Our Donors’ Generosity Leads to Opportunity and Impact

Our Mission, Vision, and Values drive our actions

Our Mission

To bring together people, ideas, and resources to inspire philanthropy and accomplish great things

Our Vision

To make Santa Cruz County thrive for all who call it home, now and in the future

Our Values

Accelerating Solutions. Building Trust. Advancing Opportunities.

Grants Overview

Arts, Culture & History, Community Support & Compassionate Care grant pathways were reviewed in February and March. Please congratulate our partner grant recipients. The next chance to apply will be in 2020.

The Borina Special Places Fund supports capital improvement projects that provide a greater sense of history and community well-being. The Fund looks to support the preservation, expansion and creation of facilities that offer:

• Youth a place to develop,
• Seniors a place to gather,
• Historic places to be preserved.

Opportunities to apply are by invitation only. Contact grants@cfscc.org to share your project idea for 2020.

The Resilience & Opportunity Fund provides up to $10,000 to organizations that seek to respond to unanticipated needs, unique opportunities, or to try new approaches to community issues. The Fund is limited. Prior to applying, applicants' first step is to describe the planned project in an email to grants@cfscc.org.

The Diversity Partnership Fund grant program seeks to sustain, enhance or expand programs and/or projects designed to strengthen alliances, promote respect, and enhance services for Santa Cruz County’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender, queer (LGBTQ+) community. The next opportunities to apply will be in Fall 2020. Learn more.

The Rydell Visual Arts Fund’s organizational grant priorities and grant pathway is under review by our advisory committee. We look forward to sharing our revised organizational grant program soon. Local artists nominated for a 2020-21 Rydell fellowship have been invited to apply. Four new fellowships of $20,000 will be announced in January 2020.

Education Initiatives

We have two initiatives underway to prepare children and youth for college and career pathways.

Girls Paving the Way is a three-year program supporting the educational progress and social-emotional learning of a cohort of girls from sixth through eighth grade in Pajaro Valley. This initiative is led by the Educational Partnership Center at UCSC and supported by a variety of youth-serving organizations and funded through our Fund for Women and Girls.

Closing the Math Achievement Gap is a multi-year initiative with Santa Cruz County College Commitment to improve student math scores by supporting math skill acquisition. It is funded primarily through our Borina Fund for Education.

Looking for information on our scholarships? Learn more here.

Eligibility & Criteria for Selection

We partner with 501(c)(3) organizations and/or fiscally sponsored groups to advance our goals and priorities. In addition to alignment with our priority funding areas, we use a variety of criteria in which to evaluate proposals including your organization’s strength of leadership, its ability to attract resources to fuel your mission work, and your record of success towards clearly defined outcomes that respond to local social conditions and challenges.