A Year of Empowering Local Impact

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

In 2025, we awarded $31.7 million in grants & scholarships across Santa Cruz County and beyond.

So much good has come from your support and generosity. Our collective efforts are expanding opportunity and improving quality of life throughout Santa Cruz County.

At a glance:

• Investing in Santa Cruz County: 68% of all grant funds stayed local
• Committed to equity: Majority of Community & Discretionary Grants awarded to organizations leading work with Black, Indigenous, Latinx, People of Color communities.
• High impact funding: 100 Community Grants awarded without restrictions
• Broad reach locally and beyond: 887 nonprofit organizations supported
• Investing in the next generation: 47 students, 64% of them first-generation college students, awarded $417,600

Types of Grants:

Grants from Nonprofit Reserve Funds come from distributions from one of two sources: 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.

Discretionary Grants come from funds raised for specific priorities that do not have a clear source of funding: Rise Together, Greatest Needs, Supporting Immigrants, and Fire Recovery are the most active fundraising campaigns over the last 5 years.

Community Grants come from the collective giving of generations of local donors and are the total of all our endowed grantmaking funds. They are a steady source of funding for local nonprofits responsive to the needs of our community and make a lasting impact on local residents’ quality of life and to support our county’s recovery and wellbeing while address pressing challenges in a variety of areas. General operating support grants are awarded to high performing local nonprofits through an annual application and staff facilitated review process.

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.