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Here for Good
What is a Community Foundation?
A community foundation is a nonprofit organization that brings together the financial resources of families, individuals, and organizations who care about a specific place and then invests those resources back into the community and the people who live there.

What does Community Foundation Santa Cruz County do?
We provide:
Philanthropic Advising
- Expert and personalized service to donors and their advisors about tax-wise charitable giving tools to achieve their charitable goals.
- Over 40 years of trusted knowledge of local nonprofits to help donors align their passions to meet our county’s needs.
Support for Local Nonprofits
- Through grants, low-interest loans, professional development workshops, offering our building as a community space, and hosting capital campaigns, nonprofit reserve funds, and endowments.
Community Leadership
- We convene conversations on urgent community needs to inspire collective action around key local issues and rally resources in moments of crisis and opportunity.
Creating Lasting Impact
- Build endowments to provide permanent resources for our community
- Invest in the next generation by awarding scholarships and fellowships to local students and artists.
So we can:
- Give and rally timely, flexible resources
- Generate wise and durable solutions to our community’s most pressing problems
- Respond to crises together
- Build trust across differences