Community Support

A Remarkable Year of Investment in 2024


Your generosity is shining

Thanks to donors past and present, we’re celebrating another exceptional year of grantmaking.

In 2024, we awarded $23.8 million in grants & scholarships across Santa Cruz County.

Together, we are making Santa Cruz County a place where all can thrive.

At a glance:

  • Committed to equity: Majority of Community & Discretionary Grants awarded to organizations leading work with Black, Indigenous, Latinx, People of Color communities.
  • High impact funding: 97 Community Grants awarded without restrictions, 15% of dollars issued as multi-year commitments
  • Broad reach locally and beyond: 768 nonprofit organizations supported
  • Investing in the next generation: 39 students, 73% of them first-generation college students, awarded $287,092 in scholarships
  • Investing in Santa Cruz County: 60% of all grant funds stayed local

Glossary:

Donor-Advised Grants are recommended by local people and companies with Donor-Advised Funds (DAFs) at the Community Foundation. DAFs are a flexible, tax-smart giving account and donors use them to fulfill long-term and short-term charitable goals. Grants recommended by fundholders undergo due diligence by staff, get approved by our board of directors, and quickly get issued to nonprofit partners.

Community & Discretionary Grants are considered by staff and awarded to high-performing local nonprofits. Funds come from the collective giving of generations of local donors. They are a steady source of funding for local nonprofits responsive to the needs of our community and make a lasting impact on Santa Cruz County residents and their quality of life to support our county’s recovery and wellbeing and address pressing challenges in a variety of areas including COVID and Fire response, racial equity, LGBTQ+ programs, arts, culture & history, environment, education & youth, seniors, health & human services, end-of-life-care and more.

Grants from Nonprofit reserve funds come from distributions from agency endowments which can be started by a nonprofit or a donor and agency flex funds, non-endowed funds established by the board of a nonprofit to support current or long-term work.

See where our grants went in 2023

2023 Grants List