Launched in 2007 through a merger between the Peninsula Community Foundation and the Community Foundation Silicon Valley, the Silicon Valley Community Foundation has developed a new approach for giving. The organization’s overall aim is to maximize the impact each donation will have for any given cause.

The Silicon Valley Community Foundation,  led by CEO Emmett D. Carson, operates by working to “simplify giving so donors can focus on their charitable passions, partner with the most effective organizations to create change, and advance innovative philanthropic solutions to challenging problems.” Moreover, its five basic strategies (economic security, education, immigrant integration, regional planning and a community opportunity fund) help ensure the foundation’s success.

In order to achieve maximum outreach, the Silicon Valley Community Foundation collaborates with other foundations and initiatives. Many of these foundations target early childhood education and community leadership projects focused on “strengthening organizations serving low-income and communities of color.”

Initiatives that have recently been completed include the Fostering the Future initiative, which took place over a six year period (2005-2011). Its objective was to provide a better life for youth that are subjected to abuse from either their biological families or foster families, as well as for children who have become too old for foster care. The Envision Bay Area initiative, that took place from 2010-2012, aimed to build a community of both leaders and constituents that made daily decisions based on what would be best for the environment. The Silicon Valley Community Foundation made use of YouChoose Bay Area in order to make this initiative successful. The work from this initiative ultimately “convinced the local planning agencies to set higher greenhouse gas emissions than their staff had initially recommended.”

The Silicon Valley Community Foundation is currently responsible for $2.9 million in assets and has over 1,600 philanthropic funds.

– Jordyn Horowitz

Sources: The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Silicon Valley Community Foundation
Photo: Future Partners