The Silicon Valley Community Foundation (SVCF) has announced that it distributed $2.27 billion in grants to nearly 6,000 nonprofits and community organizations in 2021 in support of education, youth and community development, health, public safety, and other community issues.

According to the foundation, its total grantmaking figure represents a 21.5 percent year-over-year increase, with $921 million awarded to organizations in California, including $777 million awarded to those in the Bay Area. The funding to more than 2,000 organizations across the region's 10 counties represents a 48 percent increase compared with 2020, with a total of $201 million awarded to nonprofits in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, a 9 percent year-over-year increase.

Starting in 2019, SVCF has operated under a new strategic plan and has provided more general operating support and capacity-building grants to a broader range of organizations that serve people and build movements. These include small and emerging organizations led by people of color and allied organizations that amplify the voices and agency of historically underrepresented communities, including Black, Latinx, Indigenous, and other communities of color and undocumented residents.

“At the start of 2021, we were determined to build on the progress we’d made in 2020 toward lasting change in our communities,” said SVCF president and CEO Nicole Taylor. “We were deeply humbled to see that with our new grantmaking strategy in place, a refreshed focus on equity, and our efforts to encourage more local giving by our donors, the foundation granted record-breaking amounts of money to vital community organizations. This is the kind of impact we want to continue to have.”

(Photo credit: Silicon Valley Community Foundation, used with permission)