a book analyzing our tax code compared to other countries, concluding ours is a mess that could be fixed with a few simple steps.

I also sometimes pop into shows that crack me up, like Wait Wait Don't Tell Me and Welcome to Night Vale, which is lovely and very weird. I’ve also been told that S-Town is amazing. Do you listen?

If any of this captures your imagination and you're new to podcasts, here’s some basics:

Cost?

Downloading a podcast is free!

Depending on your device you may want to purchase a specialty podcast app, which cost around $5 or less.

How to get and listen?

For iPhones and iPads, use the Podcasts app. Get it from the App Store (it actually comes installed on newer models). If you have a Mac computer, the Podcasts app syncs to iTunes. Find a podcast you want to try, and click "Subscribe." You can always “Unsubscribe” at any time.

I also found for you this Ultimate Guide to Podcasts on iMore, a step-by-step guide with pictures.

For Android phones and tablets, there are a number of apps that play podcasts. Two that I’ve heard good things about the free Stitcher app from Google Play and Pocket Casts (costs about $4).

How do you find a good podcast?

A good resource I just came across is Eliana Dockterman recent post on TIME, The 50 Best Podcasts Right Now. It's a good list on what's currently popular online.

You can also search within your podcast app. Here's how on an iPhone or iPad:

Launch the Podcasts app from your Home screen.
Tap "Featured" or "Top Charts" at the bottom of the screen to see popular or promoted podcasts.
Tap "Search" to find podcasts by name.

I listen to podcasts mostly for personal enjoyment. But, there are a lot of podcasts out there for professional development as well. Here’s a list from Capterra of 15 nonprofit podcasts.

Do you have a favorite podcast you’d be willing to share with us, that you listen to for work or fun?

Crystal Birns is the grants and technical assistance manager at Arts Council Santa Cruz County. She's also a board member with Coastal Watershed Council and a professional photographer. You can follow her on Instagram @birnsy.

We Don't Charge to Charge Your Electric Vehicle!

Thu, 13 Apr 2017 17:40:30 GMT

I’m delighted to share with you that we've installed a new, two outlet, charging station for your electric vehicles!

No cards! Free! And, easy to use!

The new charger replaces the one we've had in our parking lot since 2011.

It's pictured below (with Officer Manager Jennifer Boyle). Already in use, it was put in free of charge by our friends at Triad Electric.

Part of the planning for us to get LEED Gold for our green building was getting a grant to install a ChargePoint station.

It worked fine for a few years, but recently started giving us problems and finally conked out.

We had no plans to end service, especially given the regular volume of users: 431 in 2016, or an average of 36 users per month (as shown in the graph above).

We searched for alternatives and found our new model. So, if you have an electric vehicle and need a charge, check us out.

You'll find us listed with directions on PlugShare.

It's part of our commitment to living and working green!

Lance Linares is CEO of Community Foundation Santa Cruz County. You can subscribe to Lance's blog posts and follow him on Twitter.

ComNetwork Monterey Bay Ready To Blast Off!

Wed, 01 Mar 2017 21:50:28 GMT

Meetups for Social Sector communications!

I'm a big fan (and paying member) of The Communications Network!

The Network is one of my handful of go-to places for expert help and connections with other communications professionals.

To see what I mean about the value provided check out one example: The Case for Communications, the series running in partnership with the Stanford Social Innovation Review.

I got even more jazzed when the Network rolled out ComNetworkLOCAL. It's a way for Network members to form self-managed local groups under the organization's umbrella.

These locals have sprung up in San Francisco, Denver, Miami, Washington DC and other places.

Last fall, I said to my workmate Kim East, Let's do it! Let's start one here!

We called our communications colleagues at the community foundations for San Benito and Monterey counties, Sharlene VanRooy, Amanda Holder and Cristina Medina Dirksen, and asked them, Want to join us?

We met over lunch last December and settled on a tri-county venture, with plans for at least 3-5 meetups a year to be hosted by one of our three community foundations.

The Network gave us a small stipend for expenses and help from staffer Emma Lister, who set us up and got us rolling.

Now we're asking you, Join us!

a winning formula!

We feel we got it!

The power of The Network

+ Support from our three community foundations

+ You (your voice, skills, ideas and buy-in)

= An energized local network of social sector communications practitioners wanting to learn, grow, have fun and share together!

Seventy people have already found out how easy it is to join ComNetwork Monterey Bay by jumping on board.

And, it's free!

There's no membership costs to be part of our local or to tap into the free online resources offered by The Network. (Though, you may decide, like I did, it's worth becoming a paid member of the Network for event discounts and access to the members-only area.)

We know there are other Monterey Bay area marketing and communications meetups and professional networks that delve into communications.

We believe our formula, with a focus on philanthropy and a three county approach, will compliment what already exists. Yet, if after the first year you tell us the local doesn't deliver we'll happily fold up shop. But, we're banking on that not happening.

March kick-off meetups!

You can RSVP for the first meetup in Santa Cruz County at our community foundation, Wednesday, March 8, 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. The after-work agenda includes pizza, beer, social network speed dating and the announcement of our next MeetUp in Santa Cruz County.

You can RSVP for the second meetup in Salinas, at the Community Foundation for Monterey County, Wednesday, March 15, 8:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.

An informal info and recruiting effort is taking place in San Benito County as we plan for their first public meetup.

We hope you find value in this, for you and your communications work.

Got some ideas? Bring them to the one of the first meetups or use the comment field below.

Luis Chabolla is the communications director at Community Foundation Santa Cruz County. You can subscribe to his blog posts and follow him on Twitter. You can also follow ComNetwork Monterey Bay on Twitter.

A Nonprofit Works to Preserve Our Elkhorn Slough for Future Generations

Thu, 23 Feb 2017 22:17:18 GMT

I visited the Elkhorn Slough between recent downpours to see my old friend Mark Silberstein, executive director of the Elkhorn Slough Foundation, a nonprofit land trust established to conserve and restore the slough and its watersheds.

Since the road to the visitor center was washed out, we took a back path to view Sand Hill Farm, a key parcel purchased by the Foundation in 2016. It connects the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve with a three-mile stretch of protected land in the Elkhorn Highlands.

Mark explained that the terrain ultimately became unsuitable for growing strawberries and yielded little to the owner. It was also dumping lots of silt and other matter into Elkhorn Slough.

After acquiring the farmland, the Foundation worked with Pajaro Valley Laser Leveling, one of the many Peixoto family companies, to grade it. They also had to remove tons of old plastic and other debris used in the strawberry operation.

Now that the Sand Hill Farm has been saved, the Foundation will continue to raise funds to restore the land. It also wants to make it available for a future organic farming operation, one that supports local agriculture and provides needed capital for the Foundation's restoration and educational programs.

On top of getting to see and learn first hand about this innovative restoration project, Mark (pictured above right) and I had a great time marveling at the beauty of the Elkhorn Slough and the Monterey Bay, an area we're lucky to call our home.

Lance Linares is CEO of Community Foundation Santa Cruz County. You can subscribe to Lance's blog posts and follow him on Twitter.

We're Standing Up for Causes that Matter

Thu, 19 Jan 2017 23:24:42 GMT

The Fund for Women and Girls

Since the November announcement of our newly established endowment, the Fund for Women and Girls, we’ve raised $2 million towards our 2017 goal of $2.5 million!

We owe the fundraising success to our donors who agree that to level the playing field for everyone it's worth investing more in education, mentoring and job training to help local women and girls succeed.

We knew we couldn’t do everything that might help all women and girls in the county. So, we used local data and asked people already working in these areas where we should first focus our attention.

Both the data that shaped our grantmaking strategy and the people we talked with pointed to the Pájaro Valley and the overwhelming need among middle-school aged girls for greater guidance and help in charting a course for their future.

So, that’s where we start. Our first project, the Girls in the Pájaro Valley Initiative, targets a small group of middle-school age girls to benefit over three years from services devised through a collaboration of nonprofits offering after (and out of) school programs.

Nonprofits Rally

Wow! We had a great meeting with local nonprofits to discuss our first project from the fund on February 13.

In response to an invitation to apply, 18 different organizations came to meet each other and explore how they might work together, with us, the schools and families in the Pájaro Valley to improve the future for girls.

While acknowledging that collaboration isn’t easy, they shared some good ideas from their experience about why developing a collaborative partnership for this work is worthwhile.

Things like:

Keep your eye on the prize (i.e., the future success of girls in the Pájaro Valley).
Focus on what you do best, and trust the partners to do the rest.
Be sure your organization’s mission and plans align with the goals of the fund and first project initiative.
Commit to making the time needed to build relationships that are needed to work as a group.
Keep your board and staff informed so when key players leave your organization stays up to speed.
Consider your organization as part of a larger web of activity directed toward a cause, not as the hub of the action.

During our session, small groups practiced designing a collaborative or network of agencies that could meet the goals of the funds first investment:

Girls enter high school healthy, future-directed and academically prepared.
Youth serving organizations have the capacity to use data to design programs for girls within a larger network of partners.

I was inspired by the group's ability to put their own organizational interests aside and think hard about what might make the difference in getting a girl on the path to success.

As someone said, it was like we were creating a community hug around the girls!

Organizations will be working over the next six weeks to develop proposals for the initiative.

I'm excited to see and share what happens next!

Christina Cuevas is the program director at Community Foundation Santa Cruz County. You can subscribe to her blog posts and follow her on Twitter.

Easy Stocking Stuffers for Your Favorite Nonprofits

Mon, 28 Nov 2016 23:35:40 GMT

#GivingTuesday and Santa Cruz Gives provide you with easy, quick ways to make a charitable gift before year's end to one or more of your favorite nonprofit organizations in Santa Cruz County.

The #GivingTuesday fun happens today, November 29!

Launched in 2012, by the Belfer Center for Innovation and Social Impact at the 92nd Street Y, a cultural center in New York City, it offers a global giving alternative to the shopping frenzy of Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

#GivingTuesday is more of a happening, with no central organization collecting or distributing contributions. There are no fees charged to the participating charitable groups, who individually collect and manage their own giving.

In 2015, more than $117 million was raised online, with participation in 71 countries around the globe.

In Santa Cruz County, I counted over 40 local groups rallying behind #GivingTuesday.

You'll find familiar nonprofits (using the online search tool) seeking your support during the one-day fund drive in Watsonville, Aptos, Capitola, Santa Cruz, Scotts Valley, Felton and Boulder Creek.

Have you heard the buzz around Santa Cruz Gives?

It's a local project of Good Times Santa Cruz, the free weekly newspaper, in partnership with the Volunteer Center of Santa Cruz County, doing more than their fair share of the heavy lifting.

Now in its second year, Santa Cruz Gives follows (and goes beyond) an earlier effort we spearheaded with Ron Slack, the former publisher of the Good Times, that raised nearly $900,000 for local nonprofits, between 1996 and 2013.

The easy-to-navigate online platform provides you with all you need to give to one or more of the 33 local nonprofits raising funds between now and December 31.

Santa Cruz Gives is similar to another worthwhile regional partnership fundraising effort, Monterey County Gives!, led by the Monterey County Weekly. It benefits from a fund the weekly established at the Community Foundation for Monterey County, which also provides administrative support.

Great Ways to Give Local

With these easy ways to give online, today or through December 31, let's do it! Let's put some gifts in those online holiday stockings, for nonprofits and the people they serve!

Luis Chabolla is the communications director at Community Foundation Santa Cruz County. You can subscribe to his blog posts and follow him on Twitter.

Created by the team at the Belfer Center for Innovation & Social Impact at the 92nd Street Y—a cultural center in New York City

You Can Use Data Maps to Find Local School Arts Education Programs

Tue, 18 Oct 2016 20:46:31 GMT

I’m always on the lookout for ways to get a clearer window into the world outside our walls.

With so many organizations doing important work, there's no way to know it all (unless you're our program director, Christina Cuevas!).

After a round of grant reviews last year, I noticed how many organizations wanted funding to bring arts education programs into local classrooms.

I found myself wondering which schools have arts programs, which don’t, and how do arts organization decide which schools to target?

I called Sarah Brothers, arts education manager at Arts Council Santa Cruz County, to find out. What I discovered was that Sarah had been wondering the same thing.

So much so that after a good bit of work by Sarah, the Arts Council just published the results of a survey of arts education programs at local schools on HealthyCity.org. The site is a free resource (found via our website), providing data and mapping tools to help Californians create change.

The Arts Council plans to continue updating and improving its new offering.

I used the map and the data available on the site many times during our last round of grant reviews.

It helped me make better funding recommendations to our board and left me excited about the possibilities.

Thanks Arts Council Santa Cruz County and HealthyCity.org!

How much more of a difference might we make if we all had data like this at our fingertips?

What data do you have that might help someone else’s work? Can you share it?