In celebration of its centennial year, the California Community Foundation has announced a commitment of $1 billion over ten years to improve the quality of life for underserved families and communities in Los Angeles County.

As part of its Building Los Angeles Together initiative, CCF plans to disburse the funds to L.A. County nonprofits in the form of grants, loans, and scholarships, with a focus on early childhood education, low-income housing, community clinics, and the arts. CCF president and CEO Antonia Hernández told the Los Angeles Times that raising the funds was "doable" for the community foundation, which has awarded $700 million in grants over the past decade. "For us, it's a stretch and we will have to go out there and work more with our donors, but we feel that we will be able to meet that commitment," said Hernandez.

The announcement follows the release of findings from a survey conducted in partnership with the Los Angeles Times and the University of Southern California about trends in, motivations for, and barriers to community involvement among L.A. County residents. The report, Vision Poll for a Better Los Angeles, found that 80 percent of respondents said they were willing to volunteer more time to build a better Los Angeles County, while 65 percent said they would be willing to donate more money to worthy causes. At the same time, only 29 percent described themselves as somewhat active in their community, while 34 percent said they were not very involved but wished they were. Among the top reasons cited for not volunteering or donating were not having enough time (49 percent), not having enough money to contribute (42 percent), being unsure of what they could do (39 percent), and not feeling they could make a difference (31 percent).

"L.A. County residents are results-oriented in their engagement, choosing to get involved in their communities most when they see that such involvement makes a tangible difference," said Ben Winston, a senior associate at polling firm Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, which conducted the survey. "But their motivation is also very personal: residents' primary motivation for engaging is that, beyond helping others less fortunate, it makes them feel good and compassionate."

The survey also found that respondents saw a significant role for charitable organizations in areas such as providing services for at-risk youth (43 percent) and helping immigrants contribute to and succeed in the community (33 percent).

"Over the next decade, we will invest in the issues that we believe will have the most impact on people's lives and will help enable L.A. County to thrive," said Hernández. "Every day, our nonprofit community is taxed to do more to serve our neighborhoods with limited resources. Through this pledge, we will invest in the vital work of nonprofit organizations that are helping to transform Los Angeles."